i have written a book?

Question

hi i have always loved to write books. i find writing my way of expressing myself and i have written so many books of my own and want to look at getting published but i am a single mum on benefits and unsure what to do as cant afford to pay expensive fees for publishing. any help?

Answer 1

You don't pay publishers, they pay you.

Get the Writer's Market magazines and annuals (go to the library, it's free there), and start sending sample chapters or query letters to publishers and agents.

Anyone who wants fees is scamming you. Also, anyone who wants payment to edit your work is scamming you. Just keep submitting to magazines, book publishers, and agents.

Paper, stamps, large envelopes, and other supplies can start to get expensive, so you may want to ask someone for a little help with that if you need it.

Good Luck, and welcome to the club.

Answer 2

Something you should do is copywrite your work, and there is a very inexpensive to do this. All you need to do is take a copy of your story (I don't think it matters whether it's manuscript or on a disk. But a disk would be better), put it in a Jiffy bag and seal it. Then you take it to a post office and have it sent to your home address by recorded delivery. Once you get it back and it's been signed for, you must not open it, instead put it in a safe place, if your bank has safety deposit boxes available, take it there.

What you have done is created evidence to prove it's yours. Its been handled by the Royal Mail who have signatures and dates for the delivery, so if you send copies to publishers and someone tries to copy your work and publish it themselves, your evidence proves you had the story first because of the Royal Mail's stamp with the date and your signature.

I think writers are kinda like actors and singers, in that there's are agents out there that can find them a good contract with a publishing house, and providing your work is good enough they finance the book. This saves you any expense, but of course, your cut will be smaller. Going independantly, like you sound like you want to, is a bit of a gamble, and the thing about gambling is to never bet what you can't afford to lose. But if the book does well, then you're obviously going to be making more profit per book.

What you need to do is cut those costs to a minimum, here are a few ideas you might want to explore.

Try and find other writers like yourelf, maybe you local community college has a writing course where you can meet other people. Not only will this improve your writing, you will also be able to learn from other people's experiences in getting published. If there are enough of you, maybe you got write a book of short stories, maybe ten stories by different people, if you tried to publish that, then the costs will be split 10 ways. Sure the profits are also split, but getting your work out there is more important than making your first million.

Maybe you could find sponsorship from local businesses. Just a logo with their telephone number on the inside cover and they would contribute to your expenses.

I'm sure there are magazines out there dedicated to writing stories, where readers can submit their own stories. Maybe that might be a good place to start before doing a book.

You're on the internet, and therefore have a huge number of potential readers, why not start your own website? You could post extracts from some of your stories, and if they want to read more they can buy a digital copy of it. By doing that you'll drastically reduce your costs because you're not actually making the books themselves.

Well, that's all I can think of. I hope that helps you and a wish you all the best of luck, I hope to be reading one of your books one day. :)

Answer 3

Don't self-publish then, get a publisher who will cover your costs and maybe even give you some cash up front in the form of an advance.

Buy or borrow from the library the lastest edition of The Writer's Market. Find some publishing house that is seeking new manuscripts in the genre of your book. Find out that publisher's requirements for submitting a novel to them, usually they may want you to write a query letter first, and if they are interested they will ask you to mail them your book.

I recommend you check out the books "Idiot's Guide to Getting Published" and "How to Write & Sell Your First Novel" as great guides to get you started with more details that I have just provided.

Answer 4

Never ever pay to have your work published.
You need to find a legitimate publisher or/and agent. Go to your public reference library. Ask to see copies of two books (1) The Writers' & Artists' Year Book and (2) The Writer's Handbook. Make sure they are up-tp-date editions.
These books contain the names and addresses of publishers and agents throughout the UK and US. Each entry indicates the kind of book they handle or are looking for, be it adult fiction, childrens' fiction or non-fiction. It might be a worthwhile investment to buy copies.
There is no quick route to being published but send your work out to these agents and pubishers and keep trying. Even more important - keep writing.

Answer 5

It won't cost you anything if your book is good enough an agent will take you on and get you the best deal. First thing to do is look in the Writers and Artists year book, they are quite expensive so go to your local library. The book lists all the agents and the areas they specialise in. Send a few chapters to some agents and they'll get back to you with feedback and if it's good they will take you on and represent you. Don't go to the companies that advertise in the back of newspapers they just get you to pay for printing the book. The main areas are promotion and distribution and for this you need to be under the umbrella of a major publisher. Good luck.

Answer 6

Go to your local library and find books such as "Writer's Market" for the names, addresses and submission details for publishers who'll look at unsolicited manuscripts. Send off copies of your material, and see what happens. If your work is appropriate for that publisher, it will be published and YOU get paid, not the other way around.

"Vanity presses" will publish anything, as long as YOU PAY them.

Another alternative is to self-publish your material as an ebook. There is no expense to this whatsoever, except for the cost of the appropriate software to compile your material into the proper ebook format. You can sell your ebook, or give it away if you choose.

Good Luck, and much success to you!

Answer 7

Hi there luv, Just b careful with ur book if u think or know it is going 2 b a winner then whatever u do, dont let it go 2 anyone until u get good advice from people u can trust and hopefully know.

I myself don't know what 2 do, butI am telling u when u get 2 the point where u have 2 hand over copies of ur writings, make sure u have protected ur writings from from publishers who will pinch ur writings and send it 2 print, and u end up with nothing.

I know there r lots of so called publishers ouut there who would like 2 get their hands on good stories, but u have 2b so very careful, u hear of people these days having their stories, inventions etc all taken from them and thats the last u see of them until ur book is on sale and has someone elses name as writer on it, same goes 2 inventios etc, u have 2b ultra careful these days because there r so many people and respectable looking companies out there, which may look legit, but r not.

Don't loose all ur hard work 2 these crooks, hang on that little longer untill u find a respected publisher that will help u.

Hey, I have just had a thought, U said that u were on benefits, so approach the dss, if ur in the UK because people like u have had help starting up a small buisness 2 get them back in2 work, have words with them and see what they say.

As I said 2u b4, I don't know what 2 tell u, but b very careful as others have put their faith in people and lost all their hard work which must b gut wrenching 4 someone who has had this done 2 them and see their book or inventions etc selling all over making millions, DONT LET IT B U. !!!!!!!!!!

Lastly, always take someone with u, especially someone with a bit of knowledge on this subject, take copy of ur writings 2 publishers and dont let them out of ur sight bcause if u did, they just take it in2 another room, copy it, and that's ur lot, ur hard work has gone in2 someone elses hands.

With respect 2 all on here, dont take any advice whatsoever from anyone, just get proper advice from people u can trust.
If ur in UK, start at CAB, take ur time, don't rush, do ur homework, try contacting writers of books who may give u advice, don't seek advice from publishers as they r the very people that ur being careful about, and making sure u get a reputable one that will help u out.

Re finance, approach CAB, DSS, writers, especially of childrens books as they r more likely 2 have been in ur position.

Good luck 2u and God bless u

Please let me know how u get on.

Jimmy Essex England UK

Oh by the way, Have a merry Christmas and a happy new year!!!

Answer 8

If the books you have written are great, then you shouldn't have to pay a publisher to publish your work - any who ask for money up front are not legitimate and should be avoided at all costs!

Check out the books that are similar in style to yours and send your work to their publishers - if it is worth publishing they will not charge you in advance- just take a commission on the sales.

Answer 9

You need to send your books to a literary agent. One who works on a commision. This person will send it to a Publisher. Write them a querry letter. A One page describtion about what the book is about. Ask them; Do you want me to send you a copy of it
? Look up Literary Agents on the web. The Publisher will invest all of their money in the book. You will only get 5-10% of the cover price. If it doesn't sell well. It will be stopped and you will have to write somehting all over again. That's a bit better.

Answer 10

You could write some short stories and send them in to various womens magazines for starters - if your story gets picked you can get paid approx £200. Write articles for newspapers....... anything that can help you make money and you can put this towards publishing fees. It can take years to become an established writer but it will be in your favour if you have some kind of portfolio of work you can produce to prove you are capable of writing.

Good luck for the future and may it bring you success.