I need a list of publishers or book agents who are willing to work with someone who has never been published.?

Question

I want the type of agent that finds what the publishing companies are looking for and I would write the material. I'm not sure if thats normall procedure or not. Please help.

Answer 1

If you are planning on writing a novel, then you will need to write the book before seeking an agent or publisher. Unless you are incredibly well-known already, no one will buy a fiction book based on a proposal alone.

If you want to write non-fiction, then you will at minimum need to put together a proposal describing what you want to do and how you want to accomplish it.

There are two types of publishing: Tradition and Self-Publishing. You will first need to decide which of these methods you want to pursue. Each has advantages and disadvantages that need to be researched. For instance, traditional publishing can be a very long road, littered with MANY rejections. Self-publishing will guarantee you a printed copy of your book, however you will not see it in a brick-and-mortar bookstore.

http://www.lulu.com is, in my opinion, the best self-publisher around. You can set up your book on their website, for free, and they will print copies as they are purchased. They do not edit your book, so you will need to take care of that on your own. This will also NOT get your book in a traditional bookstore, although you can purchase a very affordable package that would allow sale of your book through online bookstores like Amazon.

"Writer's Market", along with "The Guide to Literary Agents" are my two suggestions for diving into the traditional publishing market. I suggest looking for an agent first because they are the best step through the publishing door. You will create a submission package that matches the agents preferences (some, for instance, just want a query letter and summary in your first contact with them while others want more). Once you find an agent that is willing to represent you, they will market your book to publishers. Remember, in traditional publishing you should not be paying for anything! They get paid when you get paid!

Also keep in mind that this can be a long process. You will probably not get a lot of positive responses right away, and the rejection can be disheartening. But keep it up and you will find a home for your story (once it's finished, that is!)

Last piece of advice: check out the website Preditors and Editors. They will help you avoid any scams which will make the road that much smoother:
http://www.anotherealm.com/prededitors/

Answer 2

You should get a copy of the writer's market. It is about 25 dollars and it contains literally thousands of calls for submissions from different publishers. Each call is labled with the level of previous publishing you need to apply, and many of them say they would be willing to work with, or in some cases are specifically looking for, new writers.

You also might want to consider:
Tthe Novel & Short Story Writer's Market 2007
The Guide to Literary Agents 2007
Poets Market 2007
Children's Writers and Illustrators 2007

Answer 3

I am going with a self-publishing company. It's a subsidiary of Amazon.com. But if you want a real publisher, you may just have a better time just looking in the yellow pages or googling it.

More or less, publishing companies are looking for people with manuscripts already. Send your work out to a couple companies, some will look at it and want to talk to you further, and others will look at it and send you a rejection letter, it's all part of the process.

Answer 4

I also am looking for a publishing company. I did some looking and found a company called "TATE Publishing" this company gets you an agent and they call you in a matter of days. Also, it's a decent cost of $1100 for color hardback books (qt:100). It's a good deal, but i'm really broke at the moment.