Do you need to have money to get a book published?

Question

I have been working on a novel for some time now and want to try and get it published, I was wondering if I needed money for this and what the best way to go about actually getting it published..how do I do it?

Answer 1

Not if you publish traditionally. Get yourself a copy of Writers Market and really really read it. It will help you tremendously.

You can also go to my profile and find that I star all the good Q and A regarding publishing and writing so you can print them out and study them.

Self publishing is a dead end. If you believe in yourself and in your book, you owe it to yourself to spend at least twice as long trying to publish it traditionally as you did writing it. With self publishing, you can expect to sell about 2/3 as many copies as you have friends. It will never be for sale in bookstores. Don't you want more for the book you worked so hard on?

Start reading and learning how to advocate for yourself. Nobody can do it for you. The answers are all here and in Writers Market. Learn to use them. Pax- C

Answer 2

Hi, Maggie,

You would be doing yourself a great favor by taking what Pax-C said to heart. Good, sound advice.

No money should ever be charged to the writer for publishing, and the publishers have their own editors and they don't charge for that service, either. Oh, and if you go after an agent, legitimate ones don't charge until after the sale has been made and those charges come out as a percentage of your earnings. They make their money off of what they sell. But be patient. This is a long process and though those of us who write would like to see our book in print tomorrow we all know that is not going to happen.

Whatever you do, if you enjoy writing enough to actually finish a novel, do not give up -- and be prepared for lots of rejection notes from publishers. There is a SLIM chance you'll get published on the first try -- heavy stress placed on the SLIM.

J.

http://www.jrichardjacobs.net

Answer 3

I'm in the same situation, but I haven't looked for an agent yet. They usually prefer to work with established ("known") authors. One way to get noticed is to publish, either at an online site, which charges nothing and also PAYS nothing (some do, but only if someone buys them, so it's piecemeal).

Another avenue is to go to a site like Cafepress.com or Lulu.com. Though Lulu IS easier to use (as someone said here), it also costs money, though not as much as most vanity presses.

The good thing about Cafepress is that there is NO monetary investment from you! They simply charge a flat fee for each copy of your book, depending on how it's bound! All you need to do is turn it into a PDF file (they tell you how, but it can be complicated if you're not familiar w/it) AND format it, then upload it!

You get a "shop" (they sell all kinds of things), and your book is promoted there, but you can advertise it anywhere you want...they just go through Cafepress to buy it.

Check it out...also check out some of the "best-sellers" (they give excerpts). Once I finish my longest novel, that's the route I'm taking...for now.

Answer 4

Find a good book or list of publishers. Most books listing them will also tell you what genres they publish, and if they accept unsolicited manuscripts.

You may wish to find an agent {who will expect to be paid!} to contact publishers for you.

If you want to self-publish {Vanity Publishing}, it really can cost. I met a guy who had written a trillogy, and self-published. It cost him £8,000 + .

Answer 5

Absolutely not. Any publisher or agent who charges a fee is a scammer.

Answer 6

This question has already been asked. Go read what other people wrote.