Does anyone know how to get a book published?

Question

I have wrote a rather long scince fiction book the old way, on a typewriter, so nothing is committed to my computer, and I would like to know how I go about approaching a publisher so I can get my work into book form

Answer 1

That is wonderful that someone published a book on Lulu and it's going on Amazon, but without spending a significant amount of money self promoting and marketing - who will know it's there? People don't actually surf through books at Amazon - they look for titles. It isn't like going to a bookstore and having a whole shelf of titles in front of you. Self published books do not get into bookstores and that is where the action is in terms of people actually choosing books. To promote a self published book will cost you several thousand dollars.

The first thing is you really need to get someone to put that on a disc for you. It will make your life a lot easier. It needs to be spell checked and checked for grammatical errors.

Step one is getting yourself a copy of Writers Market and searching for publishers and agents currently accepting sci fi books. The problem is that A List Publishers do not accept unsolicited queries and most A List Agents want to know which author in their stable recommended you. So you have to set your sites a little lower. There are many medium sized and smaller presses and agencies out there. In their listing in Writers Market they will tell you what percentage of new authors are in their stable. Look for the higher percentages for a better shot.

NEVER send your manuscript to anyone. You send a query letter and a synopsis according to the specific submission guidelines of the party you are querying. They differ. Do NOT copyright. Nothing ticks agents and publishers off more than an author who copyrights themselves. It says to an agent "I don't trust you". Believe me agents and publishers have no desire to plagiarize your work. If and when you sell the book, a standard author's contract will provide for the publisher handling the copyrights for you.

You can also go to my profile. You will find I star all great Q and A on writing and publishing. Scan through them and find some you think will help you. Many successful authors (that means ones who don't have to self publish) have posted answers here to help out novices. Use their advice. Print out some you think will help and study them.

Lastly, if you believe in yourself and your book, you owe it to yourself to spend at least twice as much time trying to sell it traditionally as you did writing it.

Good luck. Congrats on using the typewriter. I have always thought about that but it would drive me nuts.


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They're, Their, There - Three Different Words.

Careful or you may wind up in my next novel.

Pax - C

Answer 2

Put it on a computer and go to lulu.com - you can publish it yourself and sell it yourself

The chances of getting a book published these days are minimal

see www.diykitchenfitting.co.uk l wrote it and published it myself and in january its going on amazon

Answer 3

Send a short copy to a publishing company. They might like it and ask to see more. If not, try the next one. good luck!!!

Answer 4

Take it to a publisher...!