How does one find an editor, and publisher for a book?

Question

I don't want to self publish a book, because that can be very hard, but so can finding a publisher, and editor. I need facts, websites, suggestions, and names of company's please. If you work with or in a company, that's good too.

Answer 1

I disgree about the editors. You find an editor first. There are many sites online. Expect to pay between 3 and 5 dollars a page based on 250 words per page. Check anyone out with Preditors and Editors before you send anything. They will return the manuscript to you with spelling, punctuation and grammar corrections as well as margin notes such as "consider cutting this part" and "add more description here" or "take some description out here". Their notes are worth their weight in gold. Then you do one more draft using the notes you were given. These editors have been through this before. Many of them worked for publishers. They know what it takes to take a good novel and make it publishable. Listen to them. Once you sign a standard writers contract, your book will be edited anyway without your consent. I prefer to do the major editing while I still have control.

Once you have done that, pick up a copy of Writers Market and start surfing agents and small publishers that read your genre. You cannot get through to major publishers without an agent. It will be slushpiled and rejected.

Then learn how to write a great query letter and synopsis. While he is not one of my favorite authors, Nicholas Spark has a great tutorial on his website.

If someone shows interest, then the hard part comes. You will be asked to submit either a partial or full manuscript along with a book proposal. The book proposal is the most important document you will ever write. It sells your book. Learn how to write a great one. You will have to buy a book that teaches you how. There are several out there.

Also if you go to my profile, you will find I star great Q and A on writing and publishing. Scan through them for ones that you think will help you.. Print them out and study them. Check back - I star new ones all the time. I just starred and added yours.
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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

I strongly advise against paying an editor. Why? Because one who knows what s/he's doing is going to cost you more than most authors earn on a first novel. (http://www.the-efa.org/res/rates.html) One who doesn't know enough to do a terrific job isn't worth paying at all. There are no bargains here.

As a writer, you should learn to edit your own work. One helpful book is King and Browne's "Self-Editing for Fiction Writers." Another is a basic grammar text. (I like St. Martins' Guidebook.)

Once you've edited, you can seek either a publisher or an agent. Not every legitimate sale requires an agent. Many small publishers still deal directly with the author. Once you have a completed, polished manuscript, you can figure out if you should seek a big "name brand" publisher, in which case you need an agent, or if a small publisher will do just fine.

You can find publishers in the most recent edition of Writer’s Market (US) or Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook (UK). Each listing will indicate “agented submissions only” or not.

Remember, reputable agents charge the author NOTHING up-front. Some agents may deduct the costs of doing business (copies, mail, phone) from your first check, but nobody legitimate needs that in order to get started.

You can determine whether an agent is reputable at sites like Preditors and Editors (http://www.invirtuo.cc/prededitors/) and the AAR (http://www.aar-online.org/mc/page.do). Besides being a real agent and not a scammer preying on writers’ dreams, you also want to research an agent’s recent sales of books in your genre before sending a query letter.

Researching whether a publisher is the real deal is easier. Go to a bookstore. See any of their books? Good. No? If it’s a small press, it might still be legitimate. The biggie is that no publisher needs money from the author. None at all. Any publisher who does is cause to run the other way.

Answer 3

What is the point of having someone else edit your work, when writing is partly about training oneself to edit ones own work? This is called polishing your craft. On the other hand, finding people to criticize what you've written can be quite valuable.

That having been said, most publishers expect to edit the books they take on, although the manuscript must meet some minimum standard to begin with. In other words, don't expect to send out ungrammatical, weirdly punctuated writing, nor something that simply fails to hold together as to plot and character motivation.

I've included a few enjoyable websites, and there are many more available if you search.

Dai Alanye
http://alanye.com/

Answer 4

1, Write 2. Edit 3. Edit again. 4. Submit to an agent. 5. Edit some more. 6. The agent submits to publishers. 7. If a publisher accepts it, edit again. How long and editor takes depends on his workload. But I'm guessing you mean "agent", not "editor". More than likely, you'll be doing those edits yourself.