How do I publish a book?

Question

I want to know how to publish a book I have finished. What company should I go to? How do I get it to them? When would they finish reading it and looking it over? When will I know when it will be published?

Answer 1

Don't go to publishers - you will be wasting your time. Most will throw away unsolicited manuscripts without even opening them.

You need an agent first; once you have an agent it is relatively easy to get a publisher as the agents act as a "filter". Find the names and addresses of a handful of agents and send your first three chapters to them, then cross your fingers. You'll probably be turned down - everyone wants to be a writer these days and it's very competitive. You need to be tough to handle the rejection. Good luck!

Answer 2

Take control of the process yourself.
For a first time author, we recommend pursuing two paths in parallel:

1. Self-publish the book in a small quantity (25-100 books) and use these books to get reviews from family, friends and professional reviewers … and maybe even sell a few. These initial copies and the reviews can be used to revise the book and as a launching pad to get the book picked up (assuming it is good enough) by a traditional publisher who may pay to print more copies.
Check out the Publishers Standard Board http://www.publisherstandardsboard.org/ for independent info on Self-Publishing, including which companies to stay away from.

2. Pursue the literary agents and traditional publishers.

Answer 3

Well - first - I would go back an edit the book to death.

Writing the book was the easy part (in a manner of speaking). Editing is tedious and publishing is near impossible. But since nothing is 100% impossible, there is some hope.

I would recommend you pick up a version of Writer's Market 2008. It is an aspiring authors Bible. It tells you everything you need to know about publishing. It lists hundreds of legit publishers, what they are looking for, and their address.

Generally - you write a one page query letter that describes your book - your publishing credentials - and how your book can contribute to their company. Once you send in this one page letter - you need to have patience. It can take a publishing company from one to six months to reply to you. WM provides examples of good and bad query letters.

You can also choose the path of getting an agent. It is not mandatory, however, because publishers do accept unagented manuscripts - but it cannot hurt to get one. Again WM will cover this.

I would discourage self-publishing. A lot of people, for some reason, like to go this path. It's costly and won't get you very far. It's better to battle rejection letters than to throw money out the window.

Good luck.

Answer 4

There are number of ways to go: There is book published yearly on book manuscript market see if you can get one at library,another way is to use an agent, which you will find listed in back of any writing magazine or possible by running search, and you could explore self publishing.

Answer 5

A. Finding Appropriate Publishers. B: Finding Out Who to Send To.
Visit a good bookstore and a very commercial bookstore (I'd go to Borders and to Atlantic) and scour the section that shelves books the most like yours. You should find as many as you can that are comparable to the book you're writing/written. Look on the spine for the name of the publisher. These, obviously, are the publishers most likely to be interested in your work, since they know the market to whom they can sell it. These publishers should form part of the list of publishers you will contact.
also you should send them a cover letter. or proposal, describing the book, what your friend thinks is good about it, what strengths it has and so on.
A good sample chapter/section or the entire manuscript if it's in good shape.
hope this helps =]