How To Get A Book Published

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Carrie R
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Re: How To Get A Book Published

Post by Carrie R »

zombiemomma175 wrote:So my question is this, could publishers pick him up without us submitting his book?
Thanks
I don't know the answer to that, but it seems to me, if his Amazon numbers are that good, he might want to query an agent or publisher. It certainly wouldn't hurt to try. Good luck!
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karen999
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Post by karen999 »

1. write a synopsis
2. write a query letter
3.Research agents and publishers
4.Send out queries
latly be prepared for rejection also and start your next project
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Fran
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Post by Fran »

There is only one answer to that Q ........ Perseverance
We fade away, but vivid in our eyes
A world is born again that never dies.
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htddubai
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Post by htddubai »

Write a book publish it
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Post by celinerm29 »

I have had six books publshed-some by small presses and some I self-published. My latest book, "I Have a Friend on Jupiter!" was published as an e-book by a small press. I am doing all of my own promoting and marketing as small presses don't have the time or the extra money to devote themselves to helping their authors promote their books. I have been online contacting newspapers and radio stations. I also have been sending fliers to friends and posting them in places around town. Someone said that getting published is easy. That's not true unless you go to someone like one of those self-publishing or vanity presses or print on demand publishers. If you want your book published by a legitimate press, it takes a lot of searching and a lot of query letters sent out. If you do choose to self-publish, the best way is what I did, edit your own book and have a local printer format and bind it for you and run off the copies. That way your book is recognized and you can sell it to bookstores or put it up on Amazon. Using those other types of presses doesn't give any legitimacy to your book as they publish anyone and everyone. Writing is all about persistence. I have been at it for over 35 years. Take the time to study the market and look for a good press who will pay you royalty and where you can get your book exposed. If you're lucky enough to find a good agent, then go for it!!!!

Celine
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BestIndieBookStore
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Post by BestIndieBookStore »

I've seen a number of self published authors sell enough books to end up with publisher and movie deals. Just recently, Colleen Hoover.
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Post by Shakespril »

This is highly motivational. I have received a lot of rejections from literary magazines and I hope I could be happily published soon.
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Post by michaeljoseph »

That's right. I thought I had done all the hard work by writing, formatting, designing the cover, editing and uploading my first self-published book last month. But that really is only the start. Marketing your own book is the hard part. I am researching, socialising and promoting as best as I can, but unless you're lucky, it is going to be a long and time-consuming process to get your book noticed. Perseverance, blind faith in your own ability, and even more perseverance seems to be the way to go. Nobody else is going to market it for you.
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okiewriter1952
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Post by okiewriter1952 »

I totally do not agree with all your comments although good. I did not use a literary agent and published traditional before going off to a new and upcoming market self publishing. I had been burned by many of these type companies so I began printing under my own ISBN and though not Stephen King I feel free and I do give more detail to the editing and marketing than the big companies would and do. I also help new writers who cannot get into the door of a traditional publisehr or literary agent get published. I do not publish just to publish it must be good, well written and have appeal. I just wanted to voice my opinion.
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Post by Dietzel »

Career Novelist wrote: With a 98% rejection rate among query letters, many writers will never even get their work in front of an industry professional. There is a gateway and that gateway is the query letter.

The query letter is the most important letter you will write, and though there is a lot of free advice floating around about how to write a query letter, most of it is the advice the 98% who are getting rejected are following.
Great post by Career Novelist, I agree 100% with everything written above. A well-written query letter should make agents want to represent you/your novel. If a query letter is truly great, you will have no problem getting an agent because agents are around to make money for themselves and a great query letter will convince them there is something worthwhile about your project.

I was sending out batches of query letters every couple weeks, getting rejections left and right. Along the way, I kept tinkering with the query letter to make it slightly better (adjustments I should have made before I started sending it out in the first place, but I thought it was ready before it actually was). After a while, my query letter kept getting slightly better until it was really good, and instead of getting only rejections, I was getting requests for partials or the full manuscript. Before long, I was signed up to a great literary agency.

Now, even with all of that said, my agent was unable to sell the manuscript to a publisher. But even so, she is still around, still offering free advice, and still encouraging me. She is convinced that if my first book, which was just self published, can do well, she has a very good chance of getting a publisher interested in my follow-up novel. And it is invaluable, even if you are self-publishing, to have someone familiar with the industry, giving you tips and advice the entire time.

I cannot stress enough the importance of a great query letter.
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Post by thea »

Great post Scott- I guess everybody has a story which they would like told - What really matters is if anybody else wants to read it! Finding the target audience seems to be significant. There are books that I know with in moments I cannot be parted from, and other which although brilliant just don't interest me.
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Post by SarahBGoode »

I've just self-published with Bookbaby. And it's true that writing a book is easy in comparison to marketing. I have just had a big stroke of luck though. My book is a memoir, and one of the ex-friends I wrote about (unnamed, of course) in my book posted the most venomous and scathing 'review' of my book on Amazon. So venomous in fact that it is obviously a personal attack, and not a genuine customer review. This brought me so much unexpected attention - people were so curious why this guy was so upset by my book, I had the biggest sales day yet! It really brought his character to life :roll: crazy!
So that helped with the marketing.

But back to the topic of how to get published. There are so many self-pub options now that it is very achievable. It is worth shopping around for a good deal. I chose to pay a small fee upfront and keep 100% royalties. Other options such as Kindle Direct are free to the author, but Amazon take 30% of your revenue.
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Post by Casey_Harvell »

I've self-published two pieces, a short story and a 60, 000 word novel. I am a fan of it and have been what I feel is fairly successful for a first-time author. My second novel, I just finished, and did all the work to query agents. Yesterday, actually. Why would I do this is I'm such a fan of self-publishing? Mainly because I want to focus on writing, not writing, formatting, cover design and marketing. Self-publishing is a one person show. Good luck!
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Post by LolaC »

While literary agents are hard to find, it is definitely worth getting one to help especially if there are contracts involved.
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parthajeet
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Post by parthajeet »

What I found most crucial while publishing was a good editor. Unless you are a big name, no publisher will promote you much. In such a senior, it is only a good product which can make a difference and thus good editing support is important.
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