How to get a book published

I've been asked many times how I managed to get books published, and some have suggested I write about it. So, it's about time I finally did that.

Just for context: I'm the author of 8 books (by book publishers in the U.S.). I've had multiple articles published in journals, magazines, and websites (all under a pseudonym, which I won't share - sorry) and poems published in numerous anthologies. That's not including the range of articles I've written for Apify, where I work as a content producer and editor.

It would indeed be a shame to not share my experience with others who are not sure how to go about getting their books, articles, poems, or whatever else in print. So, here we go!

Self-publishing vs. conventional publishing

These are generally the two avenues to getting your content out there (I'm not including things like starting your own blog, of course). So, a few words about these and the pros and cons of each.

Should you self-publish?

A very common way to get published these days is to go down the DIY route. In other words, you prepare your book and publish it yourself without any input or help from a publisher or agent. Instead, you get it on something like Kindle Direct Publishing. Of course, you can self-publish printed books too, but then you have to consider printing and distribution costs, so it's not so popular these days.

There are two obvious advantages and three disadvantages to this approach.

The pros of self-publishing

1. Publication is guaranteed

You don't have to suffer going through submissions, explaining why your manuscript is good for the publisher, only to receive one rejection after another.

2. Money

You get most or all of the money from sales, not a measly royalty percentage.

The cons of self-publishing

1. You have to do all the marketing and distribution

If you're an expert in a field with some kind of platform, it might not be too difficult to market your book or other content to those interested in your field. If you're a nobody, this is going to be very difficult unless you're particularly good at marketing. 

2. Questionable quality

With no editorial or design team working with you, there's no guarantee that your content will be as good as it could be. Of course, you can hire a freelance editor and designer to help you out, but that costs money, and you need to be sure that they're good at their job.

3. Lack of trust

Even if you've produced something just as good as (or even better than) books produced by conventional publishers, people are understandably suspicious of self-published content, as there's no guarantee that it is quality content. Maybe the author had a good editor; maybe they didn't have one at all. Publishers are concerned about their reputations and appealing to their target audience. Self-published authors may have no audience and no set bar for standards, so people don't know what to expect if you're a first-time author with no following.

Conventional publishing: do you need an agent?

If you want to go down the conventional publishing route, the first question you might want to ask yourself is, do you need an agent? The quick answer is 'no'. But if you have your heart set on getting your manuscript accepted by one of the really big names or any publisher that doesn't accept unsolicited manuscripts, you'll definitely need one. But first, you need to find one, and the agent has to accept your submission as something that has potential. If you do go down that route, be prepared to share profits with the agent. They don't do this work out of the kindness of their hearts.

How to find a publisher or agent

Whether you want an agent or are looking to find publishers independently, there's one extremely useful resource I can't recommend highly enough: the annual Writers' and Artists' Yearbook. It's updated every year with almost every publisher in the English-speaking world for writers of non-fiction and fiction, journalism, poetry, screenplays, short stories, and more. Every entry includes vital information, such as whether they accept unsolicited manuscripts or only content submitted by an agent, advice for how to submit your content or proposals, as well as lists of literary agents and what kind of content they're interested in.

An alternative to this (or rather, a way to build on that information) is to take a look at the publishers of books you like or own that resemble the kind of content you've written or want to write. There are some small publishers that won't be in that yearbook. So, look for the websites of those publishers and check if they accept unsolicited manuscripts and what are the rules of submission.

What do you want to write?

A lot of content you'll read about getting a book published tends to begin with what might seem like an obvious step: write your book. Duh! 

Obviously, no one would be looking to get published if they didn't already have something to publish, right? Well... yes and no.

There are some publishers who accept or require a completed manuscript before considering it, but that's rare. Even if you have an entire book written, submitting the whole thing will, in most cases, lead to an automatic rejection - or, even more likely, no response at all.

If you haven't written an entire book yet, you should at least have three chapters ready and an outline of the entire thing, whether it's a novel or a work of non-fiction. So, if you don't even know what you want to write yet, trying to get a publisher to accept you is certainly premature.

If you do have a clear idea of what you want to write, then make sure that you're submitting to a publisher interested in the kind of content you're working on. There's no point in sending something about chemistry to a publisher that only accepts works on history or submitting a crime thriller to a publisher that only deals in romantic novels.

How to submit your proposal/manuscript

Assuming you've found a publisher that seems to be the right fit, always check the guidelines of the specific publisher in question, and do exactly as requested (they don't have time to waste on people who refuse to follow guidelines, which are there for a reason). But these things are fairly standard for most book publishers:

1. The proposal

Explain what the book is about, why you're the person to write it, what it offers that existing content on the same subject doesn't, and an ETA for a complete first draft. In some cases, you'll be asked what you will do to promote the book. While most publishers deal with that themselves, smaller publishers need to know whether you're an expert in a field or if you already have a platform that will help get the book some attention. For this reason, it's always harder for a first-time author than someone who has already had some success as a writer.

2. An outline of the book

Even if you haven't written the whole book, you'll be expected to submit an outline of all the chapters and what each chapter will contain. These things may be subject to change if your manuscript is accepted, but publishers do need to know what you have in mind before deciding if your content is something they want to work with. If your book will include images, you may need to submit samples of the illustrations.

3. A sample

Most publishers will want to see a work in progress. It doesn't always have to be the first three chapters, but most will want the first three and sometimes (for non-fiction) the introduction. Make sure that the samples you send are well-written and error-free. Yes, publishers will appoint editors to improve your content, but they need to see that they won't be tearing their hair out trying to make your writing good. They'll turn a good writer into a great one, but they won't even try to turn a bad writer into a good one. If you're unsure about your English, get someone with a better command of the language to check it for you. Also, get feedback from others before you submit anything. The feedback doesn't have to come from experts - they could be friends or colleagues - especially if they fit into your target audience.

Now comes the hard part

The waiting. Many publishers state when you should expect to hear from them, but it could be weeks or months before you hear anything. Never contact the publisher before the time they told you to wait expires. After that, you might like to follow up but don't keep doing it. Being pushy won't get you anywhere and is more likely to result in a rejection.

The waiting usually ends in disappointment. Make no mistake: you will get rejections (better than no response at all, which is also possible), but don't get discouraged. You'll rarely be told the reason for the rejection (they don't have time to give you feedback), but it could be anything from the book being badly written to not fitting in with what they're working on right now or being too similar to something else they've produced.

Rejection isn't always a bad thing. For example, when I submitted the manuscript for my first book, it got rejected by multiple publishers until one accepted it. It ended up being the only book I wrote for that publisher. They paid an advance against royalties, but it never did well enough for me to start receiving any royalties for that book. It's been 11 years! However, one of the publishers that rejected it (because they'd already published a book on the same topic) was so impressed that they asked if I had anything else I'd like to submit. 

As it happened, I had a series of talks and articles on a topic that I wanted to turn into a pocketbook. So, that's what I did, and submitted it. They swiftly accepted it, and it rapidly became one of their best sellers. After that, I went on to have another 6 books released by the same publisher - all commissioned by them.

The moral of the story? Don't get disheartened by rejections. They're not always an indication of your abilities as a writer. The content needs to serve the needs of the publisher and has to be something that they expect will turn a profit. So be patient and persistent, and keep submitting.

Should you submit to more than one publisher?

All of that gives rise to the question: should you submit to more than one publisher at a time? There are different opinions, and many publishers will ask you to inform them if you're submitting your content to other publishers for consideration. Of course, you can't accept more than one publisher for the same content, but from my experience, I'd say it's a good thing to do. Given the amount of time it takes for publishers to respond and how frequently you'll get rejected, it saves a lot of time. If you do end up getting accepted by a publisher, you should be considerate and withdraw your submission to other publishers so they don't waste their time reviewing it.

Preparing for success: get ready to change things

Now, imagine a publisher has accepted your proposal or manuscript. What happens now? Well, it depends on what the publisher requested in the first place and how much content you've written. If you had submitted a proposal and outline and estimated completion date for the first draft, you'll likely receive a book contract, including the submission date for the final draft. So, you better get the rest of the content finished. Some publishers may be flexible about the ETA, and you can contact them to extend it. However, do keep in mind that publishers plan content, and taking a lot longer than you said you would, could end in the termination of the contract.

If you submitted sample chapters and have the entire manuscript finished, there may be an estimated completion date for the final version after editing, so you can submit the complete first draft right away. But it doesn't end there. 

You'll be working closely with editors who will not only make corrections but suggest changes and sometimes even rewrites. While it is a collaborative process, do take the feedback on board and continue to improve your content until it is acceptable to the publisher. When they said yes to your manuscript, it wasn't because they deemed it ready for publication but because they recognized its potential. Now it's time to make the content the best it can be. This process typically lasts months, and it includes developmental editing, line editing, layout, design, and proofreading. 

By the time you get to the page proofs for one final check and the last opportunity to make small changes (nothing major that will affect the typesetting), you might well be sick of what you've written. I know I was. But once the final version is published and you have your first copy in your hands (assuming it will be printed), I imagine you'll share my own experience and agree with me that all the toil and effort was well worth it!