If you have written a book or are still writing one, the thought no doubt crosses your mind as to how nice it would be to hold a paper edition in your hands. No matter what they say about the popularity of e-books, paper will always be nicer for the author.
Two ways to publish a book
Generally speaking, the talk about the difficulty of publishing with a reputable publisher is well founded. And don’t think it’s just now. In my opinion, in Soviet times it was even more difficult for an author who just came “off the street” to publish his book, especially if he did not have publications in reputable journals.
Now a man can take a simple, though not at all cheap, path. This is to publish a book at their own expense, using the services of numerous organizations that do this. Such publishing houses, or rather printers, there are many. There you and the proofreader with the editor will offer, and the artist for the cover and assign ISBN (international book number). Just pay money. At the output the author can get any number of decently published and beautifully decorated copies of his book.
Prices from such publishers vary, they depend mainly on the appetites of publishers and editors and on services in the distribution of the book, which offers the author of these organizations.
The second way is much more attractive, but less reliable. It is to publish a book, even if not in a very reputable publishing house, but not for your own money, and even better to get a fee for it.
For this you must first choose a publishing house, and this choice should be taken very seriously. Of course, and the right choice does not guarantee publication, but without it, there is no chance at all. That’s how to choose a publisher, and now we’ll talk about it.
Step One
You should start by categorizing your book, that is, defining the genre and theme. For example, it could be a detective, a love story, a historical novel, a fantasy, etc. But this is not enough, you need to define the category of the book as precisely as possible. For example, a detective can be historical, military, sentimental, mystical, etc.
If you have a historical novel, it is also worth highlighting some of the nuances that distinguish the book: a military novel, sentimental, adventure, etc. I’m not talking about fantasy, there are all sorts of subgenres and themes.
Why do we need it? The fact that publishers are now publishing books in series – so they find their audience faster, it’s easier to place them stores, etc. And if your work does not fit into any series, it makes no sense to send it to the publisher. They won’t take it, no matter how well-written the text is. They won’t even consider it. Even with a well-known and best-selling author, perhaps, and then take it with variations. But they won’t take a beginner’s.
Stage Two
With the genre and topic decided, now we go to gather information about publishers. The easiest way is to use a search engine.
You’ll get several lists, of which choose the most extensive – the more the better. Don’t fall for just the big publishers – the smaller ones can be useful, too.
Step three
From the list, follow the links to the official sites of publishers and see if the menu has a section “for new authors” or “for authors. If there is, we mark it as paramount, if not, we send it to the bench, but we don’t cross it out completely. They may still be useful. The absence of this page, most likely says that publishers do not work directly with authors and usually do not take texts from “gravity.
For those publishers who work with new authors, we open a catalog and carefully analyze the different series – looking for one in which your work can fit. If there are, in your opinion, a few, then look at which series has more books, and which exists longer (by year of publication of books it is visible). It is better to send the text to the most popular and viable series. By the way, when submitting a manuscript, don’t forget to indicate which series you think it fits best. This may prove to be a deciding factor in evaluating the text.
If you do not find a suitable series, then this publisher can safely be sent to the basket – the publication here you will not shine.
Once you’ve picked publishers, read the information on the author page carefully. It usually specifies the requirements for a manuscript, its length, formatting, and review deadlines.
You should not limit yourself to one publisher. It’s better to pick a few suitable ones and do a fan mailing. Oh, and don’t forget to go back to the ones that don’t have an author page. What if there’s a series where your work fits perfectly? Even if there isn’t the right page, the publisher has email addresses to contact them. You have to take every chance you can.