How do books get published?

Question

Writing has been my passion ever since I was little. It's my dream to become an author but I don't know how it works. How do you contact a publisher and how do you know that they won't steal your ideas. And how do you submit it to them? Would they even bother to look at it if it was written in a notebook?

Answer 1

Oh gee.. so many misconceptions in such a short paragraph... I'll take your questions one by one.



How do you contact a publisher?

You don't. You contact an agent first. you find them in the current Writer's Market book. Then you do background search on them (please see the link below for the last time I answered the "how to publish?" question, you'll have plenty more details there)



how do you know that they won't steal your ideas.

Ideas are worthless and aren't protected by copyright. Every amateur writer thinks their ideas are unique. Fact is there are probably already dozens of books that have similar ideas and storylines as yours. as to the actual full book, well first you need to research the agents and publishers because there are scammers out there. But as a rule, legitimate publishers wouldn't do that simply because its not worth the time and effort. Stealing a book is like robbing a convenience store to steal only one lottery ticket. High in risk and low in chances of making a profit.



And how do you submit it to them?

You research their submission guidelines. They usually have them on their website.



Would they even bother to look at it if it was written in a notebook?

No. They won't bother to look at it unless you've sent it exactly as they ask for it. If a publisher asks for the 20 first pages, in times new roman, font 12, double spaced, you send that. If he wants them engraved by hand on gold tablets in gothic characters, you do that.



Okay so how do you contact them?

Just as they ask on their website. Usually by snail mail with a query letter and some pages or chapters if they asked for them.



Is it any different if you're trying to make it an ebook?

No. Unless you're self-publishing. For that, again refer to my link below and I suggest you hang around here and read user Steven Pemberton who is very knowledgeable on self-publishing ebooks,



How do you make your book look presentable for the publishers? ( like how do you make it look like an actual book? How do you make a hardcover?)

You don't. They hate that. They don't give a rat's @ss about your binding skills. You format it the way they ask for on their website and you bind it with a simple butterfly clip.

Answer 2

First you need to polish and polish and polish your draft(s) over and over and over until they are of the highest quality of prose,story, grammar and spelling you are capable of. Have other people, who are not family or freind look them over.A local writing circle is a good choice. Polish and polish some more.





THEN figure out what KIND of publishing you want to do.



There are several options.



You can "publish" your work on a blog/twitter/yelp, and get "followers" or whatever.

You can certainly "publish" your work on a writers/story archive website fanfic.net wattpad.com etc etc etc.

You can certainly "publish" an ebook through Amazon.

You can certainly pay a vanity publisher or even Office Depot to "publish" your work (this is largely considered a BAD IDEA© Yogs Law and what-not. )

You can submit work to contests and magazines and get them "published"



You can go the traditional route and submit to Literary Agents, hopefully eventually get accepted by one, the Agent will then represent you to Publishing Houses and get you a contract and get published nationally. **This is the only one that will really get you into national bookstore chains.**



You need to get a current copy of "Writers Market" and then study it carefully. Agents have specific requirements for submissions and failing to follow them to the letter earns your manuscript a trip to the dumpster or a return to you unopened.



At a minimum it will need to be a printed copy ^^



edit

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>Okay so how do you contact them?

Writer's Market



>Is it any different if you're trying to make it an ebook?

An Amazon ebook generally only requires being a .PDF file to submit or whatever. Your formatting can still be terribad and your spelling and grammar:abyssal.



>How do you make your book look presentable for the publishers?

Generally the Agent section of Writers Market will give you specifics on page size, spacing, font, point size, margins and what-not as part of the submission requirments. DO NOT DEVIATE.



>Like how do you make it look like an actual book?

There are many online guides and ebook vendors and vanity publishers may have individual requirements. Your Agent may have requirements of your draft for the Editor.



How do you make a hardcover?)

See above.



PAYING a publisher or Agent are Very Bad Ideas.

Answer 3

If you want to get published then you need to get yourself a literary agent. Most publishers won't even look at work that hasn't been submitted via an agent. Get yourself a copy of the Writers Market and start doing some research on which agencies to submit to.



Always follow the submission guidelines detailed by the individual agent. Don't send them a fantasy epic if they only represent chick lit. Don't send three chapters if they only ask for one. Agencies are very particular about their submission guidelines - they hate people who violate them.



No agency is going to look at anything that's been handwritten.



If an agency agrees to represent you then they will work with you to edit and polish your manuscript until it sparkles. Then they will pitch it to publishers on your behalf and try and secure you the best financial deal. You don't need to make your submission look like a 'real book.' In fact this will count against you as agencies usually only want the first three chapters, If you can't hook them with three chapters they won't want to read the rest of the book.

Answer 4

Well, you seem to have a few misconceptions about how writing works, one being that your first draft is even close to your finished draft. No, they would not look at it if it was in a notebook, partly because they keep the manuscript and either chuck it or use it, I don't think they give it back to you. Why would a publisher steal your ideas? They have many many submissions they have to get through, about 5% of which get published.

Answer 5

Most publishers won't accept unsolicited manuscripts and I don't know of any who'll accept books written by hand in notebooks. Books are generally submitted by literary agents who have established working relationships with the publishers. Literary agents tend to specialize in specific genres (crime fiction, sci fi, horror, etc.) and work with publishers who share their specialties. Publishing houses receive thousands of unsolicited manuscripts every week, but they aren't even opened. First of all, who would read them? There aren't enough staffers at any publisher to read everything that comes through the door, especially when 90% of it won't be worthy of publication. And secondly, publishers aren't going to risk being sued by would-be authors if they happen to publish something similar to an unsolicited submission.



Instead of submitting your work to publishers, you'll have to submit it to literary agents and hope to find one who wants to champion your book. It's actually much harder to find a literary agent than it is to write a book, since the competition is intense and millions of people dream of writing for a living. But there's a great book that can guide you through the entire process. It contains the names and contact information of literary agents who are accepting submissions, as well as an overview of the publishing process. I'll post a link.



Your manuscript doesn't need to be bound before a literary agent will read it. And different agents have different submission guidelines, so you'll want to know what they are before sending your book to any agent. Some literary agents want books printed on 8 1/2 x 11 paper, whereas others want it delivered as a Word document. And being rejected by an agent is actually a good thing, since you don't want your book in the hands of someone who is indifferent to it. You'll want to find an agent who loves your book and believes in it the way you do. That agent will champion your cause when presenting the book to potential publishers.



http://www.amazon.com/Novel-Short-Story-Writers-Market/dp/159963595X/ref=pd_sim_b_2/187-4479042-6475227