Writer's Resource Pages |
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Getting into Print:
Mainstream UK publishers: as well as agents and literary societies are listed in the Writers’ and Artists Yearbook and The Writer’s Handbook – both updated every year and in all good bookstores. The Writer’s Market deals with North American publishers. How to select and submit: Select appropriate publishers with great care, make sure they handle your kind of book. Follow their submission guidelines EXACTLY. It is not advisable to make multiple submissions. In your covering letter, tell them this is an exclusive, and why you’ve chosen them. Tell them what’s special about your book, and why you’re qualified to write it. Make your letter attractive, punchy, interesting, special. Follow up with a phone call if you have not heard within a month. It is as difficult (if not more so) to get a good agent as a publisher, but if you think you have a potential film or TV series in your book, you will need one. Follow the same rules as for submitting to a publisher. Other ways of Getting into Print: If you have a good but non-commercial book, it’s worth considering subsidy publishing or self-publishing. Most print-on-demand publishers are subsidy publishers. They use digital printing to produce individual books as and when they are ordered. Subsidy publishers make a relatively small charge to publish your book. The better ones will assess it in the same way as a normal publisher, but they will take non-commercial titles. They vary enormously in the amount of editing, final production, print and cover quality and in the marketing they offer. Most will market your book over the Internet and they handle the orders and distribution. Since digital printing is not a commercially viable option for quantities over 300 books, print-on-demand is not an alternative to conventional printing for authors wishing to sell their books in quantity. Self-publishing involves paying a company a fairly substantial sum to produce and print your book and to supply you with an agreed number of copies, which you then have to market and distribute. They may offer help with proofreading and marketing. The Society of Authors produces a series of useful Quick Guide for authors, including one on vanity, self and subsidy publishing. available to non-members at £5 each. Visit their web site at: www.societyofauthors.net How to select a non-mainstream publisher: Beware - there are a lot of sharks about who prey upon new writers desperate to get into print. Check the quality of what they produce, and their marketing policy and sales track record. |