HOW TO GET YOUR MANUSCRIPT PUBLISHED By Jerry D. Simmons Author, Teacher, and former Publishing Executive Writers need to understand how to sell themselves—as well as their book—to their publisher and their audience. Selling yourself is the art of separating you and your book from all of the other authors and titles. One way to sell yourself and your book is to decide how to publish your manuscript and know how to attract the attention of consumers, agents and big publishers. Four Ways to Get Your Book Published Any writer can get published. There are plenty of companies that will take your money and put your name on the cover of a book. In fact, there are companies that will take a full-fledged manuscript written by a ghost writer without a single word of your own and put your name on the cover so that it appears to all your friends that you are an author—all for a price. Always remember, it’s easy to get published, but difficult to sell books. You can be published in one of four ways: (1) by a large major trade publisher, (2) by a small or university press, (3) by a print-on-demand, referred to as author originated publishing, or (4) by self-publishing. It is beyond this book to delve into the areas of academic or specialty publishing. Our discussion will stay inside the world of trade or traditional publishing. Major Trade Publishers The major trade publishers in this country are constantly looking for new books. They must have new product on a continuous basis. The largest trade publishers will no longer accept unsolicited manuscripts. That means you have to attract an agent who will accept you as a client and then, in turn, sell your manuscript to a publisher. However, if this is not the way you choose, there is another way of getting their attention: by selling thousands of books working with a small press, print-on-demand or through self-publishing. Small Publishers and University Presses The small and university presses have a more personal feel to the books they publish than do the larger publishers. They handle each title in a way that's similar to how the larger companies did it fifteen years ago. If you want a more hands-on situation with your book’s publication, then a small or university press is the way to go. However, the smaller presses do not have the marketing muscle of the bigger publishers. They don’t have the distribution network with the largest booksellers and they distribute in much smaller numbers. All of this is not a bad thing; you just need to be aware of the differences. You will be expected to promote your own book, much the same way a member of a publisher's sales team would a lowly positioned title on the seasonal list of a big publisher. You will have to be bold and smart to gain attention in the marketplace, because you need to sell copies. However, good solid sales with a small publisher is a good way to gain the attention of the larger houses. Now, rather than having to attract an agent, if you publish with a small press, manage to sell books and generate publicity, you can gain their attention and work from a position of strength, where they pursue you. Print-On-Demand Print-on-demand (POD) is often referred to as author-originated publishing and is the least expensive way to publish your manuscript. With POD there is no inventory of books. After some up-front fees paid by the writer, consumers or booksellers can order and pay for books that are printed on demand. You have a lot of control and can make a nice profit on each individual unit sold. However, the print-on-demand companies exert little or no editorial control over what they publish. They are in the business of printing and publishing books. Any book, with the exception of pornography or extremely controversial subjects (determined by the POD company), is published for a price. This lack of editorial control, explained as exercising their first amendment, has resulted in a poor reputation of POD books industry wide. This means that many booksellers refuse to order and stock POD titles because of the poor editorial content. This hurts many excellent books simply because the printed format takes away from their ability to sell copies in the marketplace. Further, these POD companies do not have a national distribution network that will help you distribute copies to retailers or distributors around the country. Some do have marketing departments that will help market and promote your book, all for a healthy price. This can be an excellent option for the author whose goals match the publishing philosophy of the POD companies and whose budget for publishing extends to the menu of options these companies charge. Self-Publishing Self-published is the hardest road to getting your book published, but the one with the most control and highest profit margin per book. It is the easiest to achieve from the standpoint of getting your book in print, but it is also the most difficult to promote and sell. There are steps to take and money to spend to get your book in print. There are numerous books on the subject of self-publishing, so spend some time reading them and then talk to a professional who understands publishing and the marketplace before you spend your hard-earned money and end up wasting valuable time. An individual who self-publishes does not have the advantage of a built in customer base like the small press and especially the larger publishers. You have to beat the pavement to get your book sold to booksellers. However, if you do it intelligently and focus on the areas outlined in my book, you can get copies in stores. To be successful at self-publishing and gain the attention of a major trade publisher you have to work hard and your timing needs to be right. If you can sell several thousand copies on your own you will more than likely attract the attention of a major publisher. That doesn’t mean they are going to buy your book, it only means that you will fall onto a large publisher's radar. This will improve your chances of getting them to pick up and publish your book and you will have done it without the help of a small publisher, POD company or a literary agent. Of course, the question is, if you can sell several thousand copies of your own book, would you still be interested in signing a contract with a large trade publisher? If your goal is to gain the attention of a major trade publisher, there are four ways to go about it: (1) attract an agent, (2) publish with a small or university press, (3) use the services of a POD company, or (4) self-publish. There are pros and cons of each, so be smart about your decision. Know your goals, be honest with yourself about your willingness to knock on doors to get your book sold and placed on bookseller shelves. Most importantly, generate as much publicity as possible to sell as many copies as you can. A final word of caution—talk with a professional before you make a decision about how to publish your book. There are a lot of so-called experts in publishing who are willing to make promises and take your money. Be smart, invest in a discussion with someone who knows the business and is not trying to sell you one of their services. Jerry D. Simmons has more than thirty years of publishing experience with two of the largest publishers in the United States. He is the author of WHAT WRITERS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT PUBLISHING and the founder of www.WritersReaders.com.. This article is protected under Copyright 2007 Jerry D. Simmons
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