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How Can I Get a Book Published?
by Nicholas Nigro
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Overview
If seeing your book for sale on the shelves of bookstores is a dream of yours, there are steps you can take to increase the odds. While solid writing skills are obviously important, they are only one piece of this puzzle. You must conceive a book with a prospective market of readers. Then you have to persuade key conduits in the industry---literary agents and editors---that your book will not only sell, but also sell well enough for them to take a chance on you.
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Fiction
If you hope to publish a work a fiction, you must have a completed manuscript. Whether you are attempting to land a literary agent to help sell your novel, or directly approaching editors at publishing houses, they will expect both a finished and refined product.
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Nonfiction
If, on the other hand, you are pitching a nonfiction book idea, a work in progress is usually enough. Most literary agents and editors will accept a properly constructed book proposal with sample chapters. A book proposal is the literary equivalent of a business plan. It's a sales pitch that makes your case for a book contract. Literary agents often take on clients with comprehensive, well-researched nonfiction book proposals.
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Book Proposal Elements
The elements in a book proposal include an overview of the subject matter, a competitive analysis, a description of your market (who will buy your book?), a cogent table of contents, and a sample chapter or more.
Other essential pieces to a book proposal are your author credentials and promotional plans. Nowadays, publishers expect authors to self-promote their books. If you have what they deem a "platform," you increase your chances of making a sale. That is, if you give speeches, own a business that could stock the book, maintain a popular website, etc., you are viewed as less of an investment risk.
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Research Your Market
Whether you are pitching a novel or a nonfiction book concept, it's critical that you evaluate both the nature of the competition and the overall marketplace. You can do this by combing the shelves of bookstores in your appropriate genre, as well as looking at competitive titles on Amazon.com. You want to unearth evidence that there are potential readers for your book. Competitive titles go a long way toward making your case, but you nonetheless have to show how your book is unique. Too many competitors with comparable material reduce your likelihood of a book deal.
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Acquire a Literary Agent
Most big and midsize publishers will only accept manuscript and book proposal submissions through a literary agent. Smaller publishers ordinarily accept non-agented submissions. However, securing the services of a reputable literary agent increases your chances of publication. Acquisition editors respect the fact that industry professionals vet materials before they see them. You want to get your book, or book idea, in front of the powers that be, and a literary agent is your best bet at doing so.
To find an appropriate literary agent for your genre, visit such websites as Agent Query at agentquery.com and WritersNet at writers.net/agents. There are also books with literary agent listings and invaluable information, including "eff Herman's Guide to Book Publishers, Editors & Literary Agents." Among the membership of Publishers Marketplace at publishersmarketplace.com are literary agents. To attract potential suitors, you can post your book offering or proposal there.
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Patience and Professionalism
Respected literary agents with track records of sales know both know what sells and how to sell it. Often, your literary agent---or prospective literary agent---will ask that you make changes. Literary agents have relationships with particular editors at particular publishing houses. It's not uncommon for them to suggest adding or deleting passages from your novel or book proposal. In the end, to become a published author, behaving professionally and being businesslike during the frequently slow process of selling your book can make the difference. The publishing trade is a business with a bottom line, which takes precedence over everything else.
