Question: Anybody know how i should do this?
Hey, I’ve been working on a book for almost three years now and I’m super close to the end. I really want this published and I’ve googled endlessly on how to do it but it seems that every website offers different suggestions! I know that there’s a book I can buy called “writers market” that has all the publishing agents listed BUT

Am I supposed to get a writing agent first? How do I get one? Or do I email the publishers personally?

Help!!!!

Answer:

Answer by Leigh K. Black
Do. Not. Email. The. Publishers.

First, you need to completely finish the book (obviously).

Once you’ve finished writing, edit, edit, edit some more, slap yourself across the face because you didn’t know it was going to be this hard, and then edit again. Make sure your work is as polished and perfected as you can make it. (Do NOT trust your family and friends. They are being nice to you. Have you ever seen American Idol? Yeah, and you know all those people who try out and SUCK, but they keep saying: “Well my mom said I was good”? Perfect example. Get an unbiased opinion. Find someone to look through your work that isn’t afraid to be harsh and hurt your feelings. Make sure this person will also give you some constructive criticism.)

Then, start researching. Gather some knowledge on the publishing industry and how it works. You cannot be naive in this business, because they’ll know and they may take advantage. The first order of business is to get a literary agent (LA). (You can choose to get an editor beforehand if you feel your work needs a good once-over. Editors, however, can be quite expensive. Make sure you truly need one before you hire)

LAs work in all different genres. You need to be sure you’re researching LAS that work in YOURS. Also, if your writing piece is not good, do not expect to get an agent. Getting one is almost as hard as getting published.

You can research LAs here:

http://writersmarket.com

http://literarymarketplace.com

http://agentquery.com

If you’re lucky enough to get an agent, congrats! Now comes the real hard part. Your agent will help you to submit your work to several different publishers who will be most likely to accept a piece like yours. If you’re not getting sent out to majors like Random House or Little Brown & Co., don’t freak out. You don’t have to be accepted by the majors just to get your book published or to gain popularity. The important thing is that your book may end up on the shelves.

To submit your piece, there are several different steps. You’re going to have to learn to write a query letter (you’re going to have to do this to get an agent as well, I just forgot to mention it up there.) Research how to format the letter. Some agents/publishing houses will have a specific format for you, so be sure you’re submitting to their specifications.

Submit your query letters and then hunker down. Publishing a book is not the fantastical thing people think it is. I say that all the time, mostly because it’s true. You don’t just send your manuscript off in a cute brown package and then get published overnight. There’s a lot of hard, grueling work to be done.

Don’t get frustrated if you’re not accepted right away. Remember that Harry Potter was rejected 12 times before a house accepted it! You can’t give up. No matter what. If you believe in your work, then keep at it (just don’t be stupid. If you’re rejected 200 times…that’s probably a sign).

Some publishers will want you to change a few things here and there in your story in order for it to be published. Do it. That was your goal: to be published.

** If they ask you for money, it’s a scam. You do not pay them to get published. They pay YOU. Watch out for that.
** Also, do not think you have a ton of rights as the author. You will go through contracts and notice that you probably won’t get to decide a lot of things. Font, margins, pages, cover art, and sometimes even title. Don’t worry. Trust the publisher. They usually know what their doing.

People may say something about self-publishing (which used to be referred to as “vanity press”). They will be correct in saying that it is an option, though I would not recommend it. Often, you end up doing a TON of work — paying for marketing and rights and the printing of your book and so on and so forth — and then you end up losing money instead of gaining because it’s harder for you as a single, unexperienced person to be able to sell enough books to make a profit. Also, “self-published” writers have little respect in the writing community and are not often considered true published writers. However, you can still choose that option

So as you can see, it’s not easy. Simple, but not easy. Be patient–because patience truly is a virtue.

Good luck! And I apologize for this answer being so long! There’s a lot to know and I didn’t even cover half of it. You’re going to need to do bunches of research, no matter what people on here tell you.

(I hope you don’t mind, but I answered a question very similar to this earlier today…and it took me forever to type up..so I’ve copied & pasted a few things. Don’t worry, I’ve edited to fit your question. My fingers are just tired.)