You look for an agents and/or publishers.
• Write
a blurb. (A short description of the book.) Think about this as your
elevator pitch or the first few lines of your query letter. You have 50 words
or less to describe your book. This is a skill that takes time to develop. Look
for help from writing groups, check out the back of your favorite books. Play
around with what to say. Search the Internet for help – (“writing a blurb”).
• Write a query letter. (This is a
letter to the publisher or agent you hope to sell or represent your book.) Again, this is a skill that takes practice to
develop. Get help from writer groups, books, friends, and the Internet – (Do an
Internet search on “query letter”.)
• Make sure the book is ready for
publication: well edited, no grammatical errors or holes in the story line.
(This is where having a critique partner is very valuable or paying an editor
to find your mistakes .)
• Formatting the file. (Check to
make sure you have the file in the format the publisher or agent requests.) The
font is usually, Time Roman or Courier News 12pt. The line spacing is usually double spaced.
The author’s name, book title, and page numbers are usually required on each
page, but might differ with each publisher and agent. Check out the submission
guidelines on their website to see how they want the manuscript formatted. (Do
an Internet search on “publishing companies” or “literary agents”.)
• Remember when you sign with a
publishing company, or an agent, you are entering into a legal and binding
contract. Make sure you know your rights going into the contract and what it
might take to get out of the contract. Think of it as a pre-nup. If you are
unsure, seek legal counsel. (If you want more information, do an Internet
search on “reviewing literary contract”.) There are people who will review a
contract for you and advise you of any potential heart aches.
• Write
a blurb. (A short description of the book.) Think of this as your pitch to
potential readers of your book. You have 100 words or less to describe your
book. This will be displayed on Amazon and other sites to help sell your book.
This is a skill that takes time to develop. Look for help from writing groups,
check out the back of your favorite books to see how it is done. Play around
with it, search the Internet for help. (Do an Internet search on “writing a
book blurb”.)
• Make sure the book is ready for
publication: well edited, no grammatical errors or holes in the story line.
(This is where having a critique partner is very valuable. Also if you are
looking at self-publishing this might be where you consider hiring a
professional for help.) There are a number of companies and individuals out
there that can help you. Talk to other
authors and ask for recommendations. Also if you are on social sites, seek out
connections with people willing to help.
• Cover Art is the single most
important marketing tool next to the quality of the book. If the company you
plan to use does not provide cover art. Find a good cover artist to create your
vision for the book.
• Formatting the file. (Each
e-publishing company has their specific guidelines.) Smashword.com has a
comprehensive free book that will take you through the various steps to prepare
your file for publication.
• Choosing the company you want to
publish your book. (E-book)
1.
Some of the companies will format your file and prepare your book for the
different e-book readers (Nook, Kindle, iPad). They will charge you a
percentage of your sales as payment or a flat rate.
Smashwords.com is a free site where
you can sign up to publish your book or story. You will need to sign in and
then fill out information about yourself. (You can do this as an author even if
you don’t publish through them.)
You set the price and decide which distributors you want. If you want you can opt out and publish
directly with Amazon on your own.
They also assign you an ISBN for free. (ISBN “International Standard Book
Number” is a unique 13-digital numerical identifier given to your book that
allows retailers to manage and track your book.)
2.
Amazon has detailed
instructions on how to publish with them at kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing or download their book “Build Your Book for
Kindle.” You will need to sign in and fill out information about yourself. Also
you need to agree to their terms and sign up with the Author Central. (Note: this is separate site from their publishing
site. It allows you to write a bio, collect your books in one place and send
your RSS feed from your blog into the Amazon site.) (A RSS - “Really Simple
Syndication” allows information to flow from one website to another
automatically.)
• Choosing
the company you want to publish your book. (Paper) Usually a company will
do what is called “print on demand,” meaning they do not print the book until
someone orders it from their site.
- This requires a number of things to consider. Look at what you are getting
and what control you are giving up before making a decision. (Do an Internet
search on “comparing self-publishing companies.”)
• Other informational sites that can help you make a decision on where to
publish your book. (Search “self-publishing an e-book” on the Internet) Again talk to other authors. They can tell
you the companies they don’t like or have had problems with – Check RWA and
EPIC for a list of approved publishers.)
As you can see some things are the same. I hope this helps you decide what you want to do.
Best of luck in your publishing endeavors,
Tina
