Here’s a quick overview of things to keep in mind when you write your book, look for publishers and agents, or decide to publish your book yourself. The Publishing Connection can help with any phase of this process.
Writing Your Book
• Collect your blogs, articles, or journal notes into a book
• Use transcripts from your workshops, seminars, or talks to groups
• Do interviews and have them transcribed
• Develop a chapter by chapter outline for what to include and target future blogs, articles, journal postings, interviews, etc. to fill in each chapter
• Dedicate 1-2 hours a day for writing, or consider a ghostwriter
What You Need to Pitch Your Book to a Traditional Publisher
• If your book is fiction and you are unpublished, you normally have to complete the book, plus create a 1-2 page single spaced synopsis.
• If your book is nonfiction, you generally need to write a proposal plus 1-3 chapters to submit to agents and/or publishers, even if the book is completed. The beginning of the proposal is generally 10-15 pages, and includes an overview of the book, chapter by chapter outline, and plan for completing the book. It also should include a market and competitors section listing similar or related books already published, the publisher, and how the book is doing; an author’s bio; and an author’s platform section, indicating what PR you have gotten in the past and how you can help support the book in the future.
• Unless you already have an agent or knowledgeable rep pitching your book, you need to write a query letter or have one written for you to send to publishers/editors and/or agents.
Contacting Publishers and Agents about Your Book
• If you can contact publishers or agents at conferences, workshops, and through personal referrals, that’s ideal.
• If you already have an agent, make sure your agent is continuing to pitch your book; you might also propose supplementing what the agent does by making some contact with publishers yourself; some agents will welcome this; others not so much. If you do make some of your own contacts, be sure to check with your agent in advance to make sure not to contact anyone your agent has already contacted. Then, keep your agent aware of the responses, and refer any editor or publisher who expresses interest to your agent for follow-up.
• If you feel your agent is no longer actively representing your book, it’s time to end your agreement and find a new agent or pitch the book yourself.
• If you plan to query traditional publishers and agents, don’t self-publish the same book, unless you have a very powerful platform and can build large sales for this book. Publishers don’t want to publish a book that already has been published, unless there are big sales.
• A good approach is self-publishing a book to build your platform and sell it yourself; then pitch a follow-up or related book to mainstream publishers and agents.
Sending an E-Mail Query to Publishers and Agents
• If you don’t have an agent or personal connections for contacting agents or publishers, an e-mail query can be an effective way to contact them.
• You can contact a large number of editors and agents with a personalized query, so they respond directly to you. We can help you send out these queries to hundreds of agents and editors based on your type of book. For details: www.thepublishingconnection.com.
• While many editors at major publishers want submissions by an agent, some will accept queries from writers and some will make exceptions for a really good query letter.
• When you send a query don’t include attachments or graphics, since a regular text query is more likely to be received and read, but you can include links to a website. Editors and agents often will not open any attachments due to fears about viruses, trojans, and other malware.
• Keep your query letter short and to the point, since a successful query letter is typically about 300-400 words, and no more than 500 words, and includes these key components:
1) A strong subject line to attract interest; it should indicate specifically what your book or script is about and be in upper and lower case, Title Case, or Sentence case.
2) A short summary statement of 1 or 2 sentences highlighting what the book or script is about and what makes it especially interesting and salable.
3) Two to three paragraphs describing the plot of a fiction book, the main topics covered in a nonfiction book, or the main plot points in a script.
4) A sentence or two about the book or script’s key selling points and why the book or script is marketable to your main audience.
5) A short paragraph about your own background, including what may have inspired the book or script, and recent highlights about previous publications or films, writing, and relevant work experience.
6) A sentence or two about any PR or promotion you have already gotten.
7) A final sentence indicating if the recipient is interested, you would be glad to submit a more detailed synopsis, proposal, sample chapters, or the complete manuscript.
8) Be prepared to follow-up within a week or 10 days with a proposal, synopsis, sample chapters or complete manuscript, or a script treatment.
9) Include personal contact information at the end, including your name, company if any, city, state (full address and zip is optional, though good to include), website if you have one, phone, and email.
Self-Publishing Your Book
• A simple low-cost way to publish your book is as a Print-On-Demand (POD) book through CreateSpace and Kindle, though there are multiple services with various pricing plans. You can use one of their templates or design your own cover, and you can order as many or as few books as you want at about 1/3 of the retail price.
• Generally you need the final copy formatted according to the publisher’s guidelines in a WordDocument or PDF, with appropriate margins and any graphics or photos in the text.
• While you can self-publish yourself, we can guide you through the process or set up everything for you.
• Keep the pricing low to attract sales – about $9.95-14.95 is a good price point for a paperback book; $2.99 for an e-book.
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Gini Graham Scott, PhD, writes frequently about social trends and everyday life. She is the author of over 50 books with major publishers and has published 30 books through her company Changemakers Publishing and Writing. She writes books and proposals for clients and has written and produced over 50 short videos through Changemakers Productions. Her latest books include: HOW TO FIND PUBLISHERS AND AGENTS AND GET PUBLISHED and THE BATTLE AGAINST INTERNET BOOK PIRACY.