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How To Get A Book Published The Competition Is Tough In The Book
How to get a book published is a question every author asks themselves.
How difficult is it to get a book published by a commercial book publisher? Well the odds are better gambling in Las Vegas. It has been estimated that 25 million people in the United States consider themselves writers and only 5% have been published anywhere. At any one time 5 to 6 million manuscripts are looking for a publishing home.
Most major book publishing houses, and many small presses, will not accept submissions that arent represented by a literary agent. During the research of The Publishing Primer: A Blueprint for an Author's Success, we asked literary agents how many unsolicited query letters/proposals/sample chapters, they receive. For the typical agency it is close to 5000 per year. On the average these agents accepted only 11 new clients, thats about 1out of every 500 submissions.
Of course writers submit to more than one agency in the hopes of obtaining representation which makes the odds a little better, but not much.
It has been estimated that the five large book publishing companies, Random House Inc., Penguin USA, Simon & Schuster, Time Warner and HarperCollins, account for nearly eighty percent of all book sales in the US. This has occurred for the same reasons any other industry goes through consolidation: by combining certain administrative or staff functions, costs can be reduced and profits increased. Publishing, relative to many other industries, has not enjoyed a high Return on Investment (ROI) for investors. Now, book publishers are much more focused on having every single book they publish be profitable. This means a more risk averse philosophy, with a preference for publishing authors with successful track records--a sound business strategy.
How to get a book published by a commercial book publisher isn't an easy task, but with perseverance and a good book you can do it.
BONUS : How To Get A New York Publisher
When you look at the numbers, its clear that the New York publishing scene is a tough nut to crack. The reality is that with 83% of Americans wanting to write a book, the competition for a publishers attention is steep. So whats an author to do? Well, if your attempts for finding a traditional publisher arent bringing any results, maybe its time to think like a publisher, instead of an author.
Writing a book is the easy part, and while publishers look at writing style and voice, theres a whole lot more that goes into a successful book than just how well its written. When it comes to success, a publisher looks at this much differently than an author does. Truth be told, a publisher gauges a books potential success largely by the author.
Now dont misunderstand me, theres market consideration as well, but the authors salability is looked at very closely. What we refer to as a platform is something all authors need to have, regardless of their target market. A platform is not who you know, but who knows you. Its your area of influence. A platform can be any of the following:
Your business
Your fan base
Speaking gigs you have coming up
Your email list of potential buyers (i.e. fans)
Your website (if your site is drawing traffic and capturing email addresses)
How well youre known in your market
If youre new to the book world (meaning this is your first book) you may not have a single item on the above list in your vault of marketing tools. Thats okay. Nows the time to build them.
The next piece of this is to write for a market. Over the years Ive seen countless authors write a book on something for which there is no market. They believe their book will create the market. This wont happen. Ever. First, if youre self-publishing a book you probably dont have the funds available to you to create a market even if you wanted to. You may respond to this by saying, Yeah, but new markets are created every day. And yes, this is true; whats also true is that while it may seem that these are new markets, they were in fact already existing but, perhaps, untapped. Finding these markets can cost you a fortune in consumer research, advertising, product/book placement, etc.
When a company like Coca-Cola decides to put out a brand new product, you can bet that millions of dollars has gone into this prior to the launch. When authors come to me and say, I have a great idea and its never been done before, I suspect theres a reason why, a publisher will too. Now, lets say that youve done the research, youve spent years working in this arena and you know there are readers out there. Millions of them. If this is the case then Id suggest you show up armed with your (current) research and data.
The ability to self-publish your book has (thankfully) brought a number of books to the attention of a traditional publisher that might have otherwise gone overlooked. Why? Because publishers like what other people like. If you have a book that youve self-published and its done well, a publisher might consider this for commercial access as well. By commercial I mean consumer, trade paperback, mass market. The key is to keep a close eye on the track record of the book and document your success. This form of documentation will later become the resume you use to entice a publisher into considering your book.
I was talking to an author the other day who had a great idea. He had a hard time getting a traditional publisher interested in his book, so he self-published with the intent of getting a major house to publish him. With that he mind he solicited referral letters from bookstores. Why bookstores? Because if you can get a bookstore excited about your book and tell publishers it flew off the shelves, youll be a step closer to piquing a publishers interest. Why? Well many (if not all) publishers will solicit advice from booksellers on the sales potential of a book theyre considering. They do this because they know that the bookseller is front and center with the consumer every day. They see what sells and what doesnt. Having a bookstore (preferably several) in your corner could be a tremendous thing for your future and the future of your book.
And finally, lets be realistic. With 500 books published each day in the U.S., the competition is fierce for gaining the buyers attention. Your book is your resume and because of this, it needs to be letter perfect. You should never wait for a traditional publisher to come along and polish your book, it should be gleaming with perfection. Yes, there are always things youll want to change after its published, but having a book thats edited with a cover that sparkles will not only get you noticed by a publisher, but by your reader as well. And in the end, its the reader we must reach. Once you do, the world will beat a path to your door.
When you look at the numbers, its clear that the New York publishing scene is a tough nut to crack. The reality is that with 83% of Americans wanting to write a book, the competition for a publishers attention is steep. So whats an author to do? Well, if your attempts for finding a traditional publisher arent bringing any results, maybe its time to think like a publisher, instead of an author.
Writing a book is the easy part, and while publishers look at writing style and voice, theres a whole lot more that goes into a successful book than just how well its written. When it comes to success, a publisher looks at this much differently than an author does. Truth be told, a publisher gauges a books potential success largely by the author.
Now dont misunderstand me, theres market consideration as well, but the authors salability is looked at very closely. What we refer to as a platform is something all authors need to have, regardless of their target market. A platform is not who you know, but who knows you. Its your area of influence. A platform can be any of the following:
Your business
Your fan base
Speaking gigs you have coming up
Your email list of potential buyers (i.e. fans)
Your website (if your site is drawing traffic and capturing email addresses)
How well youre known in your market
If youre new to the book world (meaning this is your first book) you may not have a single item on the above list in your vault of marketing tools. Thats okay. Nows the time to build them.
The next piece of this is to write for a market. Over the years Ive seen countless authors write a book on something for which there is no market. They believe their book will create the market. This wont happen. Ever. First, if youre self-publishing a book you probably dont have the funds available to you to create a market even if you wanted to. You may respond to this by saying, Yeah, but new markets are created every day. And yes, this is true; whats also true is that while it may seem that these are new markets, they were in fact already existing but, perhaps, untapped. Finding these markets can cost you a fortune in consumer research, advertising, product/book placement, etc.
When a company like Coca-Cola decides to put out a brand new product, you can bet that millions of dollars has gone into this prior to the launch. When authors come to me and say, I have a great idea and its never been done before, I suspect theres a reason why, a publisher will too. Now, lets say that youve done the research, youve spent years working in this arena and you know there are readers out there. Millions of them. If this is the case then Id suggest you show up armed with your (current) research and data.
The ability to self-publish your book has (thankfully) brought a number of books to the attention of a traditional publisher that might have otherwise gone overlooked. Why? Because publishers like what other people like. If you have a book that youve self-published and its done well, a publisher might consider this for commercial access as well. By commercial I mean consumer, trade paperback, mass market. The key is to keep a close eye on the track record of the book and document your success. This form of documentation will later become the resume you use to entice a publisher into considering your book.
I was talking to an author the other day who had a great idea. He had a hard time getting a traditional publisher interested in his book, so he self-published with the intent of getting a major house to publish him. With that he mind he solicited referral letters from bookstores. Why bookstores? Because if you can get a bookstore excited about your book and tell publishers it flew off the shelves, youll be a step closer to piquing a publishers interest. Why? Well many (if not all) publishers will solicit advice from booksellers on the sales potential of a book theyre considering. They do this because they know that the bookseller is front and center with the consumer every day. They see what sells and what doesnt. Having a bookstore (preferably several) in your corner could be a tremendous thing for your future and the future of your book.
And finally, lets be realistic. With 500 books published each day in the U.S., the competition is fierce for gaining the buyers attention. Your book is your resume and because of this, it needs to be letter perfect. You should never wait for a traditional publisher to come along and polish your book, it should be gleaming with perfection. Yes, there are always things youll want to change after its published, but having a book thats edited with a cover that sparkles will not only get you noticed by a publisher, but by your reader as well. And in the end, its the reader we must reach. Once you do, the world will beat a path to your door.
