I Have My Manuscript, Now What? A Look at the World of
Publishing
You've spent endless nights hammering away at your book. You've
rewritten it, you've edited it, and you had it professionally
proofed. Your baby is finally done and you're ready to send your
precious manuscript off to a publisher, thinking that writing it
was the hardest part. Wrong!
Actually, getting your blood, sweat and tears published may be
the hardest part of the whole process. You'll need to determine
if a publisher will be required, or if you'd rather self-publish
your book. There are pros and cons to both sides, some of which
are discussed below.
To work with a publisher, you'll need to send out query letters
and/or a book proposal. This is a letter or a few pages briefly
describing your text, why it is unique, characteristics of your
target market and how you can help market the book. Most
publishers don't accept unsolicited manuscripts, so you'll need
to convince them to read yours. If they request that you forward
your entire manuscript, you have one foot in the door. Be
prepared to send more than one query and don't expect a response
next week.
There are writer's guides that serve as excellent resources to
find publishers who specialize in your particular genre. These
guides list the percentage of new authors published as well as
the percentage of sales they pay. You may find pay rates ranging
from 5-10% of sales. Some pay on wholesale sales and others on
the retail amount. Do the math. Perhaps your book will retail
for $14.95 and the publisher will pay 6% on retail. This means
you will earn 90 cents per book sold. Of course don't forget
that the publisher is doing all the printing, distributing, and
marketing of your text.
Another route you may want to consider is self-publishing. You
will be responsible for all the printing, distributing and
marketing costs involved, but you will also get to retain all
the profits. There are book printing companies as well as
companies that specialize in assisting the self-publisher
through every step along the way.
Finally, there's age old debate about which method is better;
using a publishing company or self publishing your own book. You
know your situation and you know what will work best for you.
You'll want to consider how much time or money you have to
invest in the project. That should give you an idea which route
to take. Using a publisher takes less time on your part, but
you'll forfeit some of the royalties by using this method. If
you self publish, you'll have to pay "up front" and do the
initial work to get the ball rolling on sales of your book.
Either way, publishing is your call. With a little persistance
and hard work you CAN get your book to Market. So, go for it!!