My company, Wood Lily Publishers, received a call the other day from a person interested in getting published. Their loaded question, “How do I get published?”, caught me off guard for a moment. My mind raced frantically trying to sum up in a short answer all the information I had learned over the last fifteen years about the publishing industry. Where to start? What to suggest? What to say? The short answer is – find a publisher and submit your manuscript. This is not what the person was asking – the more refined question was, “How do I find a publisher?”.
A new writer might wish to seek out a writer’s group to present their work and have it critiqued. Writer’s groups offer information sharing and topics of how to get published, which most often dominate the round table discussions at group meetings.
A library is an excellent resource, as they have lots of books on how to get published, market listings, and contest information. Make friends with a local school librarian, and they can share the publisher’s catalogues which they order from. These display the titles the publisher produces, and contact information.
Visit local bookstores to find out what writing conferences are coming up in your area. Attending writing conferences and joining the writing and publishing associations that put them on is an excellent resource. Many writing associations have web sites which have link pages to publishers.
Local Authors are great to talk with if they are doing a signing at a bookstore or event. They enjoy talking with other writers and will share information and are truly appreciative in your interest (especially if you purchase their book).
The Internet is a vast resource. It’s tough though if a person doesn’t know what to search for. If a writer is seeking a local publisher, they may not know the name of the company. Some key phrases might be: “submission guidelines“, “(your country) Book Publishers”, “Publishers in (your local area)”. Your local government web site might also offer information on getting published, especially if you look up “Getting an ISBN number”, “Books Published (in your country/area)”, “Copy writing your book”.
Finally, search the Internet for online publishing and writers groups, forums, blogs, and social networking sites. There is a vast amount of information published in all of these areas.
As a side note, it is getting really tough these days on the Internet to distinguish the difference between a traditional publisher (a publishing company will offer a contract/royalties to purchase and market your book) and print-on-demand (POD) publishers (A company who will take your work and produce it in limited runs. You pay the complete cost of production – you self publish and market the book).
If a company suggests you send in your manuscript and they will supply a quote, then you haven’t found a traditional publisher. Traditional Publisher sites have Submission Guideline pages, found normally under their “About” or “For Authors” pages.
Patricia L. Atchison,
Publisher, Wood Lily Publishers
Tags: Getting Published, Manuscript Submission, submitting manuscripts to publishers
