Getting Your Book Published For Dummies E-Book

Sarah Parsons Zackheim

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Bildung
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 554

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011

Beschreibung

There's never been a better time to be an author! Books like the Harry Potter series create a media phenomenon, with people lining up and camping outside bookstores to purchase newly released titles. Yet book sales overall - not just those of mega-sellers - are on the rise, as more and more people seek knowledge and entertainment through reading. The Library of Congress currently registers about 60,000 new titles for copyright each year. 60,000 books by 60,000 authors. Imagine yourself as one. Getting Your Book Published For Dummies is your complete guide to realizing whatever gem of an idea you've been carrying with you. If you've ever thought, "this would make a really good book," be it the next great American novel or a guide to naming babies, here's your chance to put pen to paper and find out! Written from both sides of the editor's desk - by a widely published writer and a HarperCollins veteran publisher - this guide puts in your hand the advice you need to: * Pick an idea * Approach the publisher * Craft proposals and queries * Work with agents, or act as your own * Self-publish * Negotiate a contract * Create the actual book * Sell your published book Full of examples, proposals, query letters, and war stories drawn from the authors' extensive experience, Getting Your Book Published For Dummies shows you how to clear all the hurdles faced by today's writers - freeing up precious time for you to refine your manuscript. You'll get the inside scoop on: * Titling your book * Major publishers, smaller houses, niche publishers, university presses, and spiritual and religious publishers * The 12 elements of a successful nonfiction proposal * How editors read queries * Submitting fiction * Publishing outside the box * And much more Getting Your Book Published For Dummies is the clear, A-Z handbook that makes the entire process plain and practicable. You don't need to be a celebrity. You don't need to be some kind of publishing insider. All you need to do is write.

Leseprobe

Getting Your Book Published For Dummies

by Sarah Parsons Zackheim with Adrian Zackheim

Foreword by Nelson DeMille

Getting Your Book Published For Dummies®

Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc.909 Third Avenue New York, NY 10022www.wiley.com

Copyright © 2000 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Library of Congress Control Number.: 00-103366

ISBN: 978-0-7645-5257-1

Manufactured in the United States of America

20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12

1B/SS/QY/QS/IN

About the Authors

Sarah Parsons Zackheim worked in book publishing for nearly a decade before becoming a widely published freelance writer. Her tenure at several New York publishing firms, including Doubleday, New York Times Books, and William Morrow, provided invaluable insights as to exactly what publishers look for in submission materials. Ms. Zackheim has written four books as well as numerous articles for such magazines as Family Fun, Family Life, and Fairfield County. Acting as her own literary agent, she placed her third book with Three Rivers Press/Clarkson Potter for a six-figure advance.

Adrian Zackheim is currently Associate Publisher of the General Books Group at HarperCollins Publishers and Editor in Chief of HarperInformation. He began his publishing career in the promotion department at G.P. Putnam’s Sons in 1975 and since then has worked as an editor of fiction and nonfiction at St. Martin’s Press, Doubleday, William Morrow, and HarperCollins. Getting Your Book Published For Dummies is his first book.

The Zackheims live in Westport, Connecticut, with their two sons.

Dedication

To Alex Zackheim and David Parsons Zackheim — two extraordinarily wise and talented young men. Their amazing resilience inspires me to keep writing, keep submitting, and keep getting published.

Thanks, guys! This one’s for you.

Author’s Acknowledgments

The creation of a book takes more than just one person, and I’d like to thank all of the people who had a part in bringing this book to life: Susan Halligan for the initial recommendation, IMG agent Mark Reiter whose persistence paid off, acquiring editor Tami Booth, project editor extraordinaire Kelly Ewing, acquisitions editor Karen Young, and the talented Betsy Lerner who has faithfully read the entire book for accuracy. Last, but far from least, my partner in more than just the creation of this book, Adrian Zackheim, who has weathered many long days and nights at my side.

While to outsiders the world of book publishing may seem like an insular club of insensitive intellectuals who think nothing of firing off rejection letters, I can assure you that notion couldn’t be farther from the truth. From the moment I stepped into my first publishing job as an assistant in the promotion department at Doubleday & Company, I have had the good fortune to work with, meet socially, and get to know some of the kindest, smartest, most interesting people imaginable — and all of them love books! Thank you, all of you!

Nicholas Latimer, Lisa Drew, Alex Hoyt, Susan Knopf, David and Nancy Gernert, Bill Barry, Shaye Arehart, Nancy Tuckerman, Kate Medina, Sally Arteseros, Sam Vaughan, Ken Lang, Hugh and Betsy Howard, John and Judy Coyne, Jack and Karen McKeown, Vicky Bijur and Ed Levine, John Sargeant Jr., Kathleen Maloney and Dominick Abel, Elisabeth Scharlatt, Jonathon Segal, Ruth Fecych, Larry Hughes, Juris Jurjevics, Pam Altschul, Adrienne Ingram, Jody Hotchkiss, Joni Evans, Wayne Kabak, Merrilee Heifetz and Brian DeFiore, Laureen Rowland, Liza Dawson, Roger Cooper, Sandy Dijkstra, Molly Friedrich, Joy Harris, Paul Bresnick, Carol Mann, Jim Fitzgerald, Helen Rees, Rafe Sagalyn, Larry Norton, Kim Witherspoon, Diane Reverand, Frank Albanese, Larry Ashmead, Jim Fox, Richard Cariello, Beverly Crilley, Lisa Herling, Dan Halpern, Cathy Hemming, Jane Friedman, Mark Gompertz, Dan Farley, Roger Scholl, Steve Ross, Jacques de Spoelberch, Pam Krauss, Lorraine Shanley, Connie Sayer, Mary Ellen Curley, Edwin Tan, Lisa Berkowitz, Steven Sorrentino, Susan Weinberg, Marjorie Braman, Janet Dery, Kirsten Sandburg, Michael Morrison, David Steinberger, Megan Will, and my favorite Italian publisher (and dear friend) Marcella Marini.

Publisher’s Acknowledgments

We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our online registration form located at www.dummies.com/register

Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development

Project Editor: Kelly Ewing

Associate Acquisitions Editor: Karen S. Young

Acquisitions Coordinator: Lisa Roule

General Reviewer: Betsy Lerner

Editorial Director: Kristin A. Cocks

Editorial Coordinator: Michelle Hacker

Production

Project Coordinator: Maridee Ennis

Layout and Graphics: , Amy Adrian, Matt Coleman, Brian Torwelle, Tracy K. Oliver, Jill Piscitelli, Brent Savage, Brandon Yarwood, Erin Zeltner

Proofreaders: Corey Bowen, John Greenough, Susan Moritz, Marianne Santy, Charles Spencer

Indexer: Janet Perlman

Special Help Amanda M. Foxworth

Publishing and Editorial for Consumer Dummies

Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher, Consumer Dummies

Joyce Pepple, Acquisitions Director, Consumer Dummies

Kristin A. Cocks, Product Development Director, Consumer Dummies

Michael Spring, Vice President and Publisher, Travel

Brice Gosnell, Publishing Director, Travel

Suzanne Jannetta, Editorial Director, Travel

Publishing for Technology Dummies

Richard Swadley, Vice President and Executive Group Publisher

Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher

Composition Services

Gerry Fahey, Vice President of Production Services

Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services

Foreword

A s a best-selling author, I get hundreds of letters a year from readers regarding my novels. At least a third of those letter writers ask me to read their manuscripts, help them find an agent or publisher, or simply ask the question: How do I get published?

My own history is no guide to getting published — I was just lucky and talented.

When I first started writing in 1974, there were few “How to Get Published” books on the market, and, in retrospect, the ones I read didn’t help much.

Nevertheless, when I get requests for help, I usually answer by saying, “Go to your bookstore or library and find a book on the subject.”

There was no specific book I could recommend. Until now. Getting Your Book Published For Dummies may be the one totally reader-friendly, comprehensive, and actually useful book on a very difficult and sometimes emotional subject.

I’ve been in the writing business for over 25 years, yet, as I read this book, I actually learned some new things, especially in the section titled The Part of Tens. Thus, this book can be extremely useful to published authors and could be called Getting Your Book Published Right For Dummies.

And if, God forbid, I was starting all over again, this book would be my bible.

I especially enjoyed the clean and open format of the presentation as well as the crisp, concise, and clear writing. Referencing is easy, and the advice is straightforward, without either talking down to the reader, or presupposing any knowledge of publishing jargon.

This is a book that, I suspect, will be bought not only by the aspiring writer, but for the aspiring writer. If other authors get as many questions as I do from friends and family about how to get published, they can arm themselves with this book and hand it to the friend or relative and say, “Read this.”

For less close acquaintances, I would recommend, “Go out and buy Getting Your Book Published For Dummies.”

Rarely does a book become an instant standard in its field, and rarely does a book say the things you would say about a subject you know well, and more rarely will a book say it all — plus some — in such an engaging way.

After reading Getting Your Book Published For Dummies, I felt as though someone had organized my thoughts for me and said what I would say to a good friend who needed my help getting published.

Nelson DeMille

Contents

Title

Introduction

About This Book

How to Use This Book

How This Book is Organized

Icons Used in This Book

Where to Go from Here

Part I : Getting Started

Chapter 1: The Idea. It’s the Heart of Your Book

Three Main Reasons to Get Published

Ideas Are All Around You

Chapter 2: Evaluating Your Idea

Is It a Book, a Magazine Article, or an Encyclopedia?

Who Is Your Audience?

Tailor Your Content

Deliver Their Money’s Worth

What’s Your Competition?

Timing Is Everything

Chapter 3: Refining Your Idea: The Realities of Writing

The Realities of Writing

Do You Need a Collaborator?

Platform: Are You Qualified to Write the Book?

Adding Value to Your Book

Your Title Is Your Best Advertisement

Chapter 4: Categorically Speaking

Getting Inside the Different Types of Fiction

Breaking Nonfiction into Categories

Part II : Knocking on the Publisher’s Door

Chapter 5: How a Book Gets Bought

The Players

The Acquisition Process in Action

Chapter 6: The Right Submission Strategy for You

Approaching a Publisher

The Strategies

Part III : Preparing the Package: Book Proposals and Query Letters That Sell

Chapter 7: Query Letters That Get Attention

How an Editor Reads Your Query

Elements of a Great Query Letter

Online Query Letters

Chapter 8: Preparing Submission Materials That Sell

The 12 Elements of a Successful Nonfiction Proposal

The Fiction Submission

Part IV : Taking It Public: A Strategic Approach to Placing Your Book

Chapter 9: Battle-Tested Submission Tactics

Get the Editor’s Name

Use the Industry’s Best Sources

Make a Copy

Make Sure That Your Submission Is First Rate

Skip the SASE

Be Agreeable

Be Responsive

Be Thorough

Chapter 10: How to Choose a Publisher

Publishers, Publishers

Narrowing the Search

An Inside Look at the Major Publishing Houses

Chapter 11: Acting as Your Own Agent

You Can Be Your Own Agent

What You Need to Know

An Auction

Chapter 12: Going the Agent Route

How an Agent Works

What an Agent Can Do For You

How to Get an Agent

The Problems with Agents

Choosing an Agent Who’s Right for You

A Survey of Literary Agents

Small Agencies/Solo Practitioners

Chapter 13: Publishing Outside of the Box

Commercial Publishing Isn’t the Only Way

The Advantages of Self-Publishing

The Disadvantages of Self-Publishing

Self-Publishing, Step by Step

Subsidy or Vanity Publishers

Book Packagers

Electronic Publishing: The Wave of the Future

Part V : Home at Last! Negotiation and Contract

Chapter 14: The Offer

What’s an Offer?

Items You Should Ask About

Chapter 15: The Negotiation

Be Alert

Know What You Need to Write the Book

Use an Intermediary to Negotiate

Negotiating on Your Own Behalf

Chapter 16: The Contract

What Is a Contract?

The Clauses in a Contract

Sample Contract

Part VI : After the Deal Is Done

Chapter 17: Know the Players

It Takes Team Work

The Heart of Any Publishing House: Editorial

Production: Paper, Printing, Binding, and Magic

Marketing and Sales: From the Printing Press to the Customer

Distribution: Out into the World

Support Departments: Behind the Scenes

Chapter 18: Creating the Actual Book

The Editor: Your Guide

Delivering Your Manuscript

Manuscript Editing

Responding to an Annotated Manuscript

Production Scheduling

Copy Editing

Sample Pages

First-Pass Pages

Proofreading

Dummy and Mechanical

Second-Pass Pages

Jacket Copy

The Blueprint

Finished Books

Chapter 19: Selling Your Book

The Crazy Way It Works

In the Beginning: Acquisition

Preselling

The Selling Process

In the Marketplace

Chapter 20: Publication and Beyond

Publication Day

Post Publication

Moving On

Part VII : The Part of Tens

Chapter 21: Ten Excuses Publishers Give for Turning Down Book Proposals

Your Subject Isn’t Suitable

We Already Have a Book Like This One

A Similar Book Didn’t Do Well

You Aren’t Enough of an Authority

You Don’t Possess the Skills to Write This Book

Your Proposal Is Not Well Written

The Audience Isn’t Large Enough

The Book Doesn’t Offer a Sufficient Promise to Readers

Your Book Is Too Expensive

The Format Isn’t Appealing

Chapter 22: Ten Clauses to Watch in Your Contract

The Payout: Time Is Money

Royalty Rate: It Adds Up

Deep Discount: Don’t Get Sunk

Delivery: Know What You Can Do

Territory: It’s a Big World

Sub Rights Split: Know What’s Fair

Permissions Cost: Let the Publisher Pay

Right of Termination: Be Vigilant about First Proceeds

Option: Don’t Be Tied and Bound

Electronic Rights: The Wave of the Future

Chapter 23: Ten Common Errors in Dealing with an Agent and/or Editor

Promise a Deadline and Fail to Meet It

Drop in Unexpectedly without an Appointment

Get Defensive and Debate Editorial Suggestions

Rewrite Your Manuscript in First-Pass Pages

Wait to Fill Out Your Bio Form

Disappear

When Sales Conference Looms, Lie about Your Schedule

Speak at Sales Conference

Cancel a Promotional Appearance on Short Notice

Allow Conflicts with Your Publisher to Fester

Chapter 24: Ten Top-Selling Books of All Time

1. Holy Bible King James Version

2. Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung by Mao Tse-Tung

3. The American Spelling Book by Noah Webster

4. Guinness 2000 Book of Records: Millennium Edition

5. McGuffeys First Eclectic Reader, by J. E. Thompson, William Holmes McGuffey

6. A Message to Garcia by Elbert Hubbard

7. World Almanac and Book of Facts 2000

8. Dr. Spock’s Baby and Child Care by Benjamin Spock, Steven Parker, Stephen Parker

9. Valley of the Dolls: A Novel by Jacqueline Susann

10. In His Steps “What Would Jesus Do?” by Charles Monroe Sheldon

Introduction

In 1999, more than 60,000 new titles were registered for copyright with the Library of Congress. Sixty thousand books by 60,000 authors. Next year, your book could be one of them. Imagine walking into a bookstore and seeing your name emblazoned on the jacket of a published book.

No one is born published. In fact, you have the same chance as the next person at getting your book into print. You just need to know how to make the publishing “system” work in your favor. As you might imagine, publishing has its own terminology, strategies, and conventions. In this book, I tell you what they are and how to work them to your advantage.

About This Book

This book is a tool intended to help previously unpublished authors get their books published. It’s aimed at a broad range of writers, from absolute beginners who have only daydreamed about writing a book, to dedicated novelists who have already completed one manuscript or even more. For all of you, and everyone in between, I offer a wealth of advice about how to move toward making your unpublished book a published reality.

Many of the world’s most successful writers wish a book like this one had been available when they were starting out. Pat Conroy, for example, would have saved some trouble for himself nearly 30 years ago when, at the age of 24, he sent the manuscript for his first book, The Water is Wide (Houghton-Mifflin, 1972), to his literary agent, Julian Bach. Bach sent the manuscript to dozens of publishers, and Conroy had almost given up hope when a call from Bach came out of the blue. “Pat, I have great news for you. It’s Houghton-Mifflin for $7,500.”

The novelist was thoughtful for a few moments and said, “But Julian, I couldn’t possibly afford that.”

Today, most writers expect to be paid for their work.

But the market for adult fiction and nonfiction — which is what this book covers — is a competitive place. To thrive, you need to understand how the business works from the inside.

And that’s exactly what I provide. I share my personal experience of placing four of my own books with major publishers — two of them without the help of a literary agent. I also enlist the insight of dozens of publishing insiders — agents, authors, editors, and other professionals — to show you how to make all the right moves: from coming up with a salable idea, placing it in front of the right editor, negotiating an advantageous publishing contract, and guaranteeing you the best possible publishing experience.

How to Use This Book

This book is a reference guide for anyone who wants to get published. You don’t need to read it from cover to cover. But if you do, it can work as a step-by-step guide to every stage of the publishing process: from the very beginning, when you decide to write a book and brainstorm book ideas, right up to helping your publisher market your book.

However, you can also read the book selectively, focusing only on the material that is helpful to you. The stages of the writing and publishing process are each covered in a part of the book, and each chapter breaks the stages into easy action steps that you can take to move your book from idea to proposal, to publishing deal, and so on. Browse the first few lines of each chapter and decide whether it applies to you. If not, just skip ahead to find the exact information you need. You can also locate answers to specific questions by searching the index at the back of the book.

Instead of relying solely on my own experience, I have assembled a collection of anecdotes and examples that offer several lifetimes worth of insight and wisdom from editors, publishers, and successful writers. The result is a road map through the publishing maze that can make your journey fun and profitable.

How This Book is Organized

This book is organized into seven parts.

Part I: Getting Started

Every book starts with an idea and builds from there. This part gets at your core book idea. What sort of book is inside you? What motivates you to write? How do you capture a vague notion and turn it into a book outline? It tells you how to brainstorm ideas, and, once you’ve narrowed your choices, it helps you evaluate the potential in your idea, develop a procedure for getting the words on paper, and think strategically about how to launch your idea into the world of publishing.

Part II: Knocking on the Publisher’s Door

This part is a crash course on the book publishing industry. How does a publishing house work and, more specifically, how is a publisher likely to view your book idea? With that in mind, I show you how to get your book idea in front of the right person to ensure the best outcome.

Part III: Preparing the Package: Book Proposals and Query Letters That Sell

For authors, your tools to break down the doors of publishing are limited. Whether you are famous and well connected or not, you’re going to need a killer query letter and a knockout book proposal in order to grab and hold a publisher’s attention. In this chapter, you see how to write an effective query letter when prospecting for a fiction or nonfiction submission. Then, once the door is open a crack, I show you how to write the kind of book proposal that sells. I provide examples of effective letters and proposals to help get your efforts on track. And I show you how to master the art of presenting yourself to the greatest possible advantage in these very special forms of writing.

Part IV: Taking it Public: A Strategic Approach to Placing Your Book

With the query letter and proposal drafted, you’re ready to go “live.” In this part, I share my battle-tested secrets for actually finding an appropriate editor or agent who is likely to respond to your work. I give you the inside skinny on every kind of publishing house, from the giant corporate publishers in New York, to the tiny firms that have been coming on so strong in the last few years. I also describe a range of literary agents, who they are, and what they’re likely to do with your book. I give you pointers on how to represent your work directly to publishers, without an agent. (In fact, this route is the only practical way to go for many first-time writers. It worked for me, and it can work for you!) Finally, I talk about alternate routes for getting published when the standard publishing arrangement doesn’t seem to fit — book packagers, subsidy presses, and the exploding world of e-books and online publishing.

Part V: Home at Last! Negotiation and Contract

For some writers, negotiating and signing contracts is the fun part. It feels like you’re home free. But beware. Most writers have never seen a publisher’s contract before they read their own. In this section, I tell what a publisher’s offer actually means and how to negotiate to get the best possible deal from a publisher. I also highlight what’s important in a publishing contract and what isn’t.

Part VI: After the Deal Is Done

In this part, I get specific about how a book is published today and how an author can improve the outcome. You find out what publishers can do and what they can’t, or won’t. And I show you how an author can be his or her own best advocate in today’s crowded media arena.

Part VII: The Part of Tens

Here, I share more tips and insights that improve your odds for a successful publishing outcome — mistakes to avoid when submitting your work to editors and agents, excuses publishers give when turning down your submission and what they really mean, errors authors make once their book is in the publishing pipeline, and even a list of top ten bestsellers of all time.

Icons Used in This Book

If there’s a hard way and an easier way, this icon marks the easier way.

Note this common blunder.

A nugget of information from a top professional.

If you remember nothing else in this book, please hold on to these points.

A typically difficult place in the process. I mark these so that you know you have plenty of company if this step seems hard.

Where to Go from Here

In purchasing this book, you have taken an important step toward realizing your goal. Congratulations. You probably already have a few book ideas, and you’d like to start thinking about whether one or more of them can be developed into a book. If so, skip Chapter 1 and move right on to Chapter 2. If you want suggestions on how to brainstorm ideas or fit your thoughts together into a potent book idea, jump right in to Chapter 1. Look within yourself and find the idea that will take your first book from the screen of your computer to the shelf of your nearest Barnes & Noble.

Part I

Getting Started

In this part . . .

A book begins as an idea and builds from there. In this part, you find out where book ideas come from and how to spot a good one when you see it. I clue you in to the important criteria publishers use to evaluate whether your idea has book potential and how best to get your idea on paper.

Chapter 1

The Idea. It’s the Heart of Your Book

In This Chapter

Finding the writer in you

Opening yourself to inspiration

Choosing a book idea

There’s never been a better time to be an author. Book sales are increasing, and more books, by a broader range of authors than ever before in history, are available. Bookstores are proliferating, from malls, to giant superstores, to the book tables at warehouse clubs and mass merchants. Internet book sales are exploding. And celebrities, like Oprah Winfrey with her televised book club, are making reading the “in thing.”