Steps to Getting a Book Published for the First Time

Being published is the shared dream of nearly any writer who has touched pen to paper or fingers to keys, getting published for the first time can seem a little daunting however. If you’ve daydreamed of your creation sitting on a bookstore’s shelf, you’ve certainly faced the struggle of jockeying for a publisher’s attention; or at least heard the good-intentioned but demeaning, “You have more chance of going to the moon than getting published.”

Though it may seem so, being published isn’t impossible. If you can keep your nerve, you’ll one day have that freshly bound hardcover in your hands. The first plunge is truly the hardest, and there are some steps to follow and tips to keep in mind when working towards your goal.

When most writers think of getting published, they imagine slaving over a manuscript with a whiskey glass in one hand and a cigarette the other. Then they pull the final page from a typewriter, put the entire manuscript in a thick envelope, and send it off to the publishers – their job is done! Time to wait for the royalties to come!

Now, don’t feel bad, because most of us think of it this way. However, the process of publishing becomes more scientific and less artistic the moment the book is done. Having a thorough understanding of what it entails could be the difference between a good-selling book and a great-selling book.

So let’s break it down. First, you have to finish your manuscript in its entirety. You get to keep your typewriter and your cigarette for this part, but things change from the moment it gets put in the thick envelope onward. Let’s start here.

Getting Published: The Steps Involved

Agents

Publishing houses are extremely busy. You’ve heard how everyone wants to publish a novel someday, right? Publishing houses have heard it too and they can attest to its truthfulness.

This means they have more manuscripts than they know what to do with and while some are the next best seller, most of them are the literary version of crayon sketches on the walls. So they rely on agents to fish out what truly is the best, on a smaller scale.

This brings the publishers a few thousand manuscripts instead of a few million. It’s common for publishers to not accept queries from anyone but agents.

Generally, a book needs an agent before it can be accepted into a publishing house – this is not always the case, but it is usually.

Editors

This part happens behind closed doors. Once the agent has convinced a publishing house to take the book under consideration, the editor makes the calls from there on.

Editors do more than just edit; they are basically the chief in this equation. They decide whether to keep the book once they’ve been pitched it and they are the ones who pitch it to other members of the publishing house to see if it has potential.

They contact the marketing division and the artists, and all the worker bees of the publishing hive to get the ball rolling. If the editor decides it’s good, then you’re pretty much sold.

The Contract

Now the process takes a turn and comes back into the writer’s view, and this can be the last time it does until you see your book in print.

This is where the actual deal is struck; it will be the determining factor in how you and your book are treated, or whether you’re kicked to the curb.

With your agent present, you’ll meet with the editor and go over the details of the contract, determining royalties, what can be changed, and all that jazz.

This is still a teetering edge because while the book has now caught the publisher’s attention, it is only one of many that have. Several hundred books are published by major publishing companies each year.

So while you’ve stepped out of the league with the millions of aspiring authors, you’ve stepped into the league of hundreds (or thousands) of first-time published authors.

So a deal is struck, and once the contract is signed, the book is officially property of the publishing house – not the author.

The copyright stays, but the ownership does not. The author has now been paid for their time and will be paid in royalties at a later date.

There are occasions, mostly with more well-known authors, where they have a say in the process (choosing a cover, rejecting alterations, etc.), but it’s not common. When this happens, they’re usually allowed to offer suggestions, but not decisions.

Structural Editing

Sinking back out of the view of the writer, the book is taken and tossed into the grinder. Metaphorically.

If there are plot inconsistencies, scenes and characters that need to be added or cut or any other amendments; the book will generally be sent back to the author for these revisions. At this point, the editor will be working very closely with the author to see these alterations through.

The writer is usually required to make these corrections whether they like it or not, as it is a term agreed upon in the contract.

However, very few authors make a fuss and usually, the changes are not drastic. Some publishers will be harsher than others, but for the most part, an editor would not accept a book that is in need of an entire rewrite. Meaning what does need changing is relatively unimportant.

For example, JK Rowling originally made Ron Weasley (from her series, Harry Potter) a lot more vulgar, cursing far beyond his iconic “bloody hell.” The editor insisted Rowling change it to better suit the younger age group her book was targeting which Rowling did without complaint.

Likewise, things like character names and the book title can be altered at the advisement of the marketing team (which will be covered later, but the marketing team is working at the same time as the editorial team.) Publishing is a science, not an art, so an editor will be inclined to adjust things to benefit the marketing and, inherently, the sales.

Copy Editing

After the structural editing has been finished, a team of copy editors will go over it with a fine-toothed comb. Copy editing is one of the most intense parts of the editing process as it evaluates the actual readability.

They will fix sentence structure, take out typos and misspells correct punctuation and grammar errors and generally polish and refine it. Usually, the process is not too laborious as error-filled books are stopped at the door with the editor or even the agent.

Construction (cover, typesetting, etc.)

Back behind closed doors, this portion usually takes place at the same time as the editing. Cover designers will be busy with the artistic science process of creating a cover that will be both visually appealing and wise for sales.

The latter requires them to work closely with the marketing team so that their creation zeros in on the targeted audience.

Sometimes covers are commissioned from outside artists or photographers, but other times the designers are in-house.

Meanwhile, the book will be undergoing a formatting process known as typesetting. This prepares the interior to have the proper indentations, font, font size, centering on the page and things of that nature, so the book looks like… a book.

This is usually a straightforward process if the manuscript is purely text, but if images are included a plethora of other factors must be determined.

Creating a dust jacket comes after along with deciding on the quality of paper – stark white or cream, thick pages like hardcovers or thin like short stories? The penultimate stage is the binding and casing process, which puts the book into an actual book-like form.

Marketing Your book

The marketing process is arguably the most important part of publishing a book because it determines whether or not all the hard work of the editors, designers, and the authors has been worth-while. If the book doesn’t sell, then no money is made and no fans are created.

The marketing team will be working hand in hand with almost all the departments to ensure the best marketing plan is created to match the best book manageable.

Statistics

The team starts from the beginning, determining the targeted audience and the best release dates. For example, a romantic comedy would have its highest sales on Valentine’s Day and the marketing team will be the ones to determine this.

If the romantic comedy is centered around a Christmas vacation, then the team will determine whether releasing on Christmas or Valentine’s Day is the most profitable.

They’ll bring in the statistics that decide if the title should be changed, what the cover art should resemble, what genre the book is best suited for, what sort of readers to target and things of that nature.

Advertising/Promoting

Additionally, as the release date grows nearer, the team will be using all the resources available for promoting the release, drumming up excitement and attention with potential fans.

Social media is a ragingly popular platform for advertising; the marketing team will be reaching out to possible readers and gaining attention by showing off the cover, revealing chapter sneak peeks and creating book trailers.

Book trailers offer excerpts, music that matches the tone of the book, relevant scenery, and sometimes actors representing characters to grab readers’ attention.

Pre-Release

As part of the marketing plan, publishing houses will often send out early or pre-proofread editions of the book to reviewers.

At this point, the book is bound, edited and has a cover that may or may not be the official version; however, it may still contain the stray error here and there. Most reviewers are understanding and excited to have an early peek, so they will overlook any small infractions. This spreads positive advertisement for the book, as reviewers will (hopefully) be giving positive reviews, encouraging attention from potential readers.

Proofreading

Finally, the final eyes go over the text to make sure it’s perfect. Once the book has been bound, it has an entirely different look to the reader. This makes it easier for editors, authors, and the official proofreaders to catch any small errors the copy editors may have overlooked.

Production

With all the corrections made and all the details finalized, the book will finally go to print. Automated machinery will print text onto paper, bind paper into book form, place the printed cover onto the book, and make it official.

Most publishing houses determine a number of books needed to be sold in order to turn a profit and will print out the amount required for the initial release. This creates the “first edition”. Should more be needed, a “second edition” will be printed to meet the demands.

Book Release

Now the book has been officially “published”, having gone to print, and will be distributed to bookshops or other stores that sell books.

The marketing team’s efforts come into full swing in determining which bookstores should carry it, the pricing, what sort of sales it should offer, and if the author should make an appearance for a signing or an interview.

10 Tips For Getting Published

1. Bring your book as close to perfect as you can manage.

Now you’ve created your masterpiece, and you want to send it out into the world! But whoa, Nelly, finishing the book isn’t the end. Having a manuscript that is revised, proofread, and test-read is imperative in getting it to print.

Publishers can be rather unforgiving with pieces that haven’t been maximized to their full potential. First impressions are everything, and a bad first impression with a publisher can be a shooting your writing career in the foot. Once the first draft is done, don’t rush into publishing; take the time to consider it, rewrite it, edit it, and get second opinions before moving on.

2. Don’t be afraid to seek out help.

The help of friends and self-editing is instrumental, but don’t shy away from obtaining a professional eye. Hiring a proofreader can be the deciding factor between a rejected manuscript and an accepted one. Perhaps a misplaced comma or spelling error is minor, but if your publisher is off-put by an error disturbing the momentum, you may lose that perfect deal.

3. Create a reputation.

“If I had already been published, I wouldn’t need this list,” you say. True, but I’m talking on a smaller scale – a less successful scale, but a valuable one nonetheless.

Particularly when you’re aiming for a famous publishing company, having a few references in your belt is important. Write flash fiction for analogs. Submit smaller pieces to contests which offer a prize of posting your work on their site. Self-publish nonfiction, articles, and/or short stories. Ghost write for other authors — even if you can’t reference the particular books, publishing companies will be impressed by your experience.

A new writer who has no experience vs. a new writer with writing references… They’ll be more willing to try their luck on someone who has a bit of history.

4. Do your research.

The internet is your friend, so take advantage of this wealth of information by Googling different publishing companies who are looking for submissions. Their website usually lists authors they’ve worked with, books they’ve published, and their general prestige. Make sure they’re reputable before sending off your manuscript born of sweat and tears. You could end up having your work stolen otherwise, and you’d be surprised how difficult plagiarism is to prove.

5. Create a solid query.

There are several templates to be found online for creating a query. Make sure you follow the regulations; most publishers will discard queries which are not properly formatted. They’re busy people; they cannot have mercy on every submission and will weed out those which are not 100% up to par.

6. Don’t be sparing in your queries.

The math is in your favor – if you send out 300 queries, the odds are one will respond, rather than if you only sent out 10. Every famous author has their horrible accounts of rejection letter after rejection letter, but those who were accepted were ones who persisted despite this.

Make sure you’re sending your queries to publishers in the right genre – sending your paranormal romance to a historical fiction adventure publishing company will likely bear no fruit. Focus your efforts, but don’t be afraid to exhaust every opportunity on your selected path.

7. Follow the guidelines.

Just as important as properly formatting your query letter, it’s crucial to research the publisher’s submission guidelines, following them precisely. Those rules are there for a reason, and after long days of reading manuscripts, a publisher will not be generous if you didn’t put in the simple effort of reading their guidelines.

8. Presentation is everything.

If a publisher responds to your query, scream into a pillow, do some flailing jumps, some awkward dance moves, breathe, and then sit down to reply. Don’t be afraid to show the publisher your enthusiasm, but in a composed fashion. Gushing with emoticons will make you look unprofessional, and publishing is indeed a business to be treated seriously. Reply with rationed excitement and be objective. This will form respect between you and your publisher, making the business relationship bloom instead of dying on the vine.

9. Be quick in communications.

This is an important business tactic no matter the field, and being published is no exception. If you wish for your work to be a success, you have to hang onto the pole once the publisher bites the bait; making them wait hours or – worse — days for a reply will discourage them from working with you. Take your publishing deal seriously, so they will be motivated to take your book seriously as well.

10. Be willing to make compromises.

It may be your baby; you may have worked hard on it; you may want the publisher to get down on one knee before they ask for rights to it. But we’ve all heard of the author who has their book adapted to a movie but has zero say in its creation. There are a few reasons why authors agree to this. They wanted the money, they wanted the honor of having their book adapted, and they wanted to share their work in a new medium.

They made a compromise – not getting perfection in exchange for getting something very valuable.

When a publisher contacts you, they may make some conditions you’re displeased with — cutting a scene, changing the title, ect. ’t be a doormat – some publishing companies may wish to undercut you – but be willing to compromise.

Weigh the options and be open to making concessions in exchange for having your work published. In the end, having the book in your hands will make the deleted scenes or the different cover worthwhile – the screaming elation doesn’t lessen because of those acceptable changes.

Conclusion:

Getting published is a hard and sometimes lengthy long process, but it is obtainable. If you have the determination and the persistence, you can strive and achieve your goal. Then you’ve done it — you’ve gotten published, and your book can sit as a great accomplishment on the shelf forever. These eleven tips will put you well on your way.

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About the author

Cheyenne DeBorde is a freelance wordsmith who has ghost written several published historical fiction novellas and adventure-horror short stories. She works as an editor and content writer while endeavoring to publish a novel under her own name.