Getting Your Book Published For Dummies

Sarah Parsons Zackheim, Adrian Zackheim

• Publisher: For Dummies
• Year: 2011
• ISBN:
  9781118053621
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Authorship
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

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.

Table of contents

• Title
• Contents
• Introduction
• Part I : Getting Started
• Chapter 1: The Idea. It’s the Heart of Your Book
• Chapter 2: Evaluating Your Idea
• Chapter 3: Refining Your Idea: The Realities of Writing
• Chapter 4: Categorically Speaking
• Part II : Knocking on the Publisher’s Door
• Chapter 5: How a Book Gets Bought
• Chapter 6: The Right Submission Strategy for You
• Part III : Preparing the Package: Book Proposals and Query Letters That Sell
• Chapter 7: Query Letters That Get Attention
• Chapter 8: Preparing Submission Materials That Sell
• Part IV : Taking It Public: A Strategic Approach to Placing Your Book
• Chapter 9: Battle-Tested Submission Tactics
• Chapter 10: How to Choose a Publisher
• Chapter 11: Acting as Your Own Agent
• Chapter 12: Going the Agent Route
• Chapter 13: Publishing Outside of the Box
• Part V : Home at Last! Negotiation and Contract
• Chapter 14: The Offer
• Chapter 15: The Negotiation
• Chapter 16: The Contract
• Part VI : After the Deal Is Done
• Chapter 17: Know the Players
• Chapter 18: Creating the Actual Book
• Chapter 19: Selling Your Book
• Chapter 20: Publication and Beyond
• Part VII : The Part of Tens
• Chapter 21: Ten Excuses Publishers Give for Turning Down Book Proposals
• Chapter 22: Ten Clauses to Watch in Your Contract
• Chapter 23: Ten Common Errors in Dealing with an Agent and/or Editor
• Chapter 24: Ten Top-Selling Books of All Time