Publishing House

How To Publish A Book: The Journey Ahead

Publishing a book is tougher than you think it is. To begin with, you have to approach either a big publishing house or independent publishers to publish your book. They should preferably specialize in the genre of book that you are writing. After that, you have to write a query letter which, rather, is a sales letter more than anything else. In this letter, you have to actually sell your book, publicize it to an extent. In a few paragraphs, you have to convince the publishing house that you can write well, and the chances of generating profits through your book are high. If you have to make an outstanding first impression, make sure our letter is free of spelling or grammatical errors. It can't get worse if a publishing house rejects your manuscript just because your query letter created a bad impression on them.

Though each publishing house has its own process, I have tried to jot the basic structure that each publishing house follows. Initially, the acquisitions editor will read your query and your manuscript and determine whether your book has any potential. Incase they find the book worthy of publication, they will contact the author. In case the book rouses interest of the acquisitions editor, it is passed on to the review committee. They will, in turn decide whether it should go forward or should be rejected that very day. A green signal from their side implies that the book is going to go forward. Many a time, the acquisitions editor sends the book back to the author in order to have it edited. Either you can edit it yourself or you can have it edited by some other editing sources.

After the acquisition editor accepts the book, it goes ahead for a full edit. It will be critically analyzed regarding character flow, continuity, and story development. A copywriter takes care of the spelling, grammar and punctuation.

They may ask the author to bring about a number of changes in the book, after which, a contact is signed. But until the contact is signed, the book is theirs. Thereafter, you are assigned a copywriter who will help you to bring about the desired changes in the book. They will educate you regarding how to bring about changes in the book, so that it will look and sound more appealing to the readers.

Once a contact with traditional publisher is signed, you have given up your rights on the book. After this, the book goes for proof-reading before being formatted. When the book is in the final stages of printing, the marketing campaign begins. Eventually, the book is launched on the release date. This summarizes the long drawn process of the publication of a book.