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Finding a Publisher
With so many publishers out there, finding one for your book can be a big challenge. Start by finding the right type of publisher. Go to a library or bookstore and find where your type of book would be located. For example, if your book on non-fiction vacation travel, find the section and look at a few books to see who the publishers were. It will give you a better start on choosing which ones would possibly publish your work. Spending time writing letters and sending manuscripts to the wrong type of publisher is frustrating and can be discouraging. Amazon.com is another resource for finding publishers especially the smaller company publishers.
Proposal to Agent or Publisher
There are a few things to include in a proposal to an agent or publisher when sending a request. It should have a table of contents to go along with each of the elements. These are:
1. The title of the book
2. An overview of the book
-This is similar to the overview that is printed on the back of a book or on the inside cover
3. Your Biography
4. The Audience
5. Competition
6.Marketing and promotional aspects
7. Manuscript specifications
8. Outline
9. Sample chapters
This is just a guideline. Research the publisher or agent to see what they are looking for in a letter. This will give you a better chance of getting accepted for publishing.
Here is a list of minimum requirements needed for a query letter found at childrenspublishing.blogspot.com:
I found these sources helpful in finding agents to submit query letters to.
http://writersdigest.com/article/28-agents-who-want-your-work
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/225466/how_to_snag_a_young_adult_book_agent.html
http://www.andreabrownlit.com/agents.php
http://agentquery.com/writer_hq.aspx
To search for other types of literary agents try searching by the type of book you want to get publishing on:
http://www.agentquery.com/about.aspx
1. The title of the book
2. An overview of the book
-This is similar to the overview that is printed on the back of a book or on the inside cover
3. Your Biography
4. The Audience
5. Competition
6.Marketing and promotional aspects
7. Manuscript specifications
8. Outline
9. Sample chapters
This is just a guideline. Research the publisher or agent to see what they are looking for in a letter. This will give you a better chance of getting accepted for publishing.
Here is a list of minimum requirements needed for a query letter found at childrenspublishing.blogspot.com:
- Agent’s name properly spelled, in the same font as the rest of the letter
- 12-point font, single-spaced, two returns between paragraphs, no indentations
- Inclusion of the title in caps or italics, genre, protagonist’s name, and your contact information
- Word count appropriate to the genre
- Confirmation that the book is finished
- Inclusion of the writer’s writing credentials (if any)
- Personalized snippet about the agent, the agent’s blog, or a client or book the agent reps
- Grammatical correctness
- A target length of 250 to 350 words
- A first-sentence hook—the one thing about your book that makes it unique enough to stand out in the marketplace
- Description of the complicating incident, antagonist, plot and protagonist’s goal
- Enough specific details to complete the differentiation from other books, without bogging the query down in clutter
- A sense of strong conflict and characterization
- Active voice in present-tense, third-person POV, cleverly written to suggest the style in the manuscript
- Solid, rhythmic flow from the beginning of the query to the end
- Writing that’s up to the level of the genre and the nature of the story
- Writing strong enough to defy any trends that could work against the story
I found these sources helpful in finding agents to submit query letters to.
http://writersdigest.com/article/28-agents-who-want-your-work
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/225466/how_to_snag_a_young_adult_book_agent.html
http://www.andreabrownlit.com/agents.php
http://agentquery.com/writer_hq.aspx
To search for other types of literary agents try searching by the type of book you want to get publishing on:
http://www.agentquery.com/about.aspx