Writing works as an escape for many young people globally. If you enjoy writing yourself, chances are high that you have dreamt of getting your work published. However, oftentimes, we wait for publishing opportunities to come to us instead of pursuing it ourselves.
Here are three traditional routes you could take to land your first book deal:
1. Use a literary agent to reach a publishing house
Most of the eminent publishing houses receive hundreds of manuscripts from all around the world. Getting your manuscript on their radar is quite a difficult task. Hence, many debut authors take the help of literary agents.
Literary agents shoulder the responsibility of selling one’s manuscripts to the publishers. They handle all the negotiations and the complete publishing process. Moreover, they may also choose to take over the editorial work needed to enhance the quality of your work.
Many literary agents work with a fixed set of genres and publishing houses. So you must only contact those literary agents who are interested in the genre of your work. Otherwise, you may not hear back from the agent.
Literary agents also receive a substantial number of submissions. It is not unlikely to not receive a positive response from them. They do, however, provide feedback and accept re-submissions if they think the manuscript has potential.
2. Send a book proposal
If the genre you work with is non-fiction, such as memoirs and biographies, then you can approach publishing houses even before having a completed manuscript. You can simply send the book proposal, a query letter, your credentials, and information regarding the target market to the publishing houses.
Some publishing houses have their niche genres so you should approach only those publishers who deal with non-fictions. The chances of your book proposal get higher if your credentials are attractive.
3. Self publish your work
Self-publishing is gaining traction over the last few years. A self-published author has to overlook many activities – from the editing of the manuscript to marketing the finished book. Thankfully, the popularity of self-publishing has also attracted other supporting businesses. These businesses allow the authors to outsource many of the activities surrounding publishing a book. Self-publishing is also deemed to be quite costly as the authors themselves have to bear many of the expenses.
The routes to getting published may seem rocky and the journey may seem intimidating. However, the result – seeing your name published on the front cover – is worth all the hassles. Even if you cannot land a book deal, you could try to make your writing a part of a short story or poetry anthology.
