How do people get a book published?
First, you have to decide whether you want to go directly to a publisher, or if you want an agent. An agent generally has more close contacts within the business, but they take a standard rate of 15% of whatever you make on the book. Once you’ve decided, go to a site like Preditors & Editors to find the websites of either the publishers or the agencies. Go to each site and choose carefully; you want to thoroughly read the bios and make sure to choose the right person to pitch your project to. If you write fiction, you don’t want to waste your time pitching to an agent or editor who’s only interested in acquiring non-fiction. Then you have to craft a query letter. You can find examples of query letters all over by simply searching on “book query letter” in your browser. Always make sure to include an SASE, most agents and editors will not respond if you don’t include this. And don’t get discouraged if you get a lot of rejections–keep trying. Good luck!
