When I first published I went the traditional route – and it was much easier to do that 20+ years ago. Today publishing houses don’t talk to authors. The days of submitting a proposal are long gone – now you need to find an agent.
Does that mean you don’t need to submit a proposal? No, you need to impress the agent just as much, as they’ll be singing your praises to the publishing houses – so you’d better knock their socks off, so that they think it’s worth representing you.
Even with a good agent, getting a contract with the mainstream publishers can be a challenge. They don’t like taking a risk on an unknown, so it can feel like you’re in a bit of a Catch 22 situation.
How do you get past this?
If you’re determined to get a publishing contract, the best strategy is to publish your first book, market it well and get good reviews. Then you have a track record for potential publishers to see.
This will show:
- You have an audience
- Your writing and content is good enough to get positive feedback
- You are willing to make the effort to market your book – and do it successfully.
This gets you lots of brownie points – both with agents and with publishers.
This means that you will have to publish your first book, either with an independent publisher or self-publish.
There are more costs to both of these routes, but also a much bigger return on each copy you sell.
If it’s your first rodeo I’d recommend you find an independent publisher that offers the services and support you need. This means you don’t need to go through the trial and error of self-publishing, which can’t result in making mistakes – some of which can’t be rectified.
I know several authors who have resorted to using an independent publisher, because of the difficulty of getting a contract – and never looked back!
They get better royalties, much shorter lead times from finished manuscript to published book, and more control over their book. And even the traditional publishing houses don’t do much marketing, so there will be an expectation that you will do your own whichever route you take to publication.
You don’t need an agent, so you won’t lose anything in commissions. Yes, you will have to pay for things like editing, proofreading, cover design and book layout, but the hassle will be less and you’re in the hands of experts.
Choose your publisher carefully. Talk to other authors about their experiences and look at the kinds of book they’ve already published.
And if you choose to self-publish do your homework and understand all the elements, what you’ll need to do yourself, not just pre-publication, but afterwards too.
