We’re excited that you want to become a published author, and we’re dedicated to help you reach that goal. The road to publication can be bumpy, indirect, and confusing. Many writers find that they need a guide. That’s why we’re writing these columns: to give you vital information that you will need and to show you the best routes, short cuts, and approaches to smooth your way.The competition to get books published is fierce.It seems as if everyone wants to write and publish a book. To increase your odds of making the cut, we’ll be providing you with information we’ve learned throughout our careers working in the book business, and added insights provided by top experts. From the get-go, we want you to understand what’s involved in getting your book published, what you’re getting into, and precisely what you have to do.The world of books is magical and mysterious. Publishing is a special universe. When you try to move inside and work your way through the publishing process, it can be daunting. Newcomers can easily get lost, swallowed up, and discouraged. Seasoned authors can grow frustrated, angry, and disillusioned. Writers at all levels, from unpublished novices to successful veterans, need help finding their way. That’s why we’re here, to show you what to do.For starters, understand that the publishing industry is complex and can be baffling. It’s riddled with rules, most of which are unwritten and difficult to decode. The rules were made by publishers, and guess whom they benefit? Why, publishers, of course. The rules give publishers the upper hand.The publishing industry is filled with insiders: mainly editors, literary agents, booksellers, and publishing company personnel. Most others, including writers, are kept out.Publishing insiders speak their own language.Outsiders often feel lost. Many of the rules are inside secrets that are based on old traditions and protocols. The rules may differ from agent to agent, editor to editor, and publisher to publisher. Plus, they can change instantly at the drop of a corporate memo or a bigwig’s whim.Publishing is a mysterious world that constantly changes. It follows and reacts to the media, the current trends, and the news. Recently, the industry has gone through a major consolidation that has left it with a handful of major publishers and thousands of smaller-sized firms. Due to corporate takeovers and consolidation, this industry, which was once devoted to the art of fine writing, now primarily worships the bottom line.As an industry, publishing is in mortal combat for consumer dollars with the makers of motion pictures, radio, television, video games, computers, recorded music, sporting events, and others. It’s also in the clutches of a small group of mega booksellers who have the market clout to influence, if not dictate, what books are published. To make matters worse, publishing operates under an archaic system under which booksellers may return unsold books for full refunds.If you hope to be a published writer, it’s crucial for you to know the rules of the game and the layout of the field before you try to play. Without such knowledge, you don’t stand much of a chance. If you want to get your manuscript published, it’s crucial for you to understand as much as possible about those you hope to impress: the publishing establishment and especially editors, agents, and publishing houses.At the least, you should know:Who they arePrecisely what they doExactly what they wantHow you can best fit inPublishing Is a BusinessWhen writers try to sell their books, many start at a disadvantage because they place the book publishing business on a pedestal. They tend to romanticize the industry and approach it with stars in their eyes. Often, they wrap all their hopes in their books, which they see as lofty endeavors that will launch their literary careers and fulfill their dreams.In doing so, they often project qualities on publishing companies that simply don’t exist. They may think that because publishing deals with arts, letters and culture, that the industry operates on a higher plane or its major concern is art and beauty, which certainly isn’t true.Over the next few weeks, we’re going to demystify book publishing and explain how it works. We’re going to pass on to you the cumulative wisdom of top experts in the field, experts who know all the secrets, the ins and outs, and can explain exactly what you must know. This information will give you a decided advantage in getting your book published.

Today there are more options than ever before for getting your book published. Here are four ways that you can get your book published:1. Commercial Book Publishing2. Self Publishing3. Subsidy Publishing4. eBook Publishing1. Commercial Book Publishing – This is the most well known way to get published and can also be the most challenging. While there are thousands of publishing houses, today there are more writers than ever before.Publishing houses are businesses and like all businesses their goal is to create profit as efficiently as possible. It is unlikely that you will be able to make contact with a publishing house if you don’t have a good literary agent.Surveys indicate that literary agents only accept 1 out of 400 writers for representation. The majority of literary agents prefer to take on clients that have previously been published.To get published with a publishing house will take a combination of talent, timing and luck. You can be an very talented writer and have a wonderful book but if the publishing house just finished publishing a book that is similar to yours you may not be accepted – or if this is a “red hot market” then you may be lucky.For these reasons it is important to do research and see what are the trends and what people are buying. An excellent resource for this type of information is Amazon’s Bestseller section.2. Self Publishing – Where in the past commercial publishing was the only option, today you can “self-publish” your book. Self publishing is when you find others who offer all of the services that you will need to create, print and distribute your book.Some of the services required are:*Editing – This is very important for most types of books*Proof Pages – Preparing the pages and page order*Artwork – You’ll need both Front and Back covers plus the internal artwork which is any images or clip-art that appears within the text*Printing – You will need to turn your electronic files into hard/soft cover books. There are 3 options for printing: get a small amount printed, get a large amount printed or use a print-on-demand service*Distribution – How will you distribute the books? You can contact retailers and online distributors yourself or utilize a professional serviceThe first step is to decide which tasks you will do and which tasks you will hire someone else to do. Thanks to the internet, there is a wealth of information online for you on each step of the process.3. Subsidy Publishing – In this case, the author pays a printing company to produce the book and then earns royalties from the sales of the book (usually a percentage). Sometimes this is confused with self publishing. With self publishing the author pays all the expenses and in turn receives 100% of the proceeds.Another name for this is “Vanity Publishing Houses” which sometimes can have bad reputations. They will often claim that they can sell the book and then after paying for everything the writer is left without any real distribution and stuck with a bunch of books.4. eBook Publishing – This is a relatively new phenomenon in the book publishing industry. It is very easy to take a digital file and turn it into and ebook to sell online. A good way to do this is by having a personal website or blog and putting up articles and content to attract visitors and get publicity.Alternatively, you can order an ISBN online and then companies like Amazon and Mobipocket will sell your ebook through their distribution network and you earn royalties from each sale.Thanks to the internet there has never been a better time for an author to get published. Some people feel that because there is so much information online that traditional books will become obsolete.I feel that while this may be true in some categories, for the most part it is the opposite – all of the free information creates a hunger for more!When radio first came out, the music industry was worried that they wouldn’t sell as much albums and then they started selling much more. It’s similar to how in a grocery store you are offered free samples, if it tastes good than you are more likely to buy.It’s a good idea to spend a lot of time doing research until you feel what is the best way for you to approach publishing your book. I highly recommend utilizing the internet to share with others and grow your readership.