How do you know if the book you wrote is good enough to get published?

Comments

Comments

Comments

• Thankyou, how do you go about doing this.

  • Report
  

  by Leah on June 23rd, 2009

• Most publishers have instructions on their websites. Here's the instructions from the Wiley-Blackwell publishers site:
  http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-301841.html

  • Report
  

  by Mary Mary quite contrary on June 23rd, 2009

• Actually, if you haven't published before, you must finish a manuscript first before submitting to a publisher. Buy a directory to publishers in your genre and see if they are open to unsolicited submissions. Submit and wait. Many publishers no longer return your manuscripts or even respond at all to your submission unless they want to buy it.
  
  Or you can send a completed manuscript to a literary agent, who will then decide if he or she wants to represent you. In that case, they would be the ones to send your book to publishers.

  • Report
  

  by old old lady on July 10th, 2009

• That's not true in most cases, old old. I've worked as an editor at a book publishers before, and I only know of one publisher out of dozens that will even look at finished manuscripts. Here are a few sites that echo the same sentiments:
  
  "Obviously we are trying to discourage unsolicited manuscripts."
  http://savasbeatie.blogspot.com/2009/01/sorting-through-unsolicited-book.html
  "File it in the bin: Most publishers no longer read unsolicited manuscripts"
  http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/sep/04/publishing.pressandpublishing
  List of the many publisher who do not accept unsolicited manuscripts:
  http://www.internet-resources.com/writers/markets/online-guidelinesPUBLISHERS.htm

  • Report
  

  by Mary Mary quite contrary on July 13th, 2009

• Many publishers now do not accept unsolicited manuscripts. That means they'll only look at books sent to them by an agent, which means you'll still have to write a book--you just can't submit it by yourself without the house requesting it. If a house does accept unsolicited manuscripts, then you send them the whole book. If a house accepts only queries, you send them one of those. However, if your query interests an editor and he/she responds to you, you will be expected to send them the book.
  
  
  Mind you, I'm talking here about major U.S. publishing houses--Random House, Simon & Schuster, etc. These people aren't interested in talking to you about working on a project if you have no track record and no work to show, because they don't know how well you write. When you've published successfully, you can in some instances pitch ideas and get a contract in advance of writing the manuscript. I know because I've gone through this process and have published several novels.

  • Report
  

  by old old lady on July 19th, 2009

• Things might work a little differently in the fiction world; I've worked mostly in non-fiction, but the major non-fiction publishers accept only proposals, not manuscripts, and this is clearly stated on their websites:
  http://www.elsevierdirect.com/brochures/authors/Text/Submit.htm
  http://www.press.uchicago.edu/presswide/forauthors.html
  http://www.aaai.org/Press/Author/proposal-flyer.pdf
  http://www.greenwood.com/contact_us/author/prospect.aspx

  • Report
  

  by Mary Mary quite contrary on July 24th, 2009

Comments