Position:Home>Books & Authors> Help with publishing books.?

Well, first of all, allow me to congratulate you on being in a position in life from which you feel comfortable enough to write a book!. Though many believe that they have a book within them just waiting to burst out into the real world, rarely do they find the time or the confidence to do so!.

I concur with the advice given by Katy, Dancer Mouse and Jayne, much of the hard work getting your book published depends on how hard you are willing to work for it!.

Whether you research via the internet or a big book, I would advise you to consider the possibility of self-publishing!.

I have many friends who have chosen this route precisely because of the attitudes of literary agents and publishers!. Although their choice has meant a lot of hard work:

* a good lawyer; an accountant may be costly, therefore, you could do much of this work on your own or a trusty friend;

*meeting book store owners;

*promoting themselves and their work at book fairs;

*researching your markets will also be very important since as you would have to create a marketing strategy to sell your book;

*such a marketing strategy may involve joining book groups all over the place and being prepared to ask questions;

*or, even creating a focus group of your own on yahoo groups free web spaces and gather some friends to help you with very practical matters;

ultimately, my friends have found the experience rewarding!.

For instance, do any of your stories contain the capacity for graphics!?

If not, you might consider finding an artist who is willing to work with you!. Though graphic artists may charge, I am quite sure that many would be willing to work for next to nothing or a share of the proceeds!. One site that I recommend that you join is www!.renderocity!.com for its galleries and forums!. Many of the artists themselves are constantly willing to engage with new ideas!.

Though online marketing may not have been one of the possibilities that you had considered, at the very least, you remain the boss and your vision remains clear and undiluted!.

You might also consider publishing your previous works either as individual works or within an anthology of work!. The benefit of doing so would allow you to create focus groups out of your previous work and build anticipation and interest in your current project!.

If there are any more things that you would like to ask, please feel free to contact me:

barbweird@yahoo!.co!.uk

yours,

bobWww@QuestionHome@Com

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If you want someone else to do the layout, production, printing, and distribution, then you need a publisher

What publishers are publishing the kind of stories you are writing!? If you don't know, find out!. Go to the library or a book store and look at what's there!.

When you find out, go back to your computer and look up each of those publishers on the 'net!. Find the "author guidelines!." Publishers who get lots of submissions will have very detailed guidelines to weed out the crud!.

Do what the guidelines say!. That will get your foot in the door!.

Do the same thing for every publisher you think might take your book!. They won't all have the same requirements, so you have to do all the prep work repeatedly!.

You can look into self-publishing if nobody bites, or if you decide you don't want to jump through other people's hoops!. Just remember that if you do it yourself, you have to do by yourself all the work -- which is a lot more than just writing!!.

You might look into the short course on publishing that Steve Payseur teaches for Ed2Go!. I took it and recommend it!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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I don't know much about it but in all honesty I would research a bit on the net about it before making any final decisions!. Go to different websites about what to expect when sending in your stories and what you should do before you send it in to a publishing company!. I hear that pretty much everyone gets rejected!. So just stick with it and keep editing and making changes to your story that you feel you need to make!. Basically go through your story thoroughly before sending it in!. Many people are going to tell you to get a copy of The Writer's Market but in all honesty reading a huge book (yes it is big) just isn't going to do it!. Research, get tips from other writers on different sites, and keep going over your work!. If you love writing then you won't give up!. Even some of the best writers got rejected!. Good luck!Www@QuestionHome@Com

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i am actually on the same road!. i wrote a book, and have been trying to get it published for awhile!. only a few weeks ago did i take the first step though, after A LOT of research!. the first thing you need is a literary agent, who will represent you and find firms and things, make negotiations!. all that jazz!. from what i can tell, they help you find a firm who will publish you and publish you well!. you sign a contract!. now, i have heard and read EVERYWHERE that rejection is part of the game, as well!. it may take months or years to even find an agent!. but don't worry - if you believe in your story, then there's someone else out there who will, too!.

also, a side note, any firm that says they'll do, like, self publishing, and you pay them basically to publish your book - RUN AWAY!. they just take the 1000 or so dollars, print 1000 copies, and you sell and advertise them yourself!. get an agent!. this is crucial!.

good luck!Www@QuestionHome@Com

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you need editors and publishors to get the real deal, but lulu!.com is a self-publish websiteWww@QuestionHome@Com

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