I was an editor for a trade and textbook book publisher for nearly 10 years, so my advice that I offer in this article comes from first-hand experience.

So you want to publish your book? That desire is the first step, so I commend you for wanting to take the risk.

But now what?

That is a complicated question that requires that you understand the nature of the publishing industry.

I was an editor in both the trade and textbook departments at a relatively small publishing house (about 150 employees) for 8 years. I’ve also worked as a freelance editor for various book publishers, large and small. In my experience, the realities of publishing that I’m going to share with you hold true for nearly all publishers, no matter the size.

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A Marketing Machine

The first thing you need to understand about the publishing industry is that each publishing house is primarily a marketing machine. The publishing house might promote its lofty goals of enriching the body of literature, inspiring a love of reading, and so on, but the smart writer reads beyond the mission statement. A publishing house exists to make money, period. That’s its first and its last goal. Keep this in mind as you read through the rest of the suggestions that can help you find a publisher for your book.

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What Can You Do for the Publishing House?

You probably have read many sources that tell you that you must be a great writer to be published. This is not necessarily true. You should not be dwelling on whether or not you are the greatest writer who has ever lived, but rather you should be dwelling on what you can do to help the publishing house sell your book. For this reason, your professional affiliations are more important than your writing experience or expertise. It’s more important that you are well connected in your field than you are a brilliant writer. I saw over and over that the peols publishing houses pursued and who succeeded in securing a contract were the ones who had lots of connections. Often times, these people were not even writers but were rather specialists in their field. Connections mean that you will have an audience for your book, an audience who already knows, trusts, and likes you, and thus will want to purchase copies of your book. If a publisher had a choice  between a writer who could write a flawless manuscript or one who was a mediocre writer but who was well connected to the community through politics, an organization, service to the community, whatever, the later individual would always get the contract. The cliche–”it’s not what you know, it’s who you know”–is an all-too-true reality.

Securing a Contract

Spamming publishers is rarely an effective way to secure a publishing contract. I strongly advise against printing off a generic cover letter, packaging up your manuscript, and shipping it off to a bunch of publishers that you know little or nothing about. You will be wasting your time. Unsolicited manuscripts are rarely considered, anyway. At the publishing house I worked for, stacks and stacks of boxes and envelops with manuscripts sat in a back office, where no one ever ventured. The packages were never opened, and they were periodically tossed in the dumpster.

The most effective way to secure a contract is to know someone–have a contact–at the publishing house. Networking is key. Figure out how to attend events, conferences, trade book shows, and so on that publishers are represented at. The American Library Association is a huge one. You might also want to check various resources for publishers that list conferences, such as the Association of American Publishers (www.publishers.org), PubWest (www.pubwest.org), and the Independent Book Publishers Association (www.ibpa-online.org).

Negotiating a Contract

You do not necessarily need to have a finished manuscript to secure a contract. Your idea for a book and your marketing angle is often on what a publisher will base its decision to publish or not publish your book. If you have a niche or a creative take on an idea or some other hook for your book, you’re ahead of the game.

Once a publisher is interested in your book, the next phase of the game is to negotiate a contract. The best negotiator, not the best writer, receives the best terms–the best advance and royalty. Most publishers will try to negotiate a contract with you for the terms that are most favorable to them (read: they will try to get the rights to your book for as little as possible). The savvy writer knows this and is well prepared for the negotiation process.

The following questions are some considerations that you will want to work out with the publisher prior to signing the contract:

• How much will the publisher be involved in the marketing of your book? The publisher I worked for devoted the most marketing resources to about 5% of the new books that would be published each season. The other 95% of the books that would be published received limited resources and scant attention. If you will be counted on to do most of the marketing for your book, your advance and royalty should be adjusted accordingly.

• After the season in which your book is published is over, how much continuing marketing effort will be devoted to its sales? Some publishers don’t devote much attention to back-list books. Be sure you understand what type of marketing attention your book will receive after the initial sales push is finished. If your book goes out of print, do you retain the rights? Can you republish the book with another publisher?

• If photos are necessary for your book, who will research, track, and pay for the images? Finding and negoting prices for images is very time intensive, and each photo can cost anywhere from $100 to $300.

• How will the editorial process work? Some publishing houses instruct their editors to fix only grammatical errors and other critical problems, while other publishing houses instruct their editors to do massive content edits, which involve a lot of reorganizing and rewriting. Be sure that you have a full understanding of and comfort with how involved your editor will be in the editorial process and what type of rights you will have in this process (e.g., who will have the final say in the event of a disagreement?).

• How much say will you have in the design of your book? Will you be allowed to give input and approve the cover and interior design of your book? This can become a huge point of contention between publisher and writer if the arrangement it is not worked out in advance.

All of this advice is just meant to serve as an introduction to the publishing world. There are many other considerations that will inevitably crop up. As with any endeavor, each individual’s journey will be uniquely their own. People can give you pointers, but, ultimately, you will need to take the reins and tread a path for yourself that has not yet been created. My best wishes to you!