Publishing 101: How do you get a book published?

For a fiction writer, you must write the entire book before you can do anything else. And by “write the entire book” I’m not talking about just a first draft. Your book needs to be edited and polished before you can do anything else with it. 

This step alone might take years. It may involve taking writing classes, going to conferences, joining critique groups, reading craft books, hiring a freelance editor, and many, many rewrites. But if you want to be published, you have to write a great book first.

Argue all you want about how terrible the writing is in Fifty Shades of Grey or The Shack or Twilight. First of all, it’s rare for a book to get published if it’s not written well. Secondly, is that really what you’re after? To have a book that’s a success despite lousy writing? I’m guessing not.

Don’t look for shortcuts on this step. Ignore the people who say, “You’re still writing that thing?” and focus on making your book great.

So you’ve done step one. You’ve written (and rewritten … and rewritten … and rewritten) a great book. Now you get to decide who to approach with it. A literary agent, a person who works on behalf of a writer for a percentage of their earnings, or an editor, who works for a publishing house. An editor is mandatory for traditional publishing but a literary agent is not. We’ll discuss that in detail in a minute.

Whoever you approach, you do it with what we call a query letter. Query letters are business letters that are several paragraphs long. They introduce you, describe your book in a paragraph, and ask if the agent or editor is interested in seeing more.

Typically, editors who work at large publishing houses won’t read from writers, only literary agents. Smaller presses, like WhiteFire Publishing for example, will look at queries from both agents and writers. If a house accepts queries, they’ll post that on their website like WhiteFire has. I cannot stress how important it is to follow the guidelines listed on the website. Your query letters will not be a one size fits all tactic. Writers frequently attempt that, and it gets them rejected. A couple years ago, Jill Williamson posted examples of query letters that sold.

Same as actors or athletes have agents, so do most career novelists. Literary agents are all different from each other, but generally speaking an agent is a person who has good contacts in the publishing industry. Because they’ve spent time building relationships with editors and other industry professionals, they’re able to get your manuscript in front of editors. Agents also help with contract negotiation, conflicts that arise between writers and their publishing houses, and career guidance. Depending on their personality and strengths, they might also help with strengthening your story, figuring out what would be best to write next, and emotional support when you’re having a particularly rough time of it. (If you’re curious about the day-to-day of an agent’s life, literary agent Amanda Luedeke did a great post for us on that.)

It’s impossible to say, “This is the best agent in the world,” because different writers need different things from their agents. The important thing to note about agents is that you should run from those who charge reading fees, or who say they might be interested in you … but first you should pay to have your book looked at by this service. If you have questions about anyone, Preditors and Editors is a great resource.

Quickly, before we move on to step three, query letters are not the only way to find agents and editors. Writing conferences are my favorite way (read: where I’ve had the most success) or sometimes writing contests. Increasingly, social media can be an effective way to connect. Many agents and editors have a presence on Twitter and you can learn a lot about them there, or on their agency blogs. (Other articles that might interest you on this topic: How to find the right agent for you, Basics about finding a literary agent, Finding a good literary agent)

When you start the query process (whether you’re sending out query letters or heading to a conference or whatever) I would recommend having the following ready:

• A page that lists your title, genre, word count, your bio, a one sentence summary of the story, a back cover copy style blurb, and—if it’s a series—very short blurbs about the other books.
• A 2-3 page synopsis of your story
• Sample chapters. Three is standard, but sometimes they specify just the first chapter.

Instead, be getting these things ready as you work on your query letter. Putting together a proposal can feel tedious, but this is a critical step if you want anyone to read that great book you spent all that time writing. Do yourself a favor and do the tough work to make it good. (Other articles that might interest you: How to Get Your Novel Published: Creating a Book Proposal and 10 Reasons To Write a Fiction Book Proposal Before You Write Your Book.)

Typically over email, especially if it’s an editor, but also sometimes for agents too.

This could happen for a variety of reasons. They might not like it. They might not think you’re quite ready for publication. They might like it but not think there’s a market for it. They might like it, but they have a client who writes something similar and they don’t want clients competing against each other. There are tons of reasons.

This isn’t too unusual. It happened to me with my first agent, who pointed out my annoying tendency to write in a passive voice. She said, “If you rewrite, I’ll take another look.” I rewrote. She took another look. Within months, I had my first contract. 

But the suggested revisions aren’t always that simple, nor are they always an obviously good change. Sometimes it’s just that they have a different opinion about where the story should go. Before you do any requested revisions, make sure it’s something that YOU agree with. Because there’s a chance you’ll make the changes and they’ll be like, “Nah…”

So you’ve sent your full manuscript to the agent or editor. They love it. Now what?

If it’s a literary agent: You should at least have a phone call. Some agents who’ve been in the biz for a long time, or who have full client lists and aren’t actively looking for clients, are more insistent that they meet someone before they sign a contract with them. 

If you’re anything like me, at this moment, you’re feeling so desperate you’ll do anything for them to sign you. Sandra Bishop is my agent. She was my first choice, and I can’t even tell you how nervous I was on the phone when we talked. If I’d been pregnant with a girl a the time, I probably would have named my child after her if I thought it would mean she’d take me on as a client.

BUT AGENTS DON’T WANT TO WORK WITH CRAZY PEOPLE. They know we’re writers, and some crazy is inevitable, but one of the reasons they want to talk to you is they want to make sure you’re a good fit.That they’ll like working with you. And you need to know the same about them. Having the wrong agent is no fun at all. This is a time for you to ask questions, and you should take advantage of it because you’re looking for the right agent, not just an agent. (Chip MacGregor has a great article on his website about choosing an agent. The whole thing is good, but number six talks specifically about questions to ask someone you’re considering working with.)

If it’s an editor: An editor works on a team with other editors. Or even if it’s a small press, they still have people who they answer to. So if an editor likes your book, they will likely send an email talking about how much they like it and they’ll say, “I’m going to bring it to our next editors meeting to get their feedback.” If those editors like it, then the editor will take it to a bigger meeting called the pub board. At that meeting, a large group of people from different departments in the publishing house will decide if your book is a good investment. 

Jill Williamson wrote an amazing post about how all this goes down. You can read about the publishing process here, and you can also read about everything that happens between your book being bought by a publishing house to the day it hits shelves.

So say that back at step four, you found the right literary agent for you. What happens now (assuming your book proposal was put together nicely and they don’t need any changes from you) is that they query editors on your behalf. Maybe five or so. Maybe fifteen. It just depends on the project and the agent’s style. 

This is why it’s important that you work with an agent who has great contacts in the industry, and why you don’t just pay your best friend to act as your literary agent. The right literary agent can get your books in front of the right editors who work for the right publishing house who can make your great manuscript into a great book.

At a glance, this looks like five easy steps to getting published. Many aspiring writers are disheartened when they learn that getting published isn’t quick or easy. Writing the book can take years. Finding the right agent can take years. And even with a great agent, that first contract can take years too, depending on the market and your genre. 

I don’t say that to discourage you. Rather I say it so you’re aware that getting your book published might feel akin to a slow hike on a confusing trail that eventually leads to someplace surprising, breathtaking, and completely worth it.

One more additional note: I’m no one special. I spent most my growing up years in Kansas City; an excellent town, but not exactly the hub of the publishing world. I didn’t know anyone who worked in publishing, not even as a clerk in a bookstore. The first time I tried to get a book published, I didn’t know my genre or what a literary agent was. I just printed off five copies of my 90-page single-spaced book and mailed it off to a few houses that accepted unsolicited manuscripts. Almost everything I know about publishing, I learned by doing it wrong first. And yet, by the age of 26, I was multi-published, had my books translated into another language, and was working with my first choice agent. 

When I talk to aspiring writers, there’s often this sense of, “I might as well just self-publish, because it looks impossible to get traditionally published.” And that is an absolute lie. It’s not impossible at all. It’s very difficult and it requires patience. And yeah, it would be a lot easier if you happened to be one of Stephen King’s kids. But if I can go from where I was to where I am now, I think anybody else can do the same.