How to publish a book: The Traditional Route
How to publish a book: The Traditional Route
There are two main ways to get your book published: Traditional (Trad) and Self-publishing (also known as Indie publishing). In this article, we are going to dive into the intricate world of traditional publishing.
Do you dream of having your book published? of having millions of people reading your book? of seeing your cover in libraries’ bookshelves and in the hands of people of all ages and nationalities? For many, the publication of their books is the culmination of a long road, the mark of success, the signal that you’ve made it as an author. And, yes, being a published author could be all of that, only, a little more complicated.
There are two main ways to get your book published: Traditional (Trad) and Self-publishing (also known as Indie publishing). In this article, we are going to dive into the intricate world of traditional publishing. There are details that we are not going to be able to cover in this article, essentially, because we would never finish it, but that we’ll keep talking about in future posts.
So, if your belly tinkles with excitement when you think about landing a deal with a publishing house, then this article is for you. Stay with us till the end.
Maybe some of you out there will think that this is a little bit obvious. However, there are a lot of people there that think they can approach agents or publishers with an unfinished project. Well, this doesn’t happen. That’s not how the industry works. The first step to publish your book is to have it finished.
There’s a huge number of people that start a book but never finish it. So, to be able to work with an agent or a publisher, they need to know that you can commit to the enormous task that is finishing a book.
If at this moment, you are still trying to find a novel idea, half-way through the first draft or even editing, then it’s still no time to start worrying about agents or publishers. You have to finish the novel first. Let me repeat that, make sure this time you read it slowly: You have to finish your novel first. There’s just no way around it. And when I say finished, I say a whole book from start to finish, a story that has a complete arc, strong characters, a clear objective, and a strong structure.
If you still haven’t finished your manuscript, don’t even bother. Simply, because agents receive hundreds of query letters from aspiring authors every week. So, no, they won’t even look at your project unless it’s finished and why would they do it when they have thousands of other people with finished, edited, complete projects? Do you get my point? Finish the damn book!
Your first draft is finished. Good. Are we done with it? Let me answer that for you: NO. Now, you have a long way ahead of yourself. A first draft is not a book. A first draft is that and only that. As Terry Pratchett once said: “The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.”
You still have to go over and over again your manuscript correcting all the mistakes, rewriting what needs to be rewritten to make sure everything makes sense before you can do something else with it. Commonly, professional authors go around 10 times over their manuscript before they think it’s time to move forward.
Types of edits
There are three types of editing. Each one of them as important as the others, each one bringing something new to the whole picture. The first kind is developmental editing. Developmental editing comprehends the first rounds of edits you do. Its objective is to ensure that everything in your story makes sense, that you don’t have plot holes, that the eyes of your protagonist didn’t change from green to blue from one half of the book to the other.
In the developmental edits, you also take care of your structure making sure that you are hitting all the plot points that your story needs and that you are doing it at the right pace (things are happening neither too slow nor too fast). Moreover, in this round, you will be taking care of your characters, making sure they are consistent and have a good development throughout the story.
The second type of editing that your manuscript has to undergo is line editing. Line editing is about finding the right words, the right linguistic resources that you can use to tell your story in the best possible way. Some of the things to tackle during this kind of edit are the infamous telling instead of showing, the use of too many adverbs or filter words, among other elements that need checking. All in all, line editing is about making sure that your story is told in the most appropriate way.
Finally, we have copy editing, which is about cleaning up your story. Copy editing takes care of punctuation, grammar mistakes, and spelling mistakes, eliminating typos or incorrect uses of the language.
The self-editing process is very important because it means that you as an author were able to make the best you could for your own book, that you polished the book as much as you could from your own effort as a creator.
Critique partners are other authors or people that are also in the process of writing their book. You can ask them to take a look at your manuscript, so they can provide feedback and ideas on how to make it better. This is usually done as an exchange. You give this other author your work to revise, and in exchange, you’ll do the same for them.
If you don’t have friends that write, you can find critique partners on Facebook, on the Nanowrimo forums, on Twitter, and in other places. Search for writing communities and I’m sure you’ll find someone to bounce ideas with. Make sure this person you choose to be your critique partner writes in your same (or a related) genre and age category.
Critique partners are people that can help you polish your project and that will look at your manuscript at an early stage. Commonly, the critique partner stage comes after you have gone through one or two rounds of edits or while you are going through the developmental edits. This is important since the main role of the critique partner is to critique your work, and possibly, some changes to the story. So, it makes no sense to have line or copy edits made if the story has to still undergo major changes.
Even when self-editing your manuscript is very, very important, no one can substitute the work of a professional editor. Some people don’t recommend a professional editor if you are going to use traditional publishing, because agents and publishers have professional editors of their own with which you will work if you get representation. But I think it cannot hurt to get at least a copy editor after the self-editing process.
A professional copy editor will help you clean your manuscript and make it more decent for your agent.
You can find good deals in places like 👉 Fiverr . Some editors can offer packages, so maybe you can find some that will do the line edits and can throw in the copy edits as well.
Make sure you do your research before you send your manuscript. Ask for previous work they have done or ask their previous clients. Make sure the editor works inside your genre and age category.
This step is optional and will constitute the only expense you would have in traditional publishing.
An agent is a person that is going to represent your work in front of publishers and is essential in the Traditional Publishing Route. As with the editor, you also have to make some research on the agent of your choosing. You need to find agents that work with your genre and that are interested in working with the type of book you’ve written. Prepare a list of good agents and get ready to fight for their attention.
Generally, agents specialize in specific genres and age categories. Make sure you find agents that fit the characteristics of your project. Make sure these agents have a reputation within their field, that they are not asking you for money. If an agent asked you for money, that’s your cue to get the hell out of there. Run, and don’t look back. Real agents don’t ask writers for money. They get their royalties from the commissions of the books they manage to sell.
How do you get an agent?
You need to write a query letter. Query letters are a presentation letter for your novel. It’s the letter you’re going to send to agents to ask them to consider your novel as one of their projects. You have to send this query letter to as many agents as possible in the hopes that one of them takes you under their wind and starts working with you. You’ll also need a strong first chapter to create a good first impression.
Check this article for tips on how to write your first chapter!!
An agent can receive hundreds of letters a week. Some of them receive hundreds of letters a day. Because of this, it’s important that your letter represents the best of your work and that you get them interested in your story. It is also important that you wrap your head around the idea of getting rejection letters.
Rejection letters are very common. Simply, because the number of aspiring authors is huge. Some people say that only when you’ve received a rejection letter you can call yourself a writer. J.K. Rowling was rejected 12 times before someone accepted her manuscript of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Stephen King got Carrie rejected 30 times, so…
Working with an agent
If you are lucky and one agent gets interested in your job. Then Congrats!! you are one step closer to success, but the road is not over yet. If your book is really promising and more than one agent gets interested, then you’ll have the chance to choose who you want to work with. Remember this is business and you have to do what’s best for your book.
Now, some parts of the process start over. You and your agent will work together to make your book even better, so get ready to make major edits and comply with strict deadlines. Fun, right?
Check this website for info on literary agents and the kind of books they are interested in representing.
Out of your hands…
Once you get representation, and you and your agent have your book ready. The pitching process starts again, but this time is out of your hands… Now it’s time for your agent to buckle up and do their job! And like that… submission starts! Agents will start submitting your book to editors. This can take a while…
If an editor likes your book, they will have a meeting with their publishing houses. In that meeting, they’ll decide if they want to buy your book or not. After this meeting, if they decide to accept your book for publication, your agent will get an offer.
At this point, other publishers may get interest in your book. If that happens, you and your agent will decide what offer to accept.
After this, your agent and the publisher you finally chose, will start to negotiate the final publishing contract. The contract will include the rights of the book, how much money you are going to get, and how and when you are going to get it, the publication dates, and other details. You will probably need to get more edits done, but I guess that’s the beauty of Traditional Publishing. Your agent will revise that contract and will try to get the best possible deal for you. When the i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed… the process is over! And…
Voilà, you’ll become a published author!!
If you want the Traditional Publishing Route for your book, you have a lot of work ahead of you. But don’t get discouraged, this is a route for the bravest! There is a lot of competition out there, but that doesn’t mean you won’t make the cut, it means that you have to work on your craft… very hard, polish that book as much as you can and be ready for a big fight.
Just keep pushing forward and keep learning as much as you can.
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