I want to publish a story I'm writing, what should I do?

Question

I want my story to become a novel but I don't know what publisher to go to nor do I know how to submit my story. What should I do?

Answer 1

There are a few things i can advice you to do and i hope it helps.

1) You should look for other books similar to yours and you should find some publishers who you think would publish your book.

2) You should find about 10 publishers or more and be prepared for not all of them to want to publish your book but more than one should and this will give you more choice.

3) You should write a letter to the publisher about a brief synopsis of your book, who you are, why you want it published and an other information they need to know as well as contact details.

4) After a few weeks you should have heard back and they will tell you what format they want you book in, they usually want times new roman font in size 12 and only want the first few chapters but it does vary and they will tell you.

5) Wait a few more weeks and they should tell you if they want to publis your book or not. Look at your options and what they're offering you and make sure your not signing anything before you're ready.

Top Tip: If you haven't got an agent you could think about getting one just by looking in the phone book and this may cost you some money but they will be able to put you in contact with the right people and will also mean you will get more publicity.

Answer 2

You should try to get an agent- manuscripts don't have much of a chance of getting fully read otherwise.  Usually, if a manuscript is sent straight to a publishing agency, they'll put it in a pile.  Then, the first line or two might be written.  If it grabs them, they send it to someone else to read more of it (I don't think the entire thing though) to make a decision.  If you have an agent, you get priority and they look through the entire thing before getting back to you.

Answer 3

First of all, a publisher isn't going to read a ss from an unknown & say great, send me the rest.  Rarely, if ever, do publishers take unsolicited work unless it's highly recommended by an established author.  It will definitely end up on the slush pile.

Do yourself a favor & get a copy of The Writer & The Writer's Digest for tips & current publishing info.  Go to the library or buy (at least this one you can mark up) Writer's Market.  Read their articles & then look for possible publishers in the ss category.