AboutBill Frank Expertise I help authors become publishers. I'm a self-publishing consultant with resources in editing, graphic design, printing, distribution and marketing. I can help you turn your manuscript into a published book. I identify the best distribution channels for your book. I also help you build a marketing plan to sell the book. I specialize in non-fiction books and I take fiction books on a selective basis.
Experience Book layout and design; book printing; channels of distribution and book marketing.
Organizations Publishers' Marketing Association. Book Publicists of Southern California.
Education/Credentials MBA in Marketing and Finance. BA in Economics.
Expert: Bill Frank Date: 6/8/2008 Subject: Where Do I Go From Here?
Question Basically, I have an idea for a book I want to write, and I have worked out the plot and done the research and so on. I am nearly ready to start writing my book. But do I have to send a query letter to the publishers now? Do I wait until I have actually written my book? Thank you for your help.
Answer Hi. You ask the age-old question, "how does one get published?" There are three ways in which one can publish a book; traditional publishing, POD publishing or self-publishing.
In traditional publishing today, one needs to get an agent to submit a manuscript to a publishing in the hope the publisher will buy the book. To attract an agent, one must create a query letter. (The query letter is misnamed. It should be called a pitch letter). A query letter must address three things to intrigue an agent; the hook, the cook and the book. The hook is what makes the book unique, the cook refers to the author and the book is a description of what the book is about. Let's say you have a book on organizing. The hook may be that you helped organize Oprah Winfrey's life. The cook may be that you're the best organizer in LA. And the book may be how to organize your life in six months.
If the agent likes your query letter, then the agent requests a book proposal. The book proposal is more detail about the book, it's audience, the author's platform (how the author will reach the readers). The book proposal also includes some sample chapters of the book.
Note, it is not necessary to have a finished book to attract an agent. At some point, however, you will need to complete the book before the agent presents it to a publisher. The agent will give advice and input on how the author should rewrite the book to better appeal to a potential publisher.
For all this, the agent charges only 15% of the book's revenue for the entire life of the book!
Another option is to use a POD publisher. POD stands for Print-on-Demand publishing. An author contracts with a POD publisher to print the book and make it available to Amazon and other booksellers. The POD publisher charges a setup fee and receives a royalty for each book sold. A downside to POD publishing is that promotional copies of a book must be purchased at nearly the retail price of the book. This means that if an author wants to send out review copies of the book to magazines, radio stations and TV stations, the cost may be exorbitant.
The final option is self-publishing. Self-publishing requires the author to assume the role of the publisher; printing, distributing, marketing and promoting the book. Self-publishing is not as hard as it sounds, but I recommend reading books on the subject before taking this step. There are many top books including Dan Poynter's SELF PUBLISHING MANUAL and John Kremer's 1001 WAYS TO MARKET YOUR BOOK. See my Listmania on Amazon for a more thorough list of books, http://www.amazon.com/Best-Books-on-Book-Publishing/lm/R2UM0DC9JU1WD6/ref=cm_lm_...
