It’s every writer’s dream to become a published author, with their physical book selling on bookstore shelves and online marketplaces, but how does one get there? What are the steps to getting published? If you’re looking to go the traditional route, this is your guide. Not sure if traditional publishing is for you? See Traditional Vs Self-Publishing.
Getting a book published through traditional means is completely simple in concept, but not in execution. Each step can feel like a herculean task because they each requires lots of upfront work to finish, which you will get to see. What you need to know, is that the first half of the work is yours to do. You have to write a book, you have to find an agent, and you have to be willing to compromise to get a book deal. That being said, here are the steps:
Fleshing Out Your Manuscript
The first thing you need to do is have an idea, or a manuscript. For nonfiction books, having an idea is the entire first step. Flesh out your idea, write it down via a detailed book proposal, and then skip to the next step. For all you fiction writers, keep reading.
For a novel, you need to have a finished manuscript to proceed. Your book needs a full character arc, compelling plot, and an amazing first few chapters. Why? Because you’ll need all of that to get a literary agent. For now, you need to get all your thoughts on the page and do some light polishing afterward. A good place to start is outlining your manuscript from beginning to end. Knowing what you want to happen and how you want things to end is very important to making a cohesive story. From there, you can build out the middle details. If you want an in depth article on how to do that, or keep getting stumped when trying to write, check out How To Overcome Writer's Block! It covers outlining and other tricks you can use when you're stuck. Once you’ve gotten a completed manuscript, it’s time for the next step.
Editing Phase 1
I would say that this step is optional...but it's really not. No matter if you're doing traditional publishing, like this article takes you step by step through, or self publishing. If you want to get published in any capacity, you are not only going to have to learn how to edit, but also learns to take and accept book editing from others.
For this editing phase, you need to go over your full manuscript and think through all of your plot points and character motivations, developments and arcs. Make sure that everything in your narrative fits together properly. Do not skip this step of editing! If you decide everything makes sense without reading your book from front to back, you may miss things that weren't blatantly obvious when writing. Then you move on to copyediting and proofreading. These are line for line edits of grammar, punctuation, and standardization of terms and spelling and capitalization.
Every kind of editing is better with a trained eye, which is where hiring a professional editor or beta readers comes in. There are specific editors for each kind of editing I just mentioned, but many have learned to be a jack of all trades, so it's really a matter of research in picking the right one for your book. Beta readers kind of fall in between editor and typical reader. They are meant to mimic your target audience and gauge the general public's reception to your book's plot, characters and more. There are also sensitivity readers, who read your book in the context of a specific culture, race, marginalized group that is represented in your book, and analyzes if the depiction would be upsetting to readers. You can choose to hire all of them, or none of them, or any mix of them.
For new writers, the process of editing a book can be daunting, especially if you aren't used to getting any real feedback; but in order to get your book published, you have to make a good first impression with those in the publishing industry that control whether or not your manuscript becomes the published book you want it to be, and those people are looking not only for a captivating manuscript, but a writer willing to take direction. Remember, the only person who can determine whether or not you make it, so don't get in your own way.
Find Literary Agents
Here comes one of the hardest parts of the traditional publishing process: acquiring an agent. Literary agents are the gatekeepers of traditional publishing; they find publishers and reach out to them on your behalf. Without one, your manuscript is pretty much dead in the water unless you decide to self publish, and that doesn't always go well. But the good news is literary agents love books just as much as authors do, so if one finds your work compelling enough, they’ll spend no time scooping you up. And to make things even better, if you do things right, you’ll never have to repeat the process.
To get a literary agent there are several things you need to do. First among them is to research literary agents. Because agents are meant to be with you for the rest of your writing career (although you can always decide to part ways), you need to find one that aligns with your interests: the kinds of books you want to write, the kind of agent relationship you want to have, and the kind of publishing houses you would like to see publish your book. There's a few ways to make sure this agent finding process is smooth and painless, and we have an article all about that! If you want to learn more about what steps you should take to find the right agent for you, see How To Find a Literary Agent. If that's not your style, we also have a short and easy agent finding checklist here.
Getting An Agent Onboard (With A Query Letter)
Once you have that figured out you will need to send out query letters, which is essentially the cover letter of the publishing world. In your query letter to the agent you've researched, you will write about your manuscript, any comparable books (or comp titles) that are currently doing well, your target audience, and why you think they're the best fit for you. You then send this off with a part of your full manuscript (or your proposal, for you nonfiction writers out there!). But whoa there! Don't just jump right in. There are a few things you need to know about writing a query letter to give you the best chance of getting a response, like submission guidelines and your book description. To learn more, try our article on writing query letters.
After a literary agent reads your query letter, if they are interested in your work, they’ll get back to you, possibly to obtain your full manuscript so they can make a more informed decision on if your manuscript is right for them — which is why you shouldn't query unless you have finished writing your whole manuscript. Don’t be discouraged if this part of the traditional publishing process takes quite a while, I didn’t call this one of the hardest parts for no reason. Most agents with any experience get hundreds, if not thousands or manuscripts per year, but have limited space on their lists for new authors each year. The ratio can be very unforgiving — but that doesn’t mean there’s no hope or that you should give up. With a good manuscript and an open mind, you are bound to find an agent.
Editing Phase 2 (Optional)
Congratulations! You are now a shoe in to getting published. Now, this next stage solely depends on your agent. Some agents will want to polish up your manuscript further before they send it off to publishing houses, others may send out your manuscript with no touch ups, it’s best to ask your agent what they think is best for your manuscript. If your agent wants you to make edits to your manuscript (or proposal!) they will ask for them at this time. You’ll go back and rewrite until things are where the agent thinks they should be. This is also the time when your literary agent will get to know you as a client so they can advocate for you better.
Selling To Publishing Houses
Once your manuscript is deemed to be in good shape by your agent, your agent will begin sending out your manuscript to editors at small and large publishing houses alike; this, in the publishing world, is called being "on submission". Now you may be thinking: “Why can’t I send my manuscript straight to an editor?”. Because agents and editors have standing relationships that allow your manuscript to actually be read, rather than going into what editors call the “slush pile” — where manuscripts go to die.
If I had to categorize the publishing process by difficulty, this would probably be at the top of the list, and that's because of how the publishing industry is structured. You may think the publishing world is large and expansive when you hear of traditional publishers like Penguin Random House with over a hundred different departments (called imprints), but what you don't know is that all things considered, the publishing industry is quite small.
Many of these imprints at larger traditional publishing houses have only a few genres they publish, fewer editors who work there, and even maybe one editor who'd actually be interested in your manuscript. I've heard of imprints that are managed by one person. Yes, ONE! So while your agent may have a bunch of options to send your manuscript to, since these places are spread thin, you can much more easily fall through the cracks. But don't get discouraged! Even though the publishing industry can be a bit difficult to get into, many writers are still able to get published this way! So what happens on submission?
If an editor likes your manuscript, they will get in touch with other editors at their publishing house to see if your manuscript is a good fit for them, how much work they think your manuscript needs, and if they think they can sell your book enough to justify the advance cost. If they decide you’re a good candidate, your agent will hear back from them and publishing deal negotiations will begin. But if more than one editor who'd publish your book is interested, something else will happen...
A bidding war! If several major traditional publishers are interested in your book, like Penguin Random House or Hachette, they will put in bids (your potential advance) with their publishing deal terms attached that your agent will collect and look over with you. From there, you and your agent will make the decision that you feel is best for your manuscript. This isn't very common, but it is still a possibility that we should go over.
Negotiating A Traditional Publishing Deal
After deciding on a publishing house, you and your agent will work out the terms of your publishing deal. How much you get for your advance, what rights are you selling along with your manuscript, etc. The goal for most agents here is to get you as much money as possible, and to retain as many rights as possible. The goal for the traditional publisher is offer the smallest amount of money possible, and to gain as many rights as possible. A standard deal will see you sign over your audio, translation, e-book, world, and book club rights. Basically giving the publishing house permission to sell your book internationally, in different languages, in book club packages, and in audio book and e-book forms.
However, that doesn't mean getting the book contract signed is easy. This can take months, even if terms are generally agreed upon, and can be one of the most tedious parts of the traditional publishing process. Sometimes, even if the traditional publisher wants to offer their publishing services to you, a part of the deal cannot be agreed on and the deal falls through. If that happens, you go back on submission. But if the agent and the publishing house can agree, once you’ve signed the contract and locked in an advance number, you can get into the meat of the traditional publishing process: editing! To learn more about your advance, see How Much Do Authors Make.
Getting Your Book Published
As soon as the ink has dried on your contract, the whole process of polishing your book will begin — again. Your editor will go through your book with a fine-tooth comb and pick out any details, plot points, and character development and motivations that could use some work. You’ll go back and rewrite, and they’ll read again and give more suggestions. This process will repeat until the editor thinks your book makes sense and is ready for consumer eyes. This is called developmental editing.
Your book will also be assigned a publication date, typically two quarters from where it was acquired (For instance, if your book was acquired in June 2023, it may be set for publication in Spring 2024). This may change if your book is heavily themed, like books about witches, zombies and vampires may be set for publication on October/November to follow Halloween, even if that time frame is slightly faster or slower than the average.
Around this time, you may also be getting calls from your marketing team to figure out what kind of advertisements they think will suit your book best. Marketing can look wildly different from author to author, even from book to book, so keep an open mind. Marketing can also happen later in the process, but it is becoming increasingly common to have several parts of the process happen simultaneously. This also includes the cover. There will be several meetings to discuss artwork for your cover (and art inserts if your book requires them!) that will include the design team, you, your editor, and your agent.
Because your book now belongs to the publishing house, they have quite a bit of sway in what your book looks like, and all the say when it comes to market price, book size, and cover type. To make things as fair as possible, your agent will work as a liaison between you and the publishing house to keep both sides happy, but if it isn’t possible, there are scenarios in which you get back your manuscript and get out of the deal. Most authors don’t typically need this option because publishing houses are on your side, they want your book, and they want it to be successful, and will only make choices they feel will make the latter a reality. If I can say it anywhere, I’ll say it here, trust the process!
Finishing Touches
After the edits are made, the marketing strategy is underway, the cover rendered, and the price is set, and the book is ready, publicity for your book will start: advertisements, guest appearances, book reviews, etc. This will also be around the time of the publishing process that more editors come in. These editors fix the minute details that many might overlook: finalizing spellings, making sure things are consistent, fixing sentence structures, ensuring correct word usage, fact checking, and more. You will be slightly involved in this process, as copyeditors and proofreaders may need to verify changes with you to ensure they are not changing things that were intentional on your part, but beyond that you will no longer need to touch your book.
That's How To Get A Book Published
This is where your hard work pays off. Your book will now be printed and in stores for consumers to buy. Go and enjoy your success, you’ve accomplished it! You now have a published book. But, now that you have, you have to wait and see how sales do. Until your book has made the amount you were given in your advance, you won’t see any money from it. And once it does make more than that price, you will be paid royalties based on the total sales at set intervals.
Get Published Again!
The best part is, you get to do it again! And the second time around will be easier, since you’ll already have an agent, and proof of your writing ability on the shelves. This especially proves true if you are writing in the same genre. When getting in with a traditional publisher, having a track record can be key. The traditional publisher now knows how likely you are to sell, how your writing style resonates with audiences, and therefore, if you are a worthy investment. Sometimes, because of this, the traditional publisher will give you a higher advance (like we discuss in How Much Do Authors Make).
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