How Did Your Book Get Published?

I was wondering the same thing for so long. Never knew who to ask.

Have you tried an agent and publishing companies? I've seen a lot of controversial books published out there. Self-publishing is an expensive prospect then you have to market your work yourself.

Yes. I have had agents "hint" that "oh no." One agent requested the first three chapters, and then she wrote back: "The proposal is good. However, I don't think I will be able to find someone who will take this one."

I hate the thought of self-publishing. I have had about 15 rejections-I wonder how many I should take before I self-publish? My first plan was to accept 30 before I self-publish. But, I am working on the second novel, and I am having a difficult time because the first one was so much work, and it is just sitting here. I know there are people out there who know what I mean. Rewrite...Rewrite...Rewrite x 15 for me! LOL.

Thanks Ashmin and Patricia. Hopefully, we will get some insight here.

The main thing you need to ask yourself is who will buy the book? If you think you can sell it yourself, do that.

Thanks Bill. I understand what you are saying. I am targeting women from ages 21 on. That is a good question to ask yourself when you write.

The first one would not leave my head, and I probably knew somewhere deep down, it would be difficult to market. But, at least, it is out of my head! LOL.

My new one is a mystery, so it will be targeted toward mystery lovers.

Not I , I spend all my spare time on Gather.

I havent a clue, sorry

I haven't self-published a book but have had offers made to go this route. I do know someone, Steve Weber (you can check the name on Amazon) who has created some wonderful books by self-publishing, I believe. They are worth checking out. One is about selling on Ebay and another describes how to plug or promote one's books.

I chose not to self publish. I thought why pay for my own work, when someone should be paying me. I went through a publisher. It took a while to find one... but I did! Now my book was Christian poetry, and I was trying to get in with a Christian publisher... thinking that would be easiest. Apparently not! It was so much easier going through a publisher that takes pretty much any genre.

Really? Interesting! Thank you so much J. and Molly! I would have thought a Christian group would have wanted yours also!

I've self-published, through Lulu.com. Here's a couple of links to help you sort out publishing info.
http://www.squidoo.com/publishingmethods
http://www.squidoo.com/afstewart

There is currently a shakeup happening in the self-publishing world, due to Amazon.com. If you are thinking about self-publishing, you might want to wait until the fallout becomes clear. It is not clear whether Amazon's actions are going to benefit the publishing world or increase costs.

Yes, I have self-published 3 books so far, have another one I'm about to publish, and plan to publish many more. I use Lulu.com, and recommend it to anyone. The promotion part of selling self-published books is hard work and if you're shy, you probably won't succeed in self-publishing very well. But if you're willing to work at getting the word out about your book, I think it's a great way to go. And Lulu allowed me to get published with no investment on my part whatsoever. They only get paid when I get paid, and I make about $3 a book more than I would make with a traditional publisher.

So, yes, I say self-publish! At least until you establish a name for yourself.

Wow! Thank you A.F. and Rhetta! You mean they don't charge you up front?

Cool questions and answers. I'll remember to check back!

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It's risky, isn't it?

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Believe me, fifteen rejections is nothing. Besides that one woman, did anyone else see your novel? If not, all they are rejecting is your rejection letter and not your work. And even if it is the work itself that is being rejected, fifteen still is nothing.

My suggestion? Work on your query letter. Make it fascinating, but make sure that it honestly reflects your work. The number one reason agents reject a well-written novel is that it was not what they were expecting.

And one novel just sitting there? I have four, and am working on five. Some day perhaps I will be good enough that no publisher will dare not publish my work. (I can dream, and so should you.)

Another suggestion? Keep sending out queries and see what happens. You might find someone who will give you suggestions. (Probably not, but you never can tell.) At the very least, by the time you've finished your second novel, you will be a much more experienced writer, and can look at the first with a new perspective to see how it can be improved.

I wrote my book first because that is what I was called to do ... I was sure that because of the uniqueness of my message that it would be good seller, that I would have no problems getting published because I had bought and read so many books that were no where as good as mine.

But then I found out that without an agent you couldn't get a reputable publisher, and without more than I had going for me I probably couldn't get a reputable agent ... key word here is reputable !

I then searched for a reputable publisher, POD style. I found one that had just been purchased by Amazon.com, BookSurge. I went with them ... got a nice book out of it, both hard cover and soft cover, listed on Amazon and some other places ... but nowhere near as was the "seeming" (intentional) promise of the publisher as related to all kinds of things ... I am quite disillusioned with BookSurge, as far as I am concerned at the moment, they are like too many of those outfits, profit, profit, profit (through fees to the author, cost me over $4000) motivated ... not recommended.

I do not recall having heard anything bad about LuLu though ... ???

Oh God Pat! I was thinking that if I get into that situation, i t might be time to hit the conventions. I do believe Jerry that you have a very special book. I can tell from the way you answer questions on this site.

I too have bought and read many books that were no where as passionate as mine. I have read many books where I thought the characters were made out of cardboard.

I want to read books where the characters come alive!

I just finished reading The Funhouse by Dean Koontz. This is what I am talking about-this is what I want to spend my time reading. The characters came to life.

When I read a book, I want passion. I don't care what the book is about, I still want to feel the author' s passion.

I am not certain why you had a difficult time selling your book Jerry, because you speak of it with such passion.

Pat, do you write mystery? It looks like mystery. I would think someone would take your books. I wonder if the publishing world is so afraid of new writers. It looks like there must be an issue with unknown writers.

I have not heard anything bad about Lulu. I was thinking about investigating them.

To answer your question. I had a small publishing agency look at the first 3 chapters, and 1 agent looked at the first three chapters. I thought I made it clear what they were getting themselves into to. But, you never know! LOL!

I published two books, but failed to promote them. Oh, well.

What do you mean Mary Ann? What happened?

Sharon, in that case, you had 13 rejections of your query letter, which isn't so hard to take when you think about it. It's a single letter, not you, not your book. So, you've had only two rejections. Pretty good.

More Deaths Than One is sort of a mystery, sort of a thriller, and therein lies the problem (or one of them). It doesn't strictly conform to any genre.

Same problem here!

Hi to all of you looking to publish your writing. There are several options that I know off.
1. spend time and lots of money on an agent who will or won't get you the results you want.
2. Maybe you can get Lucky and have a traditional publisher buy your story and the rest is up to them.
3. (most likely) you will not have any luck with these first two options so you can go the self publishing route like I did. Traditional publishers will charge you a set amount to print "X" amount of copies, if they sell is up to your promotion of it. On the other hand you can use a publishing company like Authorhouse which has a technology called Print on De4mand which is considerably less expensive as they only print the amount of copies ordered which leaves you more money for promoting the book.To get more information call Buddy Dow at1-888-519-5121 extension 5373 and tell him "Lenin Patino" sent you this will get you special attention as I recently published my book with his help. I can't lie to you it is a long difficult process, and you will find a lot of sources telling you that the quality of a self published book is less than one that is published by a traditional publisher but that is "NOT TRUE!" They are just as good if you want proof just purchase a copy of my book "Lenin A Soldier A story of Survival available at http:www.LeninPatino.com besides seeing the quality you will also be acquiring a great book!
Hope this helps thank you,
Lenin Patino

I also published and haven't really promoted my book like I should have but Authorhouse also offers several publicity packages for all budgets...
Thank you, Lenin Patino
http://www.LeninPatino.com

Thanks Lenin. Agents are not supposed to charge for their services. I have asked several of them about this same issue.

well they might not charge you upfront but they will take a commission on the back end
Thank you Lenin Patino

True. They get about 15% I believe.

I believe that 1 5% comes out of your royalties and straight to the agent am I right?
I believe self publishing is the way to go at least until you have a couple of books under your belt...
Thank you Lenin Patino
http://www.LeninPatino.com

I am self published and I chose AuthorHouse. I am very happy with their work and their service. I also am trying to promote my work and the work of other self published authors with a web site. Visit if you get a chance.

http://risingstarauthors.com/

Hi J.G.

I remember you were going to have a group for self-published authors. You chose Authorhouse? I had some info on them. Did you find them to be resonable financially speaking? So, if we self-publish then we are in for quite an ordeal aren't we?

Hey Sharon when I was looking for someone to publish my book I found Authorhouse was the most reasonable price wise, that is why I went with them like I mentioned before the whole self publishing thing is a long and very involved process but Buddy my rep at from Authorhouse was very helpful in guiding me through the entire process. If you need this number once again it is:1-888-519-5121
ext 5373 and tell him Lenin Patino referred you as this will get you higher on his list of prorities.Even if you decide not to go with Authorhouse I still recommend self publishing until you have a few titles under you
Thank you
Lenin Patino
http://www.LeninPatino.com

Thank you so much Lenin!

I don't know much about self publishing just as you Sharon. I heard a lot about lulu, and I read of course all the practical advice through the many comments you got. What I could suggest is to turn to: NEW AUTHORS SHOWCASE, which is what I did. All you have to do is send them a synopsis through their online form. It's a literary agency website. it's a site worth visiting.

I agree with Patricia, try a publishing company or agent. I tried to selfipublish once.

I just came back to check this posting. For some reason, my email did not tell me that Haim and Elaine posted. Thank you so much. I have never heard of Authors Showcase! See? Maybe I am not the only one who learned of a new resource today! Thanks! I will check it out.

MY EXPERIENCE SELF PUBLISHING RATES A+. MARKETING IS ALWAYS AN AUTHOR'S OTHER JOB, BUT GETTING A GOOD PRODUCT WITH AN ATTRACTIVE COVER FOR A FAIR PRICE WAS MY OBJECT AND MY SELF PUBLISHER CHOICE SATISFIED THAT. MY NOVEL "THE EYES HAVE IT" IS WONDERFUL, GETTING GOOD REVIEWS, AND HOPEFULLY ONE DAY I WILL BREAK EVEN.
I HAD A VERY SUCCESSFUL LOCAL BOOK EVENT, AND ENCOURAGE THOSE OF YOU WHO, LIKE ME COULD NOT HOOK AN AGENT, AND THEREFORE NOT A TRADITIONAL PUBLISHER TO GO FOR IT WITH AN HONEST, RELIABLE COMPANY. I CHECKED THEM OUT ON
EDITORSANDPREDITORS.COM.
CHECK OUT MY BOOK @ www.madelynlorber.com
AND SEE FOR YOURSELF AND LEARN THE PRESS I USED.

Thank you Madelyn. I have not been on gather for awhile, so I am sorry I am late in responding. But, I plan on coming back real soon!!! I am going to check out that site. Thanks again!