Here is a step by step guide on how to get published, from proposal to publication.

 

 

Complete the book

It is important to appreciate that finishing your book and completing a book takes a significant amount of work. Both require your perseverance and hard work.

Once you have finished writing your book, take a short break and review your work from the beginning. You need to edit out any grammatical or spelling errors, check for consistency, and then give it to someone else to review with a fresh pair of eyes. Consider their feedback, rewrite as necessary, and repeat the process. At the end of this process, your book will be ‘complete’.

You will be surprised how many small mistakes will get identified during the review process. A manuscript that is full of errors is one of the biggest reasons why your work could end up in the publisher’s reject pile.

To give your book the best chance, ensure you make improvements and complete your book.

 

 

Choose the type of publishing that’s right for you

Every person is different! Self-publishing is great for those who want to test the waters,  or first-time authors.

Traditional publishing and Hybrid publishers – like us- arewonderful for those who need the professional help and guidance throughout the publishing process. You have the support of a company behind you. There are huge benefits to this: publishing houses have links with many book stores and media outlets, they will usually do a large amount of marketing for you and have many accounts with wholesalers and databases where your book will be added. You also get the added support of arranging for events and book launches across their network including bookshops like Waterstones.

Publishing on Kindle is also another option if you would like to get your book out to the public as quickly as possible. Many choose to do this before they take their work to a publishing house, so they have an idea of what publishing entails.

Prioritise the elements that are important to you and then choose the publishing method that’s right for you. Some elements that you may consider:

 

 

Prepare what you need to submit

Some publishers and agents ask for samples first, so make sure you’ve picked out a great taster. This could be the start of your work or some chapters that you feel show off your manuscript best.

Other things to think about are cover letters. These are great to give some vital information to the submissions team, great things to add to this is your genre, your own biography and book synopsis. Mention if you have your own website or social media accounts, social media is a great way to build an audience and keep your family and friends informed on what’s to come.

Perhaps think about setting up an email address just for your career as an author, that way you’re not looking through personal emails, subscriptions and so on, you can just have one place for all things related to your book.

 

 

Submit to publishers/ agents

If you’re happy to submit to a publishing house they usually set out some guidelines. For example, we prefer a certain font and word count. There are certain rules for different genres. For poetry books we ask for 8-10 poems, children’s books we ask for half the work and any others we generally ask for 3-5 chapters. The requirement for each publishing house or agent may be different. Carefully read and prepare your work for submission based on these requirements. You can usually find the information on what the publisher/ agent is looking for on their website. You can read our submissions guidelines for details before you submit your work to us.

Finally, publishing houses usually say what the average response time is, so before you think of sending a reminder email, check the submissions section.

 

 

Be patient

Some publishers can take months to get through their emails and letters, so the review process can take a long time. At Olympia, we usually take between 3-4 weeks to get back to our authors. Every publishing house is different, so don’t feel like you’re being ignored. It can take some time. While you’re waiting it would be a great idea to make some mind maps of what you would like to come from your book. You can start thinking about cover ideas.

Pestering publishers does not mean your work will be reviewed straight away. Patience can go a long way.

 

 

Offers, rejection and keep submitting

It’s rare for an author not to experience any rejections. Keep submitting to agents and publishers, and take on board any feedback that you receive for your work. Keep improving and keep submitting, getting a book published can sometimes take months and occasionally years. Do not give up and do not be disheartened.

 

Still, if you find that no agent or publisher is interested in taking on your work, perhaps put your work on the back burner and start working on the next project. Unfortunately, rejection is part of this process. We try our best to give constructive feedback to our authors to help them improve their work for a better chance of success next time they submit.

 

Some people are lucky to receive an immediate yes! Although this is very rare. Take J.K. Rowling for a famous example – 17 rejections. Never give up!

 

 

Working with your publisher

Your publisher has taken you on because they believe in you and your work. In the future months, your publisher and production team will be working to edit your book, proof your book of mistakes and grammar issues, create a beautiful cover and blurb to go with it, all while talking to you to create a marketing plan. A lot of hard work and dedication goes into publishing a book. If you work with your publisher you will achieve the best results. You are both working to achieve the same goal. If you’re difficult to deal with from the start then it is likely that you will be rejected and the agent/ publisher will simply move on to the next opportunity.

 

 

Publication

Once your book has been cooked to perfection, the inners are good to go and mistake-free, your cover is finalised and all the details have been perfected, the production process is finished! That’s when the exciting part starts. Your book is in your hands and the promotion will begin. Get involved in marketing your book. Engage with your readers and take on every publicity opportunity that comes your way. Don’t be shy – you are now a published author!

 

 

Final thoughts

Publishing is not sunshine and daisies, it can be a long process with the occasional bump along the way for some. Take this time to write your next book, it will help you cope with the highs and lows of the publication process. By the time your first book is published, you will have already written your next one!

 

 

Ultimately, publishing can make dreams come true, start careers, change lives – not just for the author but the readers too! It’s a long journey, but just think about how satisfying it is to hold your own book in your hands, to hear someone who has read your work tell you how much they enjoyed it, that they took the time to spend hours reading your creation, to see your book on the shelf in your favourite bookshop, to go online and see reviews on all the major websites for your book! Nothing beats that feeling.

Most publishers will ask for a synopsis when submitting your work, it’s rare that any editor will have the time to read every page of every book we receive. So, a synopsis can be a massive plus when sending work in. Because it is so crucial to have an attractive summary, we have outlined some points to include!

 

 

Have a concise plot.

 

It’s important to include a detailed summary, but do not swamp us. Try and be as precise as possible without writing another book. Short, sweet and clear is key.

 

 

Just one page

 

We ask for one page for ease. When you pick up a book and read the blurb you will decide right there and then if you want to buy it and blurbs are rarely longer than half a page. So, narrow it down so we know it can be explained well in detail in less than a page.

 

 

You have nothing to hide!

 

Some authors write a synopsis like a book blurb, leaving out spoilers and leaving an air of mystery. We want to hear the plot, where the twists are. Don’t be afraid of giving it all away! That is what we want to hear.

 

 

Mention your genre

 

We can usually tell what genre you are by reading the synopsis. But we have been wrong – especially when the summary isn’t worded well. Be specific as to what genre you lie in!