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You get what you pay for If you want your book to have specific characteristics - like glossy paper or unusual dimensions - be prepared to pay more. O P I N I O N
T oday book publishing offers a myriad of options that can leave a person bewildered. For a novice, a first time effort can be quite costly. A discerning creative talent may find herself without an agent or a publisher due to self-imposed restrictions. For instance, my title Elbow Grease + Chicken Fat: Business Advice That Sticks to Your Ribs pairs tantalizing recipes with memorable anecdotes on how to succeed as an entrepreneurial startup. Simply put: That title confuses publishers.
Marilynn Mendell
Where to put it? Is it a cookbook or a business book? And the size I wanted didn’t fit normal parameters for shelving in the few independent bookstores still around. I wanted fancy paper and color, and each of those distinctions – that outside-of-the-box thinking – limited my chances of acquiring a professional company to publish my book. Marketers know that the message has to match the audience, and in book publishing the scope narrows considerably. Great writing skills must touch, move, and inspire, and be grammatically correct without spelling errors. The latter may sound like a given, however the editing process for a 225 page book can take months with as many as four professional editors reviewing it.
All facts need to be checked. Indexes alone can prove daunting for the most hardy of writers. So, what to do? Naturally, start with the large publishing houses and attempt to find an agent with integrity. Consider that more than 500,000 books get published each year. For first time authors seeking agents, I’d suggest thoroughly studying Jeff Herman’s tome on how to get published. Make stationery, business cards, a website, and a gorgeous pitch piece. Write individual cover letters to agents and a few publishing houses open to authors without representation. After producing and sending out
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