Social media, SEO, marketing and writingHow to Locate and Evaluate the Right Publishing Company For Your Book
Authors sometimes voice their frustration in trying to find the right publisher for their manuscript. Even experienced authors with track records are sometimes uncertain which publisher is right for certain books.
Published author Darryl Wimberley offers this blunt advice for writers looking to land a publishing contract: “If you’re a writer, you need to hunt with a shotgun, not a rifle.”
How to Find the Right Publisher
One of the best ways to get a handle on this quest is to request the latest catalogs from the publishers you are considering. You can order these by mail or view them online by visiting the publisher’s website. After studying them, pick the companies you believe would do the best job on your type of book. Be sure your choices are those publishers actually specializing in your genre.
An indispensable guide is the 88 year-old Writer’s Market, an annual book which contains listing on thousands of publishers across the country. The Deluxe edition includes online access to more than 6,000 market listings and daily updates. WritersMarket.com offers submission tracking tools, daily publishing news, and an archive of helpful articles for writers.
Another way authors find the right publisher is via an agent. A key reason authors sign with agents is the fact that any good agent worth his or her salt knows which publisher is best for a given book. Agents are so close to the business and deal with all the major publishers that they become good at matching books with publishers.
Another possible way to find the right publisher is expensive, but it has worked for a number of authors. You simply pack your bags and visit New York, where most of the top publishers are located. You visit different publishing offices in hopes of getting a lead on the right one for your book. It’s best to write, email or call them before arriving in New York to save your time. Some will not see you, but others may be willing to see what you have, providing you have written specific editors first and requested an appointment.
Editors are so pressed for time these days that this method of going to New York could fail completely. The test will be to write editors first and see if any reply and actually grant you an appointment. If your manuscript is completed, you can either let them know that fact or not. Can’t secure an official appointment? You could try socializing around hotspots where editors and publishers are known to frequent in hopes of rubbing shoulders with the right people. This is a long shot–but funnier things can happen.
How to Evaluate a Publishing Company
Studying a publisher’s catalog will give you a feel for the type of books they seem to like. Visiting a publisher’s office can also help you evaluate them. Most publishers display their current books in their lobby areas near the receptionist. In some publishing offices, you will get a cold, unresponsive reaction. Others are completely polite and professional. Asking other authors what they think of this publisher over that publisher is another sure-fire method for getting the inside skinny on a publisher’s booklist and reputation.
You are more likely to be treated kindly and courteously by publishers than by agents. Many agents won’t give you the time of day unless you’re a big time, mega name author. Again, if you plan to contact agents, too, while visiting New York, be sure to call or email them first for an appointment. If any agree to see you, consider yourself fortunate.
One of the biggest mistakes new authors make is to send novels to publishers who don’t want fiction or nonfiction proposals to publishers mainly interested in novels. Basically, it’s never a good idea to send unsolicited material to any publisher. Only send what you are asked to send. Follow this simple rule and you will save time, money, and much aggravation.
Reading the trade journals of publishing can give you clues about different publishers, and that would help you to evaluate various ones.
Going online and visiting the Web sites of various publishing houses it a great way to get to know a publisher. You can learn about their corporate policies, key officers and/or editors, submission policies, front list titles, back list titles, and almost anything you need to know about them. Best of all, you can access this information 24 hours a day at your convenience.
Social media sites are emerging as publishing resources as well. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and the like are all electronic networks that can be navigated and harvested for personal and professional gain. If you’re not a frequent visitor of social network websites, it’s not too late to lend your voice, commentary, questions, content, advice and insights to this bold new interconnected world!
