Few authors seek out a traditional publisher as a first step any more. They hear how hard it is to get a publisher interested in a manuscript, so they opt for the easier, quicker way and sign with an eager pay-to-publish company.
Folks, there are hundreds and hundreds of traditional royalty publishers out there right now hoping for a book that will make them some money. They are not in the market of rejecting manuscripts. They actually want to receive good projects from astute and conscientious authors.
So why do so many authors choose to go the pay-to-publish route as a first option?
• They don’t think their project measures up. It’s not good enough.
• They don’t want to go the extra effort to improve their manuscript.
• They don’t want to have someone tell them to make changes.
• They don’t want to take the extra time it would take to locate and work with a traditional publisher.
And some of them simply aren’t aware that there may be a publisher out there for their project.
So how does one go about finding a traditional publisher?
• Use directories such as those listed at the end of this blog post.
• Check out books similar to yours to see who published them.
• Do an Internet search using keywords: “mystery publisher,” “publisher nonfiction pets,” etc.
• If you belong to SPAWN or another organization or writers group, check with members to find out who they would recommend. If that organization or club has a newsletter that features publishers in every issue (as SPAWN does), be sure to study each issue carefully.
• Subscribe to a magazine or newsletter that focuses on publishers and their current needs.
• Attend book festivals and visit publishers’ booths.
• Attend writers conferences and sit in on sessions presented by publishers, pick up their literature, have a conversation with some of them.
• Likewise, sign up for meetings with editors from publishing companies and agents at writers conferences and pitch your project.
• Volunteer to help the organizers of a writers conference. You may have the opportunity to socialize with publishers.
• Join publishing organizations, such as SPAWN, IBPA and some of those formed locally in your area. Publishers belong to these organizations.
So there are ten ways to meet and connect with publishers. Below I’ve listed a few directories you can access to locate the right publisher for your project.
Tomorrow, we’ll talk about how to land a publisher.
Writers Market is a print directory of publishers and much more. If you are writing a book or if you submit articles or stories to magazines, you must have this directory. It comes out annually around August/September.
Database for Writer’s Market
http://www.writersmarket.com
Additional publisher directories:
http://www.acqweb.org/pubr.html
http://www.publishersglobal.com/directory (worldwide
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