How to Publish Your First Novel

Writing your first novel is a great accomplishment, but its only the beginning of the battle. Getting your first novel published is not an easy feat. Many people have tried to publish their first novel and failed miserably...but it really boils down to how well you research and how well you can put together your submission packet and maybe a little bit of luck. There are some tricks and tools to the trade that are really indispensable and will help increase your chances of getting published.

The first and probably greatest tool that will help you get your first novel published is the annual current "Writers Market Guide". It is the most comprehensive guide to the writer's market. This book contains information as detailed as how to submit query letters based on what type of genre, type of work- fiction and non fiction, a comprehensive list of publishers and what type of work they represent and are actively seeking. This list of publishers is coded, and the codes are explained in the table of contents-making it easier for you to skim through and determine which publishing house is the best fit for your novel. Some publishing houses only accept agent represented authors...so if you don't have an agent, these publishing houses aren't worth your effort. Some publishing houses do not accept any new authors. That is why it is so important to be well researched and educated when you attempt to publish your first novel. You can tie up a lot of unnecessary expense if you aren't paying attention and you blindly send out full manuscripts to publishing houses that don't even accept new authors. It is also important to use the "Writer's Market Guide" in combination with online research. Most of the publishing houses will have links listed to their home page. It is extremely important to check out each website for their requirements for submission and contact information-as their staff and requirements may change frequently.

The second tool is a perfect query letter. A query letter is a one page letter that will be sent to the publishing house, detailing what type of book you have written, a nice little hook that entices the publisher, a short paragraph explaining what the book is about, how many words are in the manuscript, and a closing paragraph. There is definitely an art to preparing the perfect query letter. If you don't grab the publishers attention in one short little page...you can forget them taking in interest in reading a three hundred page manuscript-it just won't happen. I recently read a blog by one of my favorite authors-Tess Gerritsen-and she gives a great link on how to write the perfect query letter, and search for literary agents. I found this link to be very useful and if you are going to get information, why not get it from a frequent New York Times Bestseller? The link is to another successful authors page-Marcus Sakey, author of the "Killer Year". His link provides details on how to write the perfect query letter and land an agent.

The third tool is a given, but you must master the first two in order to get to the third. Yes, that's right...you need a literary agent. It's not a bad idea to try and get something accomplished on your own, but having a literary agent who will work for you-trying to get your book into a reputable publishing house and managing and overseeing the legalities is really going to be beneficial for you when publishing your first novel. Literary agents who charge "reading fees" are no' nos. Stay away from fee charging agents. This was also good advice from Tess Gerittsen. It is also a good idea to look for agents who work out of New York City. This is where the action is in the publishing world. Once you have obtained a good agent, the rest is pretty much set in stone. An agent is going to do what is your best interest and theirs. Agents usually charge a percentage rate off of your book sales, but they definitely earn their money. Let's take an example. You decide to go on your own and get published through a small publishing house. The publishing house has an average order of 5,000 books. You make 10 % off of retail at 16.95 for hardcover. You are making about 1.70 per book. Multiply that out. You have made 8500.00 off of your first book, minus your initial expenses.
Now...consider the agent representation. They sink their teeth into your book and get you into a large publishing house that has a minimum of 15,000 books. They charge the same price. 16.95X15,000=254,250. 10% of that is yours. Now you have 25,425. $3814.00 goes to your agent. So you come out with 21,611.00- You can obviously see which option is better. Don't avoid the small publishing houses altogether..in the beginning it might be a good choice, just to get your foot in the door. If you want to go big, aim big. It never hurts to try. There is also a "Literary Agents Market Guide" that will give you a complete list of agents and what types of works they represent. These resource materials can be purchased at your local Barnes and Noble or other large retailer. You can probably find them online through Amazon as well.

I think these three tools are the most important in getting your first novel published. Above all you need to be educated and do your research.