How to Publish a Book Traditionally
Contributor

So you decided that self-publishing is not your game and have invested more professional faith in the traditional route. What are the next steps? Here are the five simple actions to take to publish your book traditionally – but caveat: these steps and endless amount of patience and a boundless determination to never forsake hope on your dreams.

 

Determine the Genre of Your Book

Before one can go forth with sending query letters to agents, aspiring authors must invest time into determining the best category and genre their book fits under. This will not only narrow your search for an agent, but help authors more confidently pitch and bring a book to success.

 

Send Query Letters to Agents

Draft and perfect your query letter and first send to your 50 most desired agents. Follow up kindly, and when answers don’t come, seek more opportunities.  If you’re wondering on how to write the perfect query letter, discover our top tips here.

 

Keep Trying and Use Every Rejection as Motivation

The key to finding an agent is to never lose hope in the face of rejection letters, and trust us, they’ll come in bulk. The moment the right agent joins forces with you will make all the disappointment experienced a tiny speed bump. For every rejection received, send a query to three new agents.

 

Negotiate and Accept a Contract

Once one or more offers start rolling in, hire a lawyer and start negotiating contracts, pay outs and royalties. It’s important to scrutinize every last detail of an offer and renegotiating it so your rights as an author is the single most important step to publishing your book. Unlike the self-publishing route, entering a contract with a publishing house means forgoing your rights to the book so make sure it’s done on your terms.

 

Relinquish Control of Your Book and Let it Soar 

Once the contract is signed, work closely with the publishing team in any capacity you are allowed to – some control you’ll never have again, but maintaining enthusiasm both internally within the team and on social media goes a long way for your book’s success.

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