Elberton, Georgia native gives tips on getting your book published

After writing my first book, Notes from My Father’s Bible, and having it published, I would like to share with you my experience and my advice.

Some writers contact a publisher during the writing process. I recommend completing your book first and then prepare to submit the manuscript to a publisher. For your first contact with a prospective publisher- and you should contact more than one – it should be over the phone, or better yet, in person, not in writing. A phone call worked for me.

You want to accomplish several things in that first meeting:

1)   You are knowledgeable and passionate about your book.

2)   You know who your audience is.

3)   You have the ability to tell a story and promote the book.

4)   You want to make a good impression on the publisher and convince them you will enhance their brand.

Remember that in this first meeting, you are interviewing them, too. You want their buy-in to enthusiastically publish your book, provide copy editing, and design services of professionals in their business. Copy editing is crucial. The publisher should post the book on their website, as well as on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Before getting to the presentation of your manuscript, be thoroughly prepared to give an “elevator speech” describing your book. This is the short type of “speech” that you could give to someone in an elevator before they exit.

You also want to perfect the book as much as possible. Get one or more trusted people to read your draft, provide their edits, and offer constructive criticism. You can’t worry about getting your feelings hurt; this is a time for brutal honesty. Communicate this in no uncertain terms to the people reviewing your draft.  They must be bold and not hesitant to give their opinions. Whether or not you take their advice is up to you, but this process will make you think and re-evaluate some of your writing or perhaps the organization of it.

So here are your steps:

1. Complete your book. I wrote mine longhand on legal pads. Then my assistant, Judy Scarlett, typed it up for me in a Microsoft Word document. To send to a publisher, we converted it to a PDF file, which seems to be a standard, universally accepted format.
2. Decide whether to self-publish or go the traditional publishing route. I chose the latter, which I needed and recommend.
3. Contact the publisher or literary agent, call them or visit them. Make it brief but professional. Tell them the purpose of your inquiry. Describe your book and ask if they are interested in reviewing your manuscript. They will want to know the present state of the work (is the manuscript complete?).
4. Send the manuscript directly to the publisher, who will have their own guidelines and required format. Be careful to follow their instructions and directions precisely as given. The publisher will want a biographical sketch of you, a list of any previous publications, why you think your book should be published, and who your target audience is. Also, what are you trying to tell the audience?  In your cover letter, give a synopsis or introduction to the book.
5. Timing: Expect a few weeks to two months to know if your manuscript was accepted or rejected. The larger, more well-known publishers will take much longer. Mercer University Press was interested and willing to review my manuscript, but their backlog for a first-time author was over a year to give me a final decision. They were kind enough to provide recommendations from other publishers. They have so many notable authors, I was just glad they took my call!
6. Once a manuscript is accepted, the publisher will give you a proposal, telling you the cost of their services (expect under $4000-$5000). If you want to go forward, they will direct you to a website to fill out their formal book submission form. Then, you will get the contract, a Publishing and Royalty Agreement. This legal document was straightforward and understandable. Some people may want their attorney to review it. Read it, ask questions through email, and understand it. After the contract has been signed, expect about a year for the book to be printed and published.

Several people on the team for the publisher provide:

1. Copy editing
2. Designing a format
3. Designing a cover
4. Proofreading and corrections
5. Review page proofs
6. Finally, the printing.

The editing process is arduous and can take several months. With many eyes on the process, the goal is to get the book in as perfect a shape as possible, making it more readable, understandable, and appealing to readers. Between you and me, there can be stages in this process that take some of the fun out of it. If you reach that point of frustration, you should put the work down, walk away from it for a long enough time to get your enthusiasm and creative energy back. Then, get back to work and finish the job. As in football, the last few yards are usually the toughest. Grind it out!

Promotion of your book – the publisher will advertise within their world of contacts and audience (website, mailing lists, conferences, meetings), produce catalog announcements and arrangements with book sellers (wholesale and retail).

As the author, you should engage in personal promotion as much as you can. Be prepared with your “elevator speech” to give to most anyone you encounter, where appropriate. You should schedule speaking engagements and book signings in your area and beyond. I hired an advertising agency, 365 Degree Total Marketing, with the initial directive of running ads in most newspapers in Georgia. They also created press releases, a Facebook and Instagram page, rack cards, and personal cards.

Remember, this is your first book to be published, and you will need help. Humbly ask for it but confidently let them know this is your story; you love it, and you have the ability to promote it and represent the publisher well. Ronda Rich told me at a writer’s conference, “If it’s interesting to you, it will be interesting to someone else.”  You’ve got it in you. Go for it!

-Al Brown

Author

Al Brown grew up in Elberton, GA. He and Gayle married in 1972, emptied their bank account (all $301 of it), packed up their belongings from a small mobile home, and moved south on an exciting adventure to a place Al had never been, St. Simons Island.  He is a 1972 graduate of the University of Georgia, majoring in real estate. He’s been in real estate for 53 years to support a bass fishing habit, he says. A single Bible verse changed his outlook and changed his religious life in 1981, intensifying his desire to know the Bible. Notes From My Father’s Bible tells his story. It’s available on Amazon by ordering HERE.