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Which
Publisher?
Know
which book you want your book to sit next to on the bookstore shelf and
you will know which publishers to seek out.
Phone
first to check:
Your
targeted publisher publishes your genre.
They accept unsolicited manuscripts. What you should send –
completed manuscript or Outline/synopsis and first chapter and query
letter.
Send
a copy of your manuscript.
Never
send the original. Publishers muddle and lose pages, put coffee
rings on them. Their children
will scribble on them and they may never send them back.
Query
letter (introducing
you and your book to a publisher).
Your
Query letter is their first impression of you. Make it your best writing.
Is
the publisher’s name spelt correctly? Does the first paragraph contain
the title and explanation of your book in maximum 3 lines? Have you:
stated your target market with reasons? suggested how your book could fill
a gap in the marketplace or add positively to their publications? - Pain
Free Living, a cookbook for arthritis sufferers fitted in a series
of Healthy Living books being published at the time. Have you: given credibility to your information –
‘Anne’s husband’s parents were born and raised in country towns,
giving Anne access to first hand accounts of life in the Outback...’.
mentioned the name of the publication to show you are writing specifically
to them, mentioned your other published books and articles, shown you plan
to write more books, (Publishers don’t want a one-off), thanked them for
considering your book for publication with them?
Outline
and First Chapters
Font
– Times New Roman 12point or similar. Any smaller and it won’t get
read.
Outline
1 –2 pages maximum for a book with up to 250 pages.
Headings with bullet points. Single-spaced
is acceptable. Tell all - secrets don’t titillate they annoy publishers.
First
Chapters.
Double-spaced. On ever page include: Header
with title, your name and date(optional) Footer with your name, address
phone email and number of the page. No
title page. First page: title of book, your name + c copyright, approx
number of words. Send
as single A4 sheets. No hard
binders, no plastic folders, no pink ribbon.
Final check: Are you
sending only what you were asked for?
Are all the pages included? Recheck spelling, grammar, logic,
repeated words. Get someone
else to recheck for you. Include
a large SSAE.
Good Luck!
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