<p>Hello. I am sophomore and wish to publish a children’s book on environmental awareness. my friends tell me it’s hard to publish any type of book, but is it true. of course, the content and everything related should be great also, but what should i do in order to get my book published (in the future) any information about this will be welcomed. thank you.</p>
<p>Actually, these days it is very easy to publish a book, if you want to self-publish. For a fairly nominal fee you can work with an on-demand publisher that will print books as ordered - then you can market the book online yourself through places like Amazon. (Amazon basically will list anything that has an ISBN number). The problem then is marketing the book – but if you are appealing to a niche market, self-publishing is a quick way to get the book into print. </p>
<p>Of course, since you are writing a children’s book it is likely that you want it illustrated – and if you haven’t done the illustrations yourself, then you would need to be working with a publisher, since an illustrator would have to be hired and paid.</p>
<p>If you just have a concept and a manuscript, you might try marketing to the type of publishers who would most likely be interested in the topic. For example, the Sierra Club publishes books – however, they say that they are not currently interested in children’s books (See <a href=“http://www.sierraclub.org/books/submissions.asp[/url]”>http://www.sierraclub.org/books/submissions.asp</a> ) But maybe thinking along those lines will give you ideas for publishers who might be interested.</p>
<p>Go to the library and look at the most recent edition of Writer’s Market. It will give you the names of publishers interested in children’s books. The book also has lots of tips – how to format, what to include, etc. Whether to send the entire manuscript, or just a letter of inquiry. </p>
<p>Publishers of children’s books are not as interested in having you provide your own illustrations or illustrators. They often have their own favorites they prefer to work with. (However, you can send notes describing what sort of illustration you imagine. or a “dummy book” with rough drawings, showing the spacing of text.)</p>
<p>It is extremely difficult to get something published “over the transom.” (That is, just sending in an unrequested submission.) Most publishers work strictly with “knowns” or with agents. It is easier to publish something if you are a mediocre writer who is already famous in another area – celebrities who can’t write publish way more than extremely talented nobodies. </p>
<p>That isn’t to say it can’t be done. There are always exceptions, and maybe you’ll be one. I have been published about 2 dozen times, but can wallpaper an entire room with my rejection letters.</p>
<p>well i am not a talented person who has overwhelming writing skills and never published any book whatsoever. calmom, you say it’s fairly not that hard. would that apply to me? i would like to write a children’s book because i would like to share my passion to kids…</p>
<p>I think calmom means it is not so hard if you publish a book YOURSELF. That is, either in an informal way or through a publisher or printing place where you pay for the service.</p>
<p>Getting a book published by a commercial publisher is very difficult.</p>
<p>Your first step should be to reasearch to see what books for chidlren are already available on this topic. Check at your library and a large bookstore. A children’s librarian will be able to help you research this.</p>
<p>Let me clarify that Calmom and I are talking about two different kinds of publishing.</p>
<p>Calmom refers to what is often called “Vanity Publishing” – where you pay to have your book professionally printed and bound. You are buying “x” amount of books, which you are then free to sell, give away, hoard, burn, whatever. Many genealogists, for example, go this route to publish their family research, which has a limited and obvious market. If you pay $500 to print 10 copies of your book, then you sell them to relatives for $50 and recoup your expenses.</p>
<p>Be very careful to read the fine print of any “publishing” contract, and know exactly what you are getting. If you are asked to pay any money at all, it is a vanity press. </p>
<p>The second route, of having your work “bought” by a publisher – that is, they pay you, not the other way around – is what I was referring to. If you are successful in getting a publisher to buy your book, then they pay you – either buy your work outright, or pay you a commission on books sold (or a portion of both). They market it, make most of the “artistic” decisions (like what the cover looks like), incur the loss if the book doesn’t sell well, and make a bundle if it does. It is an expensive gamble for the publisher, which is why they prefer to have a ready market ahead of time – people are more willing to pay money to learn Madonna’s ideas of ideal parenting than yours. (Hypothetical – I have no idea if Madonna has written a parenting book or not … yet.)</p>
<p>so if I publish the book myself, how could that be done? so then, you mean, selling through amazon? never getting the book into barnesnoble or borders or something like that?</p>
<p>+, the publishing company needs to see some qualified work in order to buy your book? so then ,how qualified?</p>
<p>if you want to publish it yourself you can sell it through amazon. Actually, Amazon just merged with a Print on Demand Company and you can publish children’s books (with illustrations that are done by a professional illustrator) and it will be sold on amazon. It costs a couple thousand dollars though. If you want a traditional publisher send the completed manuscript (not just a query letter if it is a short book–shorter than 20 double spaced pages). You don’t need illustrations just the book and a letter explaining why you want it published. Look up ‘literary agents’ and send it to them with a self addressed envelope inside. If a literary agent takes you as a client you don’t pay them anything (if they are a legit agent) until they find you a publisher (and most publishers wont publish you without an agent). Good luck with your book!</p>
<p>I want to publish a novel. It’s based loosely on my high school days (well, some of the characters are) and I’ve been sending copies of it to friends. I really would like to see it as an actual book sometime though.</p>
<p>Now, the one hang-up is this. The book could be sort of controversial because it deals with reverse discrimination issues. The principal is an African American who hates white people. How hard would it be to get this badboy published?</p>
<p>$1000? or 20 pgs? OMG. explaining why? </p>
<p>what if there’s no real concrete reason. i have some reasons why, but not concrete… but what if they find the reason kind of bad? do they still reject the paper? is it hard that the agents accept your reason?</p>
<p>are there any good publishers/agents out there you know?</p>
<p>whoa, it’s harder and more complicated than i thought… oh well…</p>