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The Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting Published, 4th Edition

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I bought five books to help me write a book proposal:

"How to Write a Book Proposal, 3rd edition," by Michael Larsen

"78 Reasons Why Your Book May Never Be Published & 14 Reasons Why It Just Might," by Pat Walsh

"The Forest for the Trees," by Betsy Lerner

"The Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting Published, 4th edition," by Sheree Bykofsky and Jennifer Basye Sander

"Think Like Your Editor," by Susan Rabiner and Alfred Fortunado

The worst was "How to Write a Book Proposal." This book felt like a bad date, like I wanted to wash my hair after reading it. The intent is to teach you to be an "Authorpreneur (r)." Yes, Larsen has registered this word. You'll learn such gems as everyone has 250 friends, and each of them has 250 friends, so you can "spread the word" about your book to more than 62,000 people by e-mail. I think there's a word for that -- spam. Larsen also says to include your promotion plan in the book proposal, including pushing "the paperback edition as hard as you can" when it's published a year after the hardcover edition. I'm not an agent or editor, but I'd think that an agent would giggle quietly to themselves if you were so presumptuous as to include a marketing plan for the paperback edition. (To the author's credit, he doesn't say you should suggest which actor should play the main character in the movie version of your book.) Then there's the chapter about including illustrations and cover art. Excuse me, I thought the editor and art director develop the cover art? I can't imagine creating the book cover to include in the proposal. And the author recommends including a "surprise," such as a baby shoe with a note saying "Now that I have a foot in the door." The book has one good piece of advice: pick a good title. For example, "How to Write a Book Proposal" is a title that will make 100,000 aspiring writers buy your book, regardless of how awful the book is.

"78 Reasons" was good. Some sections are wrong, such as #38 and #39, which correctly advises against paying for a vanity press to publish your book but confuses this with self-publishing. I've successfully self-published two books, and unsuccessfully self-published one book. The correct answer is that if you have a niche book in a niche market you know well, self-publish. Self-publishing mass market books is a recipe for disaster. Some of the advice is excellent, such as #16, about "killing your little darlings" (a scene you think is brilliant, that you build the rest of the book around). While most of this book is sound advice to a novice writer, as an experienced writer I didn't learn anything new.

"The Complete Idiot's Guide" covers the entire process from thinking of an idea through book proposals, book contracts, publicity tours, etc. It's a good overview but each chapter is too short. You'll need to buy another book about book proposals, etc. I'm keeping my copy as a reference to turn to occasionally but it's not the last word.

"The Forest for the Trees" starts with six essays about writing, with topics such as alcoholism, self-promoting poets (starting with Walt Whitman), the childhood of famous writers, writers who are too successful too young, etc. These are interesting reading. The second half of the book is essays about publishing, starting with literary agents. One paragraph describes the plethora of surprise gifts writers include with their query letters. She's received baby shoes, presumably from readers of Larsen's book. She says: "Please resist the temptation to do any of these outlandish things...a simple, dignified letter with a clear statement of your intent and credentials will win more affirmative responses than any gimmick or hype." If you read Larsen's book, read Lerner's book as the antidote. The next essays are about dealing with rejection, the life of editors, what writers want from editors, how book covers are designed, book titles selected, etc. This book is descriptive, not proscriptive, so you'll learn how the world of books operates, if not be told how to write a book and get it published. I enjoyed the author's "voice" and I recommend this book.

The best book is "Thinking Like Your Editor." The first half of the book is about preparing your book proposal. Unlike the other four books, reading this book made me completely rewrite my book proposal. The author begins by emphasizing the three most important things about a book: audience, audience, and audience. Who is going to buy your book? Not who might be sort of interested in your book, but who will feel that he or she must read your book. I'd thought about this before, but reading Rabiner's book made me think lucidly about this. She then walks you through the elements that must be in a book proposal, such as your thesis, or what makes your message unique and new and challenging; why is now the time to publish this book; and why are you the person most qualified to write it. The second half of the book is about writing your book, including the importance of narrative tension in non-fiction writing, and of presenting a balanced "argument" to make your views more convincing. The other four books made me say, "uh-huh, uh-huh" and not do anything. Rabiner's book made me spend several days working on my proposal. (My 2003 paperback copy has the typos corrected.)

I am a freelance writer and owner of several bookshelves literally groaning with stacks of books on writing. I've devoured books on writing the way my teenage daughter digs into pizza, always hoping for some mantra that would help pave my way to publishing success. Although I am a successful magazine (Woman's Day, Cosmopolitan, etc.) and newspaper (Chicago Tribune, etc.) author, and have contributed to several anthologies, I have yet to hold a book in my hand with my name on the cover. THE COMPLETE IDIOT'S GUIDE TO GETTING PUBLISHED is the most practical book on publishing that I've ever read, and I've read them all! Not only is each chapter packed with advice for writers at every level of the publishing process, but the text is highly readable and even entertaining. All the sidebars and boxes keep the large volume of information from ever becoming dry or boring. And the icing on the cake is a CD-ROM with templates for pitch letters and proposals--just what every writer needs, when he's faced with the daunting task of selling himself to publishers. Thanks so much, Sheree and Jennifer!

So many books about how to get your book published are really either books about writing or the disguised memoir of an acquisition editor. But a person trying to get their first book published really just needs some bare bones advice about the mechanics of publishing. When should you send a query letter instead of a proposal? When should you write the book first and when should you just spec it out. When do you need an agent and when can you go it alone. When is it OK to call somebody? What is the big deal with this SASE that everyone keeps talking about? The Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting Published provides the nuts and bolts advice you need to get started in your search for a publisher. It is not magic. It is just hard work. And this book lays it out beautifully.

If you're writing non-fiction, this book will probably be very helpful. But if you're interested in publishing a novel, you'll probably be left wanting. This is not to say the authors don't cover publishing fiction, just that it's neither their expertise nor their focus. It's like a restaurant meal where the mashed potatoes were great, but the meat just wasn't very flavorful - it's just not satisfying.

The authors, both who've worked as editors, one who seems to have published a number of books on miscellaneous and sundry topics and the other who has worked as an agent, give lots of good advice on how the publishing business works and who the various people are that you might deal with. They tell you what it's like to be an editor and how you should treat them, and ways to improve your chances of being published. They suggest methods for doing market research and coming up with topics that might fill a book. Also covered are the benefits of using an agent and ways to publicize your book. They even include a CD in the latest edition with sample proposals and query letters which follow the generally accepted formats in the business.

And yes, they try to work fiction and its nuances into the text, but it almost always feels like an afterthought and often seems a bit confusing. Most of the examples given apply mainly to non-fiction, such as establishing yourself as an expert in your field beforehand by giving interviews or writing for your local paper. At first it wasn't that big of a deal, but by the end of the book I felt pretty disappointed. There is some really helpful information here, but it's just not targeted at publishing fiction.

Sheree Bykofsky and Jennifer Basye Sander want you to get your book published. They want you to understand absolutely every aspect of the business--from idea generation through book promotion--so that even though you're a beginner, you can navigate those shark-infested waters like a pro. Sometimes you might think they go into unnecessary detail, such as when they describe the ins and outs of an editor's typical day at a publishing house, but the truth is that because of a lack of this understanding many writers shoot their careers in the foot by making unnecessary mistakes.

This book is aimed at anyone interested in gaining entrance to the world of publishing, whether you want to write novels, poetry, children's books, how-to books, or magazine articles. If you want to publish with the big-name pros or even self-publish, this book will help you decide what would suit you best and how to achieve it. It covers everything from idea generation through the submission process, contract negotiations, finding an agent, and participating in the publicity process.

Because the public vision of the publishing industry is so vastly incorrect, there are many ways in which a writer can feel frustrated, annoyed, angry or hurt by things that really boil down to misunderstandings or a lack of comprehension. There are also so many ways in which a writer can ruin a potential career by making herself known as a high-maintenance troublemaker, when perhaps if she better understood what her editor's job was and how her editor conducted that job, she might do the right thing.

In addition, although I call it "the publishing industry," there's a lot of variety out there. Without a guide to that variety (when to query, when to submit a proposal or manuscript, how long each thing should be and how it should be written, what should be included with it, how it should be mailed, when and how you should or shouldn't follow up, etc.) it's easy to make a misstep. That's where "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting Published, Fourth Edition" comes in.

This is an incredibly thorough book that will impart a very good understanding of the realities of getting published. It will help you to understand how editors, agents, and publishers view writers' actions. It will help you to make yourself an invaluable part of a publishing team, which can only serve to enhance your career opportunities.

This book starts out with several chapters on what to write a book about.... Huh? It's supposed to be about getting published, meaning you already wrote a book!! I knew something was already wrong here.... So I skipped to the part about actually trying to get published, i.e. contacting publishing companies. Want to know their advice to you? When sending a letter to potential publishers, don't send a letter that smells like cigarette smoke and don't misspell someone's name in the letter. Are you kidding me? This book is filled with insultingly obvious gems like those two. There's GOT to be a better book out there that doesn't waste the reader's time with needless information.....

In May 2007, my first book was published entitled: The Verbal Behavior Approach: How to Teach Children with Autism and Related Disorders. Before reading The Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting Published,
by Sheree Bykofsky & Jennifer Basye Sander I was a complete novice to the publishing world. I referred to this excellent book during the entire two-year process....from writing a book proposal to selecting a title to submitting query letters to marketing....this book has it all! I HIGHLY recommend it for any and all aspiring authors!

[...]

For some time I have had an insatiable desire to write, but did not know how to get into the market. Turns out, there are some definite protocol for contacting agents. Just calling them up doesn't work no matter how nice you are. Every time I buy a book I worry that it's not the best. Well, this is the first one I've read on publishing and a few things confirmed to me that I made a wise purchase. First, it was easily written so anyone could understand. I'm not an idiot but I knew absolutely nothing about the publishing process and I believe that now I could discuss it with just about anyone on an intelligent level. Second, it's an easy and very enjoyable read. I couldn't put it down as it is loaded with encouragement but also reality checks to get you going. Third, as I read independent articles on the publishing world the facts from the book were confirmed. If you're just getting started, this is a wonderfully comprehensive guide as it will get you published and it will even help you learn how to handle the business long thereafter.

Now in a completely updated and significantly expanded fourth edition, "The Complete Idiot's Guide To Getting Published" provides the aspiring author and the novice publisher with step-by-step instructions on turning a manuscript into a published book. Enhanced with an accompanying CD-Rom enriched with dozens of document templates, lists of agents, lists of writers' conference, and publisher resources of all kinds and categories, "The Complete Idiot's Guide To Getting Published" is one of the most "user friendly" how-to books on the subject of publishing available to the general public today. Along with a methodical explanatory presentation of the book publishing process, readers will learn just how to best get their particular manuscript ready for publication; how to keep track of publishing industry trends as part of determining the suitability and viability of their publishing project; effective, innovative, and tested marketing strategies, and so much more. "The Complete Idiot's Guide To Getting Published" will also enable novice writers to avoid common mistakes, understand publisher contracts, and consider the pros and cons with respect to literary agents. If you have aspirations to having your manuscript published, then do yourself the tremendous favor of giving "The Complete Idiot's Guide To Getting Published" a careful reading.

This is not the first book I've ever bought about how to get published but it is by far the best. First of all, don't be thrown off by the title. Complete idiots as well as the rest of us will be pleasantly surprised that the material is explained clearly but in no way "dumbed down." Moreover, the information is presented in bite-sized segments which I found made for easy digestion. Also, I really liked how there are relevant hints and tips interpersed throughout the text. As if that in itself wasn't enough reason to recommend this particular title, there is a CD included which has not only a list of agents but also examples of actual proposals and other documents which I think is exceptionally helpful. But probably my biggest praise goes to the overall encouraging style that permeates the book throughout. It's as though Sheree Bykofsky and Jennifer Basye Sander really truly want me to get successfully published! And that, for me, is worth way more than the (quite reasonable) price of the book.