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The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published: How to Write It, Sell It, and Market It . . . Successfully [Paperback]

Arielle Eckstut , David Henry Sterry
4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (145 customer reviews)

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Book Description

November 4, 2010 Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published: How to Write

The best, most comprehensive book for writers is now completely revised and updated to address ongoing changes in publishing. Published in 2005 as Putting Your Passion Into Print, this is the book that’s been praised by both industry professionals (“Refreshingly honest, knowledgeable and detailed. . . . An invaluable resource”—Jamie Raab, publisher, Grand Central Publishing) and bestselling authors (“A must-have for every aspiring writer.”—Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner). With its extensive coverage of e-books, self-publishing, and online marketing, The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published is more vital than ever for anyone who wants to mine that great idea and turn it into a successfully published book.

Written by experts with thirteen books between them as well as many years’ experience as a literary agent (Eckstut) and a book doctor (Sterry), this nuts-and-bolts guide demystifies every step of the publishing process: how to come up with a blockbuster title, create a selling proposal, find the right agent, understand a book contract, develop marketing and publicity savvy, and self-publish. There’s new information on how to build up a following (and even publish a book) online; the importance of a search-engine-friendly title; producing a video book trailer; and e-book pricing and royalties. Includes interviews with hundreds of publishing insiders and authors, including Seth Godin, Neil Gaiman, Amy Bloom, Margaret Atwood, Larry Kirshbaum, Leonard Lopate, plus agents, editors, and booksellers; sidebars featuring real-life publishing success stories; sample proposals, query letters, and a feature-rich website and community for authors.


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The Essential  Guide to Getting Your Book Published: How to Write It, Sell It, and Market It . . . Successfully + 2013 Guide to Literary Agents + 2013 Novel & Short Story Writer's Market (Novel and Short Story Writer's Market)
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for the First Edition of The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published (Previously published as Putting Your Passion Into Print)

“A must-have for every aspiring writer . . . Thorough, forthright, quite entertaining.”—Khaled Hosseini, bestselling author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns (Riverhead)

“Before you write your own book, read this one. Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry understand the process of publishing—their advice will help you envision and frame your work so that publishers will be more likely to perceive its value.”—Jonathan Karp, publisher, Simon & Schuster

“I had no idea that the code of publishing would be as hard to decipher as the secret language of adolescent girls. If only I had Putting Your Passion into Print when I started writing!”—Rosalind Wiseman, author of Queen Bees and Wannabees, the book that inspired the movie Mean Girls (Three Rivers)

Putting Your Passion Into Print changed my life. I read and reread each of your chapters, lived by your organizational and promotional advice, and, despite all odds, my rather uncategorizable book is a success. With no track record or cash, we’ve gotten onto TV and into national print media, been blurbed by the LA Times and the Village Voice, and sold out a third of our print run within three weeks of launch.”—Molly Crabapple, author of Dr. Sketchy’s Official Rainy Day Colouring Book (Sepuculture Books)

 “I started with nothing but an idea, and then I bought this book. Soon I had an A-list agent, a near six-figure advance, and multiple TV deals in the works. Buy it and memorize it. This little tome is the quiet secret of rockstar authors.”—Timothy Ferriss, bestselling author of The 4-Hour Workweek (Crown)

Putting Your Passion into Print has been absolutely invaluable through this whole process! It’s on my bedside, with dozens of post-its peeking out!”—Veronica Wolff, author of Master of the Highlands Series (Berkley)

“Arielle and David did a masterful job at deconstructing our complicated, often irrational industry. Putting Your Passion into Print is fun to read and brutally honest, but it’s also energizing and inspiring.”—Lynn Goldberg, CEO, Goldberg McDuffie Communications

“I curled up in a big chair and read Putting Your Passion into Print like a novel. Written with insight and humor, it takes us through the writing process from idea to sequel. I wish I had a book this thorough and thoughtful and downright indispensable for every aspect of my life.”—Karen Cushman, author of the Newbury Award winner The Midwife’s Apprentice and Newbury Award runner-up Catherine, Called Birdy (HarperCollins)

“This is a terrific book. It’s practical, it’s fun to read, and it totally demystifies the publishing process. Whether you are just setting out to write a book, or already have several published books under your belt, you will find this an invaluable resource. There is no doubt in my mind that it will become a standard of the industry, sitting right alongside Writer’s Market and The Chicago Manual of Style. (And let me tell you—it’s a much better read than either of those books could ever dream of being!)”—Rick Beyer, author of The Greatest Stories Never Told Series (Harper)

“I took myself to lunch today and brought along Putting Your Passion Into Print, and I’ll be damned but it made me remember why I love this business and why the suffering is all worth it in the end. It’s a terrific book that finally put me in a good mood again.”—Annik LaFarge, former publisher of Bloomsbury Books

 “You know all those books sitting on your shelf about how to get published? Well, you can finally unload them at your garage sale because this book is all you’ll ever need. A-to-Z, Soup-to-Nuts, this is the most comprehensive guide available on how to become a published author.”—Nancy Levine, author of The Tao of Pug (Penguin)

“These two know everything about the book business and share every detail in this fabulous book. Putting your Passion into Print answers every question you have with playful charm, wisdom and savvy. If you’ve written a book, are writing one or are just thinking about it, you NEED Putting Your Passion Into Print. It will make a marvelous gift for all of your writer or would-be writer friends. You’ll love it.”—Susan G. Wooldridge, author of poemcrazy (Three Rivers Press)

“This book is a must-have! I cannot say enough about how helpful, inspiring and dead-on it is.”—Tracy Davis, author of My Husband Ran Off with the Nanny and God Do I Miss Her (self-published)

“I got an agent and a publisher for my book within 3 weeks of submitting the proposal—and not a single rejection letter! When would-be authors ask me for advice I send them to the store to buy Putting Your Passion Into Print! Bravo to the authors for a comprehensive guide to writing, publishing and marketing your book.”—Donna Cutting, author of The Celebrity Experience: Insider Secrets to Delivering Red-Carpet Customer Service (Wiley)

“I recommend this book to every author I know, at any stage of their careers. I’m such a vociferous advocate, some of my friends may think I’m in a cult!”—Melissa Kirsch, author of The Girl’s Guide to Absolutely Everything (Workman)

“As a consultant, I make my living by understanding how companies and industries work from the inside out. To succeed as an author, you need an inside-out view of how publishing works. For that, there’s simply no better guide than Putting Your Passion into Print.”—Geoffrey Moore, author of four Wall Street Journal and Business Week bestsellers, including Crossing the Chasm and The Gorilla Game (Harper)

Putting Your Passion into Print offers aspiring authors refreshingly honest, knowledgeable and detailed advice on not only how to get published, but how to deal with every phase of the publishing process constructively and realistically. It’s an invaluable resource for anyone who dreams about having his/her book not only published, but published well.”—Jamie Raab, publisher, Grand Central

“If you’ve ever thought about writing a book, are in the process of writing a book or have written a book and are contemplating another, stop what you’re doing right now—and buy this book. It contains everything you need to know to proceed, especially how to press your own enthusiasm button.”—Sandra Blakeslee, author of The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce (Harper Perennial), Phantoms in the Brain (Hyperion), and On Intelligence (St. Martin’s Griffin) 

“This honest, comprehensive and inspiring book is the best description of the contemporary publishing world that I’ve seen. It should be at the center of every writer’s reference shelf for decades.”—Neal Pollack, author of Never Mind the Pollacks and The Neal Pollack Anthology of American Literature (Harper Paperbacks, Harper Perennial)

“From coming up with an idea to promoting the finished book, these insiders tell you what you need to know and inspire you to do it—with wit, charm and a thorough knowledge of what they write.”—Amy Cherry, editor, W.W. Norton

Putting Your Passion into Print is a Rosetta Stone for authors, a guide that takes the mystery and uncertainty out of getting your book published. This book takes you inside the publishing industry and reveals what makes it tick. Prospective authors, listen up. This is the definitive manual on taming this lumbering giant. If you want your book to see the light of day, read this one.”—Larry Dossey, M.D., author of The Extraordinary Healing Power of Ordinary Things, Reinventing Medicine (Three Rivers), and Healing Words (HarperOne) 

“Finally, a comprehensive, compelling, hilarious and amazingly insightful book about the painful and wonderful world of getting a book published. It’s as much about passion and teamwork as it is about royalties and advances. I loved it!”—Patrick M. Lencioni, bestselling author of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team (Jossey-Bass)

“I wish I had had this book when I started writing for publication. It’s got the perfect blend of right-brain creativity and left-brain strategy to help you succeed as an author.”—Dr. Betty Edwards, bestselling author of Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain (Tarcher)

About the Author

Arielle Eckstut, cofounder of Little MissMatched, the innovative clothing company, is a writer, entrepreneur, and agent-at-large for the Levine Greenberg Literary Agency. She is the author of Pride and Promiscuity: The Lost Sex Scenes of Jane Austen.

David Henry Sterry is the coeditor of Hos, Hookers, Call Girls, and Rent Boys (front page review, The New York Times Book Review) and author of Master of Ceremonies, Chicken, Satchel Sez, and the forthcoming The Glorious World Cup. He is also an actor, media coach, book doctor, and activist for at-risk youth. The authors are married and live in Montclair, New Jersey, with their daughter.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 480 pages
  • Publisher: Workman Publishing Company (November 4, 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 076116085X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0761160854
  • Product Dimensions: 6 x 1.3 x 9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (145 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,471 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Authors

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
39 of 45 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A Guide to for the Perplexed November 4, 2010
Format:Paperback
From the authors of Putting Your Passion Into Print comes the newest must-have how-to guide about becoming an author. The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published takes you through the steps of how to become an author, providing indispensable advice for those who have not yet been published and do not know the ins and outs of the industry. It has chapters dealing with such topics as how to get an agent, how to deal with a less than cooperative publisher, marketing your book with or without a large publicity budget, and how to take advantage of recent advances in print on demand publishing. Of course there is much more.

The style is welcoming and makes you excited to try and get a book published since so many other guides can be a bit on the dry side. With a mixture of sobering fact and enlightening humor, authors David Henry Sterry and Arielle Eckstut talk about their own experiences as writers, sharing stories of triumph mixed in with those of horror. They talk about such different things as what happens when your book design is less than flattering, or how to parlay a novel aimed for adults into a connection for selling a young adult one. In addition there are anecdotes from other successful writers to help illustrate the main points of the book.

The book has been updated to deal with the revolution in social networking and self-publishing that has taken place in the past few years. Few other guides have been written for the age of search optimization. Writers will learn how to improve their use of Facebook, Twitter, blogging, and a host of other resources. If you want to be published in either the traditional way or using new avenues, this book will help you and will demonstrate how traditional and new forms of publicity can compliment one another.

All you NaNoWriMo writers should definitely check this book out once the dust has settled and you are wondering what to do with your finished manuscripts in January!
Was this review helpful to you?
63 of 75 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars Anecdotes and Pep-talks Do Not a Guide Make June 13, 2011
By WLut
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I realize I'm bucking the crowd on this, but then the authors are very influential people with a lot of followers so maybe that has something to do with why the reviews are so glowing here on Amazon. And maybe not. Maybe it's just that I'm not finding it that helpful to my particular situation. I have been using the Kindle version of this book for the last several weeks as a guide for self-publishing my memoir after several months of trying to go the traditional agent route without success. I think this book may be more useful to the very few people new to getting published who are successful going that route. There certainly isn't much about self-publishing beyond a lot of generalities, anecdotes, and rah-rah enthusiasm. For example, not a single self-publishing service seems to be mentioned. I was hoping for a detailed comparison. I don't think this is really a guide so much as a lot of pieces of the puzzle but little explanation of how the writer can use them. Nothing on how to select a self-publishing service although it does cover the self-publishing scene and elements. The Table of Contents is not that helpful at finding things because the authors like to use cute names for chapters and sub-chapters so it is sometimes hard to find what you need. Social networking and marketing are described at general levels but never at the detailed level that would help a novice get into it. No blueprint. Yes I already know about Facebook and Twitter and I can sign up and do the basics without their help, but what about beyond the basics. How do you design a successful Facebook page for your book or where's the link to how to do that? What are hash marks and how do you utilize them in Twitter? Blogging is discussed, but no comparison or even mention of the major blogging services much less how to design your blog page. Anecdotes may be interesting, but they never seem to be useful for my particular situation.

This is probably a very good book for people really new to writing and publishing who want to know what the scene is like nowadays. If you are already somewhat knowledgeable about this world, as I am, you won't find much you can use to make decisions and take concrete steps. I really don't think this is a guide as it claims to be as much as a review of the publishing scene. Maybe the topic is just too large to fit in a single book, but I was hoping for much more useful information and not just an amusing read.
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28 of 33 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars I am one of this book's success stories December 13, 2010
Format:Paperback
I bought the earlier version of this book, "Putting Your Passion into Print," five years ago after attending a workshop by this husband-and-wife/agent-and-author team. The workshop convinced me that these two knew their stuff and their book would be an enjoyable read. At the time, all I had was an idea for a book and a few pages of notes. Eckstut and Sterry's advice guided me through the process of crafting a proposal, finding the perfect agent for my book, and working productively with the editors and publicity people at my publishing house. My book, "See Me After Class: Advice for Teachers by Teachers," came out last June and it was one of the happiest days of my life.

I cannot emphasize enough how well this book prepared me for the path to getting published. It prepared me for the inevitable ups and downs (even with the best advice in the world, bringing a book into the world is difficult) but it kept me from having to learn about the publishing world through frustrating trial and error. It also provided much-needed encouragement through some initial rejections.

Now that my book is published (did I mention my book got published?) I've run into many people wanting to know how the whole thing works, and I always refer them to this book.

I am now working on a new project and bought "The Essential Guide" to to help me adjust to recent changes in the publishing industry. From what I've read so far, there is enough updated and new material to make the purchase worth it even though I read "Putting Your Passion Into Print."
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars If they offer a freebie with purchase, don't believe it
I probably would have given this book a decent review, except I felt like they did the bait and switch thing. Read more
Published 2 days ago by S. jerrems
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
I've read a few, this one is full of great info and not too big a read. Very comprehensive for such a small book
Published 7 days ago by William Chester
4.0 out of 5 stars So far so good!
So far this book seems to have a ton of great advice. Of course, I haven't quite started my agent search or any of that yet, so we'll see how some of the later chapters compare to... Read more
Published 1 month ago by tokyogirl
5.0 out of 5 stars David & Arielle
I have to say that working with David has changed my life. He is one of my favorite people on the planet and if I hadn't pruchased & read this book, and attended an event, I'm not... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Brian Merrill
5.0 out of 5 stars Highly Recommended for New Authors
Chock-full of practical advice presented in a user-friendly way. Aspiring writers will enjoy being able to immediately implement a strategy. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Dana A. Levin
4.0 out of 5 stars Good Overview of the Publishing Process
This book lays out methods for finding an agent, getting published, self publishing options and the role of social media in the industry. It is informative and quite useful. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Jinna
5.0 out of 5 stars Point you in the right direction
Having just completed my first novel, I found "The Essential Guide . . ." full of valuable and practical information. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Poncho
5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Guide for Writers
I expected this book to be a dry description of the publishing process but I was pleasantly surprised to find a funny and engaging look at everything from picking the right idea to... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Mark Covington
5.0 out of 5 stars Informative, comprehensive and entertaining -- almost as good as...
The 2010 edition is chock-full of specifics on everything from twitter and blogging to proposals and agents. And nothing is as encouraging as those magical success stories.
Published 2 months ago by Mrs. C.Z. Perry
4.0 out of 5 stars Thorough, Useful Guide to Potential Authors
My husband and I are co-authoring a memoir of our volunteer life in Africa so this guide gave us lots of tangible, helpful ideas on how to create a pitch for publishers, how to... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Wendy Walleigh
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