Publish a book

There are a lot of people out there who have put in the enormous amounts of time and effort it takes to write a book, but who use their finished manuscripts as paperweights or doorstops since they haven’t the slightest idea how to publish a book

There are a lot of people out there who have put in the enormous amounts of time and effort it takes to write a book, but who use their finished manuscripts as paperweights or doorstops since they haven't the slightest idea how to publish a book.

It's not particularly difficult to learn how to publish a book, though finishing the actual process can be a bit of a trick.

The most traditional and longest-standing method to publish a book is through the traditional publisher.

These publishers, like Random House and Penguin, make money by buying manuscripts from publishers, then printing and selling books.

In order for a publishing house to want to buy your book, you're going to have to convince them that your book will sell enough copies to make their investment worthwhile, since the publisher will be investing time and money in printing and promoting your book.

Often times this convincing is best done by an agent, especially with the larger book publishers, some of which won't even consider manuscripts submitted by authors without agents.

Of course, an agent, like a publisher, depends on the success of your book to make his or her money.

In order for an agent to take you on, you're going to have to convince him or her that your book is saleable.

In the end, the best way to publish a book through a standard publisher is to write a strong query letter.

A query letter explains what your book is about and why it will sell in a concise, one-page letter.

A number of sites and books are dedicated to writing a good query, but suffice it to say that a good query will help your book get sold.

Another way to publish a book is through a vanity press.

Instead of a publisher taking a financial gamble on your book, you, the author, take the financial gamble and pay for a run of books to be published, usually between 500 and 1,000 copies, and pay the printing press for the books.

Then you market and sell the books yourself.

Though a vanity press guarantees publication, many authors end up losing money since they can't sell all of the books they've printed.

Finally, on demand publishers will setup your book on a digital printing press for a small fee, then only print books as orders come in for them.

This reduces the overhead for both the publisher and the author, and the author is allowed to purchase books at a discount for later resale.

On demand publishers offer a welcome compromise between the long process but secure finances of traditional publishing and the speed and financial risk of vanity presses.

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