Rules to Finding Your First Publisher for New Authors

As a new author (#billevans), I’ve discovered rules for finding your publisher. How does a new author find their first publisher? The easy part for me is writing. Getting published that’s the hard part.  If you’re going to be a profitable writer and this is how you want to make your living, then you better know the business side of writing (#Murderatbroadcastpark).

It’s not about finding a publisher (#findingpublisher). It’s about finding the right publisher (#KoehlerPublishing). That can be very time consuming.  My word of advice is to be patient. It’s going to be hard when you find a publisher that wants to publish your work, but maybe you don’t feel right about them. Be willing to walk away if you don’t have a good feeling about someone you are going to trust with your book. Interview any publisher to make sure you get a good feel for who they are and how they are going to work with you. Find out what they bring to the table. Treat this like a very important hire, because that is exactly what it is.  You are going to literally higher someone to be your publishing partner. Give it all your attention and find the right fit for yourself.

Where do you find a publisher? Start with google (#google). Google by your genre. You will be amazed at all the publishers listed. I suggest doing this online as opposed to buying one of those books that list all the publishers. Any printed book for this source will be outdated by the time it is available. Go online and research available publishers.

The most important thing to pay attention to is the publisher’s submission guidelines. Follow those to the letter, otherwise, you are just wasting your time.  Pay attention to the guidelines.  Most publishers will tell you to only submit to one at a time. Why? I would send out as many submissions as you want. It’s a numbers game. Increase your odds.

Work your resources that you have already developed. Make sure your contacts with people you made with other authors, etc., no you are looking for a publisher. You never know where that one introduction could come from that might change your life.

Good luck and good writing!