How do I get started?

Well, the first thing you must do is pretty easy. Well, not that easy. You must write an exceptional book! What Genre? That’s completely up to you.

So, what next?

Choosing a Production House

Well, there is the traditional option most people go for. Publish your work through a publishing house. There are a lot of publishing houses to choose from, but the process is almost the same everywhere. They buy your manuscript for a fee that may range from $5000 to $100000 and pay a royalty on the sales made.

Keep in mind, your work will be owned by the publishing house.

Also, it is very rare for a publishing house to accept you work directly. In fact, it is next to impossible. So, what to do?

Hire a literary Agent!

This cannot be stressed enough! Attach yourself to a literary agent and make your life easier. All the major publishing houses almost always accept books which come through a literary agent.

These literary agents in essence sell your idea to a publishing house in return for a commission (no upfront fee either).

Not just that! A literary agent would also negotiate a contract with the publishing house on your behalf. In short, a good literary agent will end up making far more than the cost of commission you will be paying him!

Go for third option

Let’s say a publishing house does not accept your work, or you cannot find a good literary agent. Or maybe you just do not want to sell your work to ‘The Man’.

You can always self-publish. Now you must be thinking, why go through all the hassle when that was an option?

Well, firstly, it is more than just writing. You will have to be a jack of all trades. You will be responsible for marketing, printing, choosing a cover, and a lot more, things that normally a publishing house would take care of. Besides all that, you will also need a huge purse to fund all of that.

Hence, self-publishing is definitely not for the faint hearted.

Hope all of this helps when you decide to publish.