I meet up with a lot of people who are interested in writing, and know something about it, yet don't know the first thing publishing, agents, queries, proposal packages, etc, etc. This page is for the young writers I send to my site or who find the site on your own. I hope I can present clearly the basics of the publishing process.

First things: Well, get someone who can critique your work. Preferably someone who has written and/or read a lot, and can tell you honestly what stinks about your work, but also be encouraging and help you discover what's wrong and what you did right. Basically someone who can be objective and knows something about good writing.

Publishing: Oh man, where do I start? (That's a warning, ha ha!) Ms is a manuscript, what you've written, basic, unpublished, unbound. So when I talk about your ms, that's what I mean. (Plural form: mss.) Editors use it a lot.

Basic publishing letter etiquette: Okay, so an acquisitions editor is usually the one you would be sending your ms or query or proposal to, but it really depends on the size of the house, type of publishing material, etc. The Writer's Market usually has who you're supposed to send your ms to listed. Find out their name!!! Use Mr. or Mrs. or Ms. if it's a woman and you don't know if they're married. If you don't know if it's a man or a woman use their full name. They usually aren't impressed if you give them the title 'editor' when you're writing Dear So-and-so. On the envelope specify that it's a submission or address it to Acquisitions Editor or name. Usually it has a page for writers on a publisher's web site that tells all that stuff. And send an SASE (Self Addressed, Stamped Envelope) with queries, proposals, and postage enough for your ms to get back if you send the whole thing. If you don't want it back, you can say somewhere in your cover letter that you don't want it returned.

• Writer's guidelines: NEVER SKIP OVER THESE!! Okay, the first thing you do when getting published (as with book publishing) is you find prospective publishing houses. You can search for all the publishing houses you can think of on Google, but the 'Writer's Market' is an indispensable resource. It holds so much helpful information and they check out all the houses they list (note: The Writer's Market is put out every year, get the right one or you risk getting wrong info!) I found mine on ebay for pretty cheap. Back to writer's guidelines: Usually they're labeled on the publisher's home page up with other links like 'history' or 'shopping cart.' If not check out the FAQ or Contact pages. The best writer's guidelines I came across were from AMG Publishing (I love Dan Penwell, the main editor, too!!)*

Query: A query is an introduction to you and your book. Based on the publisher's guidelines, you should know what to send them (proposal, entire ms, query with sample chapters?). A query is one page and includes: the title and genre (in the first sentence or paragraph), a good, couple-paragraph-long description of the book or short story (including the conclusion and all the things that would hold a reader in suspense when they didn't know what was happening), number of pages or words for short stories (approximate if you aren't finished with the book or story yet), the audience (who's gonna be reading it, be specific! Who is it written for?), why you are qualified to write this book (or story) or simply why you wrote the book, and a few sentences on who you are. No P.S.'s. This is a business letter. (Send an SASE (Self Addressed, Stamped Envelope) with it or they may not write back.) 

Proposal Package: just to say, unless they say that you must send a proposal package, send a query. The one time I did a proposal package I hated it! Didn't get the book deal, either. Now you may like writing proposals, I just don't! Keep in mind that a proposal is your sales brochure, you are out to hook the editor with your fantastic book. And be enthusiastic in your proposal writing, but don't say things like "This book is gonna be the all-time best seller!" or "if you don't give me a deal, someone else is gonna get all the money Dull Title is gonna bring in." A proposal is between 10-20 pages or even more. (Note: NEVER staple things together in a proposal.) It includes:

• a cover letter (introducing your book proposal, yourself, and generally getting the busy editors attention. He'll be looking for any reason to stop reading and send a refusal back, so don't let him find one) Should also include the audience of your book, the market, and how you would reach them. Check out ArcheBooks article titled 'An Author's Marketing Plan.' Make it sound good, that there is a bunch of people who would want to read your book (but be specific, too. Youth, men, women, young adults, children, teen girls?).  
• cover page (tentative book title, your name, contact information, if you'll be using a pseudonym, word count, if there are illustrations, if you're finished or not, if not when you think you'll be finished). My English teacher must be tearing her hair out, sorry! I'm writing off the top of my head
• table of contents (specifically tailored to the proposal, not to the book. Page numbers should be on all the pages of your proposal, and this is where the editor can see where he can find what he wants.) Includes the chapter summaries, sample chapters, every page in the proposal.
• overview: one page summarizing what happens in your book. Including the surprise ending and points of suspense. The editor should get the basic idea of how your story line goes. INTERESTING!!!! Make the editor want to read the rest!
• Short biography: should include your job, past jobs, education, previous publications, and generally a bit about yourself, interesting things in your life, if you're married, brothers or sisters if not married, etc.
• Chapter summaries: each chapter summarized in two to four sentence paragraphs. Tells most of the important things that happens in that chapter.
• Two to four sample chapters: check their guidelines to see what they want. Probably chapter one and another pivotal, interesting chapter. It's a showcase, pick the best one for the second one.
• Marketing plan: detailed plan for selling your book, ideas for selling it, make it sound good. Check out ArcheBooks link below then go to "An Author's Marketing plan." This is a more detailed marketing plan then who your audience is. How will you get to them? Are there clubs or associations who would be interested in promoting or buying your book? Are you gonna do seminars?
• Endorsements: well-known people who would be willing to read your book prior to publication and give a quote for the book.
• Include recent newspaper clippings about you and/or your topic if you can.
• Include somewhere the tentative title, alternative title, and subtitles. Also mention if you're planning for this to be a series and subsequent titles, if so. Put it somewhere where it fits, like in the cover letter, or after the biography.

Entire Ms: I would not send my entire ms unless someone requested it. It is an expensive way to try and get a book deal, postage-wise. I most always query first, unless their guidelines request otherwise. But, if you want to take the chance, some editors do like it better. Most of the time you should settle in for a long wait on a response, though. 

Never send an ms without a cover letter. This is similar to a query, you basically tell them who you are and what they're holding (your ms). Also include a table of contents and a one-page synopsis. The cover page is first in the actual package. It really depends on what they ask for, too. Usually the writer's guidelines will say what they want.

Agents: Okay, I've heard good and bad about these. If you can get a good one, an agent is good. But if you get one that's bad, you'd be better off doing it yourself. An effective agent has contacts in publishing, is knowledgeable about how to present certain ideas and who to present them to, and can guide an author's career. I have never used an agent just because I like to do it all myself and writing is kind of a side thing for me at the moment, but I can pick it up when it needs pushed. An agent basically handles all the business ends of your writing, from presenting your work to a publisher to negotiating contracts. He or she asks for certain things and you present yourself to them. Then they decide whether they want to take you on as a client or not. Some publishers only accept submissions from agented writers. 

Copywriting: Okay, copywriting is fairly simple (Library of Congress, copyright office of the US). I think the fee is $40. But if you do copyright it, don't mention it when you query to a publisher, or put the copyright symbol somewhere. It's the sign of an amateur. They won't steal your work, that is so rare it's almost non-existent. 

RECOMENDED READING:
    These are resources I found most helpful, from informative web sites to books. They are packed with information while still making for a good read.

1. Professional Etiquette for Writers (by William Brohaugh, Writer's Basic Bookshelf)
2. ArcheBooks, Robert E. Gelinas, Writer's Resouces
3. Writer's Digest Magazine
4. The Writer's Market 
5. The Associated Press Guide to News Writing (by Rene J. Cappon) 

    In conclusion, writing is an actual profession and if you expect to get published treat it like one. Always give editors due respect and be polite. You may be discouraged by so many refusals, but remember that less then one percent of all that is written ever gets published. And if you keep getting refused, here's the key: keep trying. Look at it again, polish it up until it can't be any better then it is. Then try again. Keep writing, you'll discover you can get better just by the practice. Look at what you like and don't like and ask why you like it, what is it about it that you enjoyed?


*Even though they couldn't take my ms, he sent me a thoughtful and personal refusal. That was the best first refusal I could have gotten. A lot of others are like, (paraphrased) "Like, we really, like don't want your, like, work. So like, take your junk elsewhere. Like, I don't even know your name cuz, like, a computer wrote this letter when the editor checked the 'refuse' box beside your name. Sincerely, Mr. NeedsToWorkOnAGoodRefusalLetter." Ha, if you don't think you can take getting some of these get a good agent.