Want to learn how to find a publisher for your book? You’ve come to the right place. At Self-Publishing School we’ve helped thousands of authors publish their books, and we want to make sure you know all your options for moving forward.
Learning how to find a publisher can be a confusing process to navigate at first, but when you break it down into the steps below, it’s easier than you might think.
But before we discuss how to find a publisher, let’s make sure you understand what a book publisher is and whether or not you even need one.
This Guide to How to Find a Publisher Will Cover:
What is a Book Publisher?
A book publisher is a company or individual who takes an author’s manuscript and edits and prepares it for publishing and distribution. A publisher will help with book cover designs, printing, copyrights, and maybe even marketing of your book.
Do You Need a Publisher for Your Book?
If you are hoping to publish your book traditionally, you need a publishing house to represent you – but that doesn’t mean you need a publisher to publish your book. Now it is easier than ever to publish a book on your own online, without the need for a publishing house.
Types of Book Publishing to Consider
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Traditional publishing used to be the only way to publish your book, but now, authors have lots of options. Before learning how to find a publisher, it’s a good idea to understand what your options are. These include:
- Traditional publishing
- Self-publishing
- Hybrid publishing
Traditional Publishing
Traditional publishing is the original way to publish a book through a publishing house. The publishers will handle the production, promotion, and distribution of your book.
With traditional publishing, you are generally paid an advance upfront and then royalties over time. The publishing house will take a portion of your royalties in return for their services and their backing of your book.
The traditional publishing process involves sending a query to a publishing house, often with the help of a literary agent. If the publishing house selects your book, they may pay you an advance and give you a contract.
Depending on your contract with the publishing house, you may receive royalties for any future sales, or they may purchase your intellectual property from you, meaning they own your material.
Self-Publishing
Self-publishing is when you take the publishing process on yourself. This might sound intimidating, but Self-Publishing School can give you the tools and insights you need to glide effortlessly through the process.
Self-publishing gives you full creative control over your book and allows you to keep more of your royalties – minus the costs of printing and distribution.
With self-publishing, you will need to source an editor and book cover designer and create a book marketing team, but once you have the right group in place, it’s super simple to publish your book online via Amazon self-publishing or other online publishing platforms.
Hybrid Publishing
Hybrid publishing is a mix between traditional and self-publishing. In this model, you pay someone else to handle the production of your book, and they often offer marketing and distribution services as well.
Hybrid publishing can seem like the best of both worlds. You get the perks of self-publishing without having to worry about doing everything on your own. That being said, you have to watch out for vanity press companies that will take advantage of you.
Many hybrid publishing companies are scams. They will take money for doing things like getting you an ISBN number or copyrighting your book, when learning how to copyright a book takes less than 10 minutes and isn’t worth spending the money on.
Just make sure you do a lot of research into the best publishing companies before deciding to go the hybrid publishing route.
Now, if you are here with the hope of learning how to find a publisher, that means you are probably interested in the traditional publishing route, so let’s talk about how to find a publisher successfully with some easy-to-follow steps.
How to Find a Publisher in 8 Simple Steps
Learning how to find a publisher can seem overwhelming at first, but we’ve broken it down into some easy, actionable steps to guide you on your way. When learning how to find a publisher for the first time, here are the steps you should follow:
1. Perfect the First Few Chapters of Your Book
When learning how to find a publisher, you want to make a good first impression, and that means having a solid introduction to your writing. You should heavily self-edit the first three chapters of your book to get them into shape for viewing by agents and publishers.
Remember, your whole book doesn’t need to be perfect – you’re going to go through multiple rounds of edits anyways! But you don’t want any glaring errors or inconsistencies in your opening chapters, so give them a thorough look through before attempting to submit your work to anyone.
You can also send your chapters to beta readers or a freelance editor to make sure they are the best they can be before putting them in front of the eyes of agents.
2. Refine Your Synopsis
When learning how to find a publisher, you need to submit a query letter, and most query letters require a synopsis of your book. So before you get around to writing your letters, it’s important to have your book synopsis perfected.
Your synopsis should give potential publishers an idea of the direction of your book without giving the ending or any twists away. You want to create just enough intrigue to hook your readers.
3. Find Potential Publishers
The next step in learning how to find a publisher for your book is to actually locate some publishers! And not just any publishers – you want to find the right fit for your genre and your specific story.
Research some similar books in your genre to see where they were published. The publishers of these books specialize in your genre, and are more likely to consider publishing your book, too.
4. Network
Learning how to find a publisher can be hard work. Sometimes you submit query letter after query letter without hearing back. But don’t let this discourage you! Oftentimes you just need to get your foot in the door and get your work in front of the right set of eyes.
That’s where networking comes in!
Who you know can make all the difference in the world of traditional publishing. If you want to learn how to find a publisher the traditional way, it’s worth attending as many writing conferences as you can for the potential to meet more authors and literary agents.
You never know who will help you snatch up the perfect publishing contract!
5. Get an Agent
For many, the most important step in learning how to find a publisher is getting a literary agent. Most traditional publishing happens with the help of an agent. Agents have connections with editors and publishing houses and can help you to navigate the process of query letters and contracts.
Agents usually earn commission through your advance and royalties. That means you may not need to pay them until you sell your manuscript – but you do have to pay them.
If you want to get an agent while learning how to find a publisher, you should find agents who represent books similar to yours. You should then send them your first three chapters and book synopsis along with a personalized query letter.
You can look for literary agents through a number of resources, including:
- PublishersMarketplace: You can find both publishers and agents through PublishersMarketplace. It costs $25 per month and you can search by category and keyword to see what ages have sold going back to 2001.
- AALA (Association of American Literary Agents): The AALA is the official membership organization for literary agents. While not all agents are represented on the site, it’s a great place to check for potential agents.
- Duotrope: Duotrope focuses more on journals and magazines, but they have a market for full-length novels, too. They have a large number of agents and publishers, and even some contests you can enter.
- QueryTracker: QueryTracker is free to start but there are paid premium options. It’s a great resource for finding literary agents.
- Manuscript Wish List: Manuscript Wish List aggregates mentions of what books agents are actively seeking through social media posts. It can take some browsing, but it’s an easy way to find an agent specifically looking for what you are offering.
Note: A lot of the sites listed above can be used to find publishers as well if you decide not to get a literary agent. That being said, many of the big publishing houses won’t even accept submissions from authors without agents.
6. Write Query Letters
Whether or not you decide to get a literary agent, the next step in learning how to find a publisher is to submit query letters to publishing houses. If you have an agent, they can help you through this process.
Write a one-page query letter that describes you as an author, any qualifications you have, and a pitch of your book. This is the first thing a publishing house will read about you, so you want it to be well thought out and you need to ensure it matches the submission guidelines precisely.
Check your letter more than once to ensure there aren’t any mistakes or typos.
7. Submit to Potential Publishers
Once you have all your materials together and your query letters written, it’s time to submit to publishers! If you are contacting a large publishing house, try to communicate with individual editors who may connect with you or your book. This will improve your chance of receiving a response.
Then it’s all about the waiting game!
Try to submit a few query letters in rounds so that you aren’t wasting too much time waiting for responses from publishing houses one at a time.
8. Negotiate Your Contract
If a publishing house likes your book, they will reach out with an offer. They will usually provide information such as:
- The amount of the advance being offered (if any)
- The royalty percentage you’ll receive
- The format(s) they plan to publish your book in (hard cover, paperback, ebook, audiobook)
- The expected retail price of your book
It’s important to look over your contract carefully with your agent to make sure the terms are in your favor and you aren’t giving up too much creative control over your book.
Be aware that you will get much less in book royalties through the traditional publishing process compared to self-publishing. (Think 30% royalties instead of 70% royalties.) If this is a deal breaker for you, you may wish to pursue the self-publishing process instead.
Get Your Book Published Today!
Now you know exactly how to find a publisher – but did you know that only about 1% of book submissions actually turn into published books? If you want to beat the odds, avoid the gatekeepers, and keep your royalties, you might want to look into self-publishing.
Self-publishing your book is a quick and easy process that doesn’t require an agent or publishing house to get your book in front of the eyes of your readers – so you don’t need to worry about how to find a publisher at all.
It also allows you to keep full creative control over the design, editing, and marketing of your book.
If you are intimidated by the thought of self-publishing, you don’t need to look for a hybrid publisher straight away. At Self-Publishing School, we can teach you exactly how to navigate the self-publishing process to create the bestselling book you’ve always wanted.
Our team has helped over 7,000 authors to create the book of their dreams, and we can help you too! You can sign up for one of our helpful online courses, or schedule a call with our team today to learn about your options.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find the right publisher for my book?
Start by researching publishers that specialize in your book’s genre. Look at similar books to see where they were published. Network with authors and literary agents, and attend writing conferences to meet industry insiders.
How do authors find a publisher?
Authors find publishers by perfecting the first few chapters, refining their synopsis, researching potential publishers, networking, and submitting query letters. Getting a literary agent can also help since agents have connections with publishers.
How do I get my book idea to a publisher?
Write a compelling query letter with a synopsis of your book and information about yourself. Submit this letter to potential publishers or literary agents. Attending writing conferences and networking can also help get your idea noticed.
Should you ever pay a publisher to publish your book?
Be cautious about paying a publisher. Traditional publishers usually don’t charge authors; they earn from book sales. Hybrid publishers might charge for their services, but you should research to avoid scams.
How much of a book should you write before sending to a publisher?
Have the first few chapters polished and ready for review. You don’t need to have the whole book finished, but a strong beginning is very important. Also, have a detailed outline or synopsis to show the complete vision of your book.
Is it better to self-publish or get a publisher?
It depends on your goals. Traditional publishing offers professional help, but less creative control and lower royalties. Self-publishing gives you full control and higher royalties, but requires more work.