Oct 11th 2008
Q&A: How do you get published?
So I’ve had a number of people email and ask about how I got published (and, by extension, how can they get published). While I talk about that some in the hints & tips article up at YABC, I’ll outline here how I personally got published since so many people have asked about it. Please keep in mind that everyone’s path to publication is completely different. So my story likely won’t be particularly helpful to you.
The first step is the obvious one. I wrote a book and revised it until I was fairly happy with it (I say ‘fairly happy’ because you’ll never be completely happy with a book…there’s always something you find that you’d change or add every time you read it…but at some point you have to stop and say ‘okay, enough, time to send it out’). I then researched agents and publishers I thought might be a good fit for my book. I also asked author friends for their recommendations (I knew a lot of people from reviewing books at my website, Young Adult (& Kids!) Books Central).
I submitted to agents first, always following the appropriate guidelines (some want a synopsis and a cover letter only, some want that plus 3 chapters, some want only a letter, etc. etc.). For the most part, all of the agents I submitted to liked my writing but didn’t think vampires were a good bet at that point (this was in 2005 before Twilight made it big).
I was actually about to give up on the book and was working on some other projects when a friend of mine said that her editor was looking for paranormal YA. She introduced me to my (to-be) editor and I sent off the appropriate letters and materials. We went back and forth for a while and I provided information as requested (like analyzing where my book would fit in the marketplace). After a while, the publisher decided they wanted to buy my book. This was in July of 2007. We then went into the revision process, which went on for a number of months.
And that’s pretty much it.
Like I said, everyone’s path is different. Some people find an agent first. Some a publisher. Some never get an agent. There are all kinds of great magazines and website resources out there for aspiring writers and I linked to some of them in the hints & tips article I mentioned earlier.
Good luck to all you aspiring writers out there. Always remember — write! Then write some more. 
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When a publisher wants to buy your book, does it mean they pay you to get published or is it vice versa? I’m always confused with those…
If you self-publish a book (which I generally don’t recommend, see the hints & tips article), then you are generally the one that is paying to get your book in print.
If a publisher buys your book, they pay you. Generally, to start with you get an advance against royalties. Royalties are what you earn for each book sold. It will be a percentage of each book. For instance, (and these numbers aren’t necessarily actual, I’m just using them because they are “easy math”), if your percentage was 5% and the price of the book was $10.00, then you would be getting 50 cents for every book sold. If you received $2,000 as an advance, you would not receive your next check until you had earned enough in royalties (i.e. 4,000 books * .50 = $2,000) to “earn out your advance.” After you’d sold over 4,000 books, you would then start earning additional money. Hope that makes sense.
Oh I see I see, that clears it up! I want to maybe one day (5 years from now maybe?) publish a book. Ah, if I ever able to finish it and if I have the time. Some side pocket money would be lovely by the time I get to university…
Exactly what does an agent do? Do you have to pay them a certain amount to get hooked up with companies and such? (I read the article =) )
Agents take a set percentage of your earnings from the book. They can generally a) get you better book deals, b) get your book seen and considered by more publishers (many will not even look at an unagented manuscript) and c) give you career advice, etc.
Shweet, I’m writing a book, and if I don’t throw it away in disgust or eating it accidentally I’ll try getting it published.
Whenever you want to throw it out, just work on something else for a while and put it aside. It helps.
When you wrote your book, did you sort of have the idea what the whole plot would be about or did you just let it come to you?
Hi Diana, I wrote up a whole blog post for this since a few people have asked about it.
[...] same week that I found out I was pregnant. As for some writing tips, I’ve got some on my website: http://kimberlypauley.com/2008/10/11/qa-how-do-you-get-published/ and I also host an online Writing [...]