Anyone writing a blog, a diary, a short story, a poem hopes to get their work published at some time or the other. But most are clueless on where to begin. I too was standing at the same place in August 2012, when the thought of writing “My Beloved’s MBA Plans” first came to my mind. At that moment in time, I did not think of how would I get the work published. I just wanted to write. My journey of writing is captured in “Aspire to Write?“
What I am going to talk in this article is about what to do, once your manuscript is ready. What are the options available and what are the pros and cons of each?
The easiest option is the option of self publishing. Portals like pothi.com and several others offer you a hassle free, instant publishing. In the world of e-commerce, selling also becomes easier. But the challenge remains on the distribution of the book on the offline platforms. 70% of India still buys from the unorganized market. How does your book reach them?
The next option is to ‘google’ ?
Google the name of publishers in the country. Browse their websites to see what genres do they publish, does your book fit into their schema. All good publishing houses’ websites tell how to reach out to them and submit manuscript. Some accept hardcopies and some accept soft copies. Some need a few sample chapters of the book, while some need the complete manuscript. A synopsys of the book and a brief about the author is a must. Write it, get it reviewed by a friend coz’ this is the first doc most publishers would read before going through the sample chapters.
Once they receive your manuscript, most of the publishing houses take 3-6 weeks to read and evaluate the proposals. In this time, they do not like to be poked and reminded of replying. They will, definitely, when they have reviewed your proposal. Even if they do not like it. So be patient…
I faced many rejections before getting my first work published. But I did not lose hope. Same is the advice I give to all the budding authors and hopefuls out there.
Once you have found a good publisher, read and reread the contract you are getting into. Most people will keep asking you that how many copies have you sold so far. But keep in mind, almost none of the publishers would ever share the sales figures with you. Indian market being an unorganized one, it is impossible to track the sales figures of your book.
So publish for the sake of writing. I did.
Read my journey in My Beloved’s MBA Plans. !!