Comments on: How to Sell Your Novel

on 7/29/2008 Useful article, useful comments too. I've really not heard of writers touting to publishers their own works, especially if they've snagged an agent. And even if you get published, will you get read? Is the publisher putting money into marketing your book? It's so competitive and publishing is a business. Nothing romantic about it. Self-publishing has the same inherent problems of marketing the book, getting the word out.

on 7/31/2007 It's the way it shatters that matters

http://www.thenextgreatamericannovel.com/

on 6/30/2006 If you are concerned with having no previous publishing experience, it can be helpful to join a writers organization of some sort. Agents and editors (and novelists) constantly hear from the average person, "I've got a book I want to write." If you join a writers organization it shows you have more than a passing interest or just one book in you. Agents and editors are not really interested in one-hit wonders.

Most publishers will say flat out on their website that they do not accept unsolicited submissions. Some even mention they will not take submission queries via email. However, none of them specify that a writer must have an agent to send them a snail-mail one-page query letter.

Many authors are now turning to self-publishing on the Internet, with some degree of success when they get the marketing strategy down. Many "brick and mortar" publishers are watching the e-book and the self-published-on-the-net authors and have no problem acquiring authors from that market.

Electronic publishing houses have given good results for many of my colleagues. Not only do they get an Amazon ranking, but many of them end up in print as well as in e-books. The royalties are quite high, being in the vicinity of 50%. When an e-book is printed by the same e-publisher, the royalties for the print version is less, at about 35%, to cover the cost of paper and ink. However, that is still well over 25% higher than an author typically gets with a traditional print publication deal.