Tips on publishing a book.

I am by no means an expert, but my book, Cat-House Sonnets, 100 poems celebrating cats, was published by Jorlan Publishing. First, make sure your book is as good as possible. Get an editor. I choose Jorlan because they had a cover designer design my cover, an artist illustrate it; and they walked me through the entire process with great patience and humor. It was a marvelous experience. I recommend Jorlan without hesitation. They are the best. Mention my name, too. My book has won the Muse Medallion from Cat Writers Association and Best Poet from Preditor & Editors. It was a joy to write and readers seem to think it's a joy to read. It's listed on Amazon and on my publisher's website: http://www.jorlanpublishing.com/Cat-HouseSonnets.htm Autographed copies are available directly from me.

i self published my novel on lulu. it is free and do it yourself. i designed my own covers on illustrator. i wrote and edited the whole novel on my own. did my own copyrighting as well as my own promo material to market it. i am happy with the result. lulu has a tour. go on their site and take their virtual tour. they also have a chat box where u can talk with people there about the site.

Also, be sure to check the website of the publisher or agent your are submitting to. Look at their guidelines and follow them to a T. If they say they are not accepting new manuscripts at this time, then don't bother sending it. If you don't send an SASE along with your ms then they will not let you know their decision. Best thing to do is send a pre-stamped postcard addressed to yourself. In the message section write something like this: XXX have received your manuscription on ______ You can expect to hear a response from us by _________ This way you know they actually received your manuscript. But you must also send an SASE so they can respond to you AFTER they have read your submission. Most importantly, and this cannot be stressed enough, follow their guidelines. Good luck!

I used to work in publishing (in a niche market area) and the best advice I can give you is to first, make your manuscript as good as it possibly can be. Most publishers or agents (and many publishers operate largely through agents) only want to be queried with a general 1-2 page outline of your book, accompanied by a letter from you. If they are interested, they will request 1-3 sample chapters. It's a vetting process that happens in stages. What can you do to help yourself? Find an agent and/or publishers that publish in your genre. You know the books you love to read or can compare your own book with? Look at those books and see who the publishers are, who the editors and agents are (in the acknowledgments section, you will find that useful information). There are also many author-publisher conferences that hold timed meetings. You get 5-15 minutes to pitch your book to a publisher. This is a great face-to-face contact point and testing ground for your material. Don't give up. If you are rejected, try and find out how you can make your work better. Keep writing!! And good luck!