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For a beggining writer, how do I get the attention of a publishing company?

Obviously, I've written a book, and would like to publish it. However, I don't know where to start. I don't expect my work to rocket straight to the top of New York Time's Best Seller list; that's wishful thinking. (But I can still hope!) My book is called BOB(The Book of Bumology). It is a fictional piece that explains the history, reasoning, and principals of anyone or anything bum-related. It is a rather funny book. What is the process to submit a work of literature? I have a gut feeling that there's more to it than wrapping the pages in brown paper and shipping it off. From my own attempted research, I've heard of literary agents. Are they similar to Hollywood agents?

Public Comments

1. Thats gonna be really really really difficult. If you look at J.K Rowling and her hard time of getting her Harry Potter series published then you know its gonna be hard. Just keep on sending your scripts to publishers and pray.
2. Literary agents represent authors and negotiate book deals. Most of them won't accept unpublished authors. Publishing companies often won't accept authors without an agent. Bit of a catch 22. However, since yours is a humourous book, you might have an easier time. There are a number of smaller companies you don't have set critia and will publish anything that's funny. Look into publishers who do funny books (long shot, but the publisher of the "for dummies" series?) Then! Submit 800 times til you get published. Good luck :)
3. Your book sound funny!! I would love to read if it ever comes out. Well, I've been reading up on that kind of stuff since I'm writing a book myself, and I heard it's better if you have a literary agent first. Having one will better your chances of getting a good publishing company, although you can self-publish if you want. A literary agent sends in your stuff to different publishers, and they should be free to get, as long as they like your material and as long as they get a certain percentage of your earnings. They are around 10 or 20%, so, yes, they are like Hollywood agents. Literary agents like to be contacted by Email ,so if you find one, you should send one. For your book you should write up a summary over it as a sort of title page and send it in along with contact information. Your summary will be the thing that'll attract agents and publishers because publishers don't really like reading through long manuscripts and not having any interest or idea about them, so be sure to make it good. I'm sorry if all this information is confusing or isn't completely accurate, but I'm still in the process of finding out stuff. You should try the smaller companies if your a beginning writer, or if you want to, send your stuff into the big-time publishers like Harper-Collins or Hyperion. Good luck! Your book is a funny idea and i'm sire it'll be snatched up by someone as long as you know what you're doing and you play your cards right. Oh yeah, I forgot, it is a VERY LONG and HARD process, so be sure to have lots of patience, or your going to fall out of it after five or so rejections. Again, good luck.
4. You start by querying literary agents. This is done with a one page letter describing yourself and your book. Sometimes the agent will request you include the first few pages or chapters, but that is an individual preference. There are several websites out there that will help you find an agent, my favorite is QueryTracker.net at http://www.querytracker.net/ . It is free and has a list of literary agents and also tools to help you keep track of who you already queried and who you haven't, plus more. They do a good job of keeping the crooks off their lists, but it is still a good idea to double check at http://www.sfwa.org/beware/twentyworst.html. There are a lot of crooks out there. Never pay anyone to read or publish your book. A real agent will never ask for money except as a percentage of your royalties. Keep in mind that finding an agent and getting published is not an easy process. Some people have to query hundreds of agents before they find one who will accept them (sadly, some never get accepted), but be persistent and keep trying. You should also visit http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums one of the largest forums for writers. They can be very helpful. Good luck.