Have you written a masterpiece – or right now, you only have the seed of a brilliant idea?
It would be fair to say that it is the dream of every author to write a best-selling book. However, for centuries, it has been quite gruelling at times to do this successfully without the help of a prestigious publishing company.
Unfortunately, grabbing the attention of reputed publishing companies is not as easy as it sounds. It means you have to send them drafts, nervously wait for their reply (which we cannot say for sure will come or not), and do your best to keep a positive mindset in the face of a ruthless rejection.
And, even if you get in the line of the few luckier ones to catch their attention, you still need to do so much. I.e. months of negotiations over the creative direction of your work, your margin of profits, and a lot more.
If you are confused as to how to get a book published in Canada, we suggest you read this blog. We are going to take you through the entire process – from contacting a well-known agent to ensuring that your work lands in the best-selling aisle.
Let us get going!
Embark On The Journey To Get Your Book Published By A Known Publisher
Step No. 1 – Find A Literary Agent
Grabbing the attention of a literary agent is not a necessity to have your name listed among the traditionally listed authors. However, if you do not have one by your side, it can restrict which book publishing services are going to review your work. There are countless examples of a lot of reputed publishers only accepting manuscripts through literary agents.
As a debut author, you need to understand that both the publisher and the literary agent are taking a huge risk by accepting your work. Thus, they both have to make sure that you are the perfect investment. If you do get the offer from them, do not be hasty to say yes. Rather, we suggest you research the literary agent, their agency contract, and their clients and have a proper negotiation with them. This is the first and foremost thing for how to get a book published.
Step No. 2 – Submit Your Manuscript
Once you are satisfied with your agent, secure them. After finalising the deal, your literary agent will make a detailed submission list. This list would be based on the current trends of the market, editing requirements shared with industry contacts, or comparable works that the publisher has previously marketed successfully.
The agent will or will not share the details of their submission plan with you. But you still need to wait for them to tell you whether any of the reputed publishers on their list are keen on working on your masterpiece or not.
It is not a secret that publishers get numerous volumes of manuscript submissions each and every day. This is why they are only able to agree on a handful of books per year. To get your book in that category, your manuscript has to be approved by the acquisition board for having the perfect:
- Length
- Price
- Topic
- The promise of exemplary sales and much more
Fresh authors have no proof that their work is remarkable, so typically, they are prone to receiving much lower advances as compared to well-known, award-winning, or best-selling authors.
Step No. 3 – Publish! (And Promote Your Book)
This is the last step in getting a book published by a reputed publisher. Once a reputed publisher has obtained your manuscript for publication, they will assign you to an editor. Moreover, they will also match your work with an illustrator and give you a publishing schedule for when they will need certain materials from you (such as a review of proofs, edits, and much more).
Sadly, these schedules are infamous for fluctuating due to many reasons, such as promotional timing, material shortages, publishing date conflicts, and so on. However, on average, it will take about 1 to 3 years to get your book published.
Every aspect of your book will be controlled by publishers, from the design of its cover to where and how it will be marketed, and a lot more. As the writer, you will be expected to tackle some of the marketing initiatives on your own budget, such as running promotions, attending book events, sourcing places to do interviews and much more.
You will be coached by your agent regarding such things, or you can hire a publicist on your own. And that is it! This was all you need to know about getting your book published by reputed publishers.
Or Take The Route Of Self-Publishing Your Masterpiece
Now that you are all aware of getting your masterpiece published by the best comic book publishers, we think it is high time that you also consider how to get a book published on your own. In many cases, working alongside a publisher is far from having a dream come true. How about you skip the process altogether?
What if you write, edit, publish, and sell your masterpiece yourself – all without having to answer to the whims of the gatekeepers? When you choose to self-publish your book, you basically choose to independently publish your work without the nuisance of gatekeeping constraints of the traditional book publishing systems. You serve as both; the publisher as well as the author. Let us look into how you can publish your masterpiece on your own, shall we?
Step No. 1 – Prepare Your Manuscript
The first step of how to get a book published on your own is to finalise your manuscript. For that, you have to properly prepare your files for the design of your book. This process will require you to write and edit your manuscript, commission and complete all the illustrations, and write and edit any further copy you wish to have in your book (such as additional resources, acknowledgements, and much more).
Step No. 2 – Design Your Book
Next up, you have to design your book’s back and front cover design as well as its interior layout. For this step, you can work with an authentic book designer with sufficient expertise and experience in tiny details, such as bleed, margins, CMYK versus RGB ink levels, file specifications, layout, and much more. If your masterpiece has intricate layout requirements, such as a textbook, art book, cookbook, etc., a great designer is vital for an expert end result.
Step No. 3 – Publish, Print, And Distribute
After you have successfully designed your book, you are all set to enlist a distributor and a printer. They will make it possible for the book-nerds to order your book. You will have to consider the reach of different distributors/printers for the accessibility of orders and your goals for sales volumes. For instance, think about:
- Where do their distribution channels cater to?
- Do they have a minimum order requirement?
- Do they print on demand? And much more
Step No. 4 – Promote Your New Book
For the last step of how to get a book published, you need to have a finished product all ready for the market and ramps up after the dynamic publication of your masterpiece. If you do not promote your book, how can you expect your readers to know about it, have an interest in it, or simply purchase it? Even the best of the best books in the world would not sell well if the target audience of that book did not know about its existence. So, get out there right now and fiercely promote your work.
- How much does it cost approximately to publish a book in Canada?
The average cost of self-publishing a top-notch quality book ranges between $2,000 and $4,000. A lot of authors spend much of their money based on the marketing strategy and how much proofreading and editing is required for their work to become polished.
- Can I self-publish my book in Canada?
Well, yes, why not? You can definitely self-publish your book in Canada. However, if you are planning to experience this huge undertaking all by yourself, we would like to warn you that there are some crucial steps that you should be prepared for before you embark on this journey. These steps are essential for every self-publisher, whether they reside in Canada or any other part of the globe.
- Is it possible to publish a book with no prior experience?
Most definitely, yes! Anyone who has ever penned down their first book did so with no prior experience of writing a book, let alone publishing it themselves. So, you can also publish your work with no previous experience at all.
- How much can a first-time writer make in terms of money?
After the advance amount is reached, the writer starts to earn for their book. For first-time writers, the advance mostly ranges from $1,000 to $10,000 per book on average.
Summing It All Up!
The book publishing sector continues to soar high in the sky and evolve in favour of empowering writers to share their stories with the world. Gone are those days, when publishers had to memorise the never-ending list of the right and wrong ways of publishing a book. Fortunately, now we have a lot more options to consider when it boils down to answering the question “how to get a book published”
Nowadays, readers have more fascinating books to opt for – including the topics that were highly ignored historically by the traditional publishing industries. Thus, the authors have more liberty and agency to take their publishing future into their own hands.
So, while you are preparing to publish your own masterpiece, feel free to explore the route that echoes with you as well as the story you have to share with the world. In the end, when you finally hold your published work, you will be more than happy that you dared to work on such a beautiful masterpiece.
