The content on the website that interests you is called “Who are we? Or “Our Story”, “Catalog” and “Submission Guide” is equal to the technical note on how to submit your manuscript. Sometimes, the publisher announces in a visible way that he will no longer take submissions for a while. Respect his request: if you ignore, you will be ignored anyway. As a unique gift you can make the book and get that.
Investigate
It is better now to get an idea of the publisher’s “firepower”. Not necessarily to snobbier him with a sneer, but to avoid disappointments and bitterness. If you do not want to publish to an author account, learn how to detect the hidden author’s account. For this, there is a simple way: you are interested in the visibility of the publisher. Look for his works in bookstores, or on large online bookstores. Ask the question to your bookseller. If the publisher is really unknown, it is either that he is very small not to be neglected, therefore, or that he lives only by providing services to writers and does not care to broadcast his productions.
Get in touch
On rare occasions, publishers come out of their four walls. Their pale complexion blushes in the light of day. Their hands are trembling: agoraphobia is a shipwreck. They are even heard, it seems, painfully articulates a few words in this language that they practice the rest of the time only in writing. These supernatural events are called book fairs.
Joking aside, do not miss the lounges. Go to these great masses of the book to discuss with those who publish them. This is the best way to know what they are looking for, and what they are refusing. However, do not bring them your manuscript: Have you ever witnessed a repacking of the stand? Believe it, it’s hell on earth.
Write down the name of your interlocutor, or the name of the person indicated. Having shown your face, having dropped some inviting information about the project will be when receiving your manuscript, a nice little plus. Take the opportunity to buy a book, if the interview has excited you. It will not be money wasted: remember what you read.
Also note that in recent years, in many book fairs, speed dating is organized. Instead of going there to flirt with a half-potential, it’s a matter of quickly presenting his project to a publisher and packing it in five seconds. According to the publishers themselves, it is a privileged way for them to find projects. Try it, but as always, be well prepared.
Be pro
Questions, we love to ask for the same information all the time. We also love answering anything. All the pleasure is in the chatter. Do not take your reports with publishers as a question session. So, generally, avoid calling an editor who is nothing to you. Many things can be treated in writing. The publisher clearly prefers to choose the time of the day, of the week, where he devotes himself to the future and to manuscripts.
Avoid asking him:
- Desperate questions.
- Ridiculous questions.
- The issues that annoy.
Do not make a fool of yourself. Do not give the impression that you believe yourself already accepted: What percentage of copyright do you use? Never imply that you are suspicious of your potential partner.
