People ask me how to get published all the time – not in so many words, of course. For some, it’s a topic approached obliquely, with their secret manuscript held behind their back. For others, it’s a sort of academic, fact-finding mission, to see if there is something special about me or my book that did the trick. For some people, it’s just simple curiosity. But, at this point, I’ve answered the question so many times, in writing and in person, that I thought it’d be nice to put it the blog. In this and the next several blog entries, I will spell out exactly what I did.
And, to steal my own thunder, there is nothing special about me as an author or my first book. In short, I did what everybody else does (unless you’ve already got a TV show):
1. I got an outstanding idea for a book. Note that I didn’t say I came up with the idea.
2. I wrote a book proposal, which included an extensive outline and many other things. I will be posting it online so that you can see it. It took exactly nine weeks to write – I’ll explain how I know that.
3. I wrote and rewrote a query letter. I’ll post this too.
4. I found prospective literary agents who met my criteria and sent my query letter to them.
5. I received a few requests for the proposal and then rejoiced and jumped up and down when a literary agent offered to represent the book.
6. I rewrote the book proposal to my agent’s specifications. I’ll post the final version.
7. My agent got an offer from book publisher Simon & Schuster and I signed the contract.
8. I wrote the manuscript, Greg James did the illustrations, and I sent it to Simon & Schuster. This part of the process took twelve months.
9. I created the TattooSymbol.com web site.
10. The manuscript was edited at Simon & Schuster, rewritten, edited again, and then published.
Easy huh? Well, it’s not easy but it’s not complicated either. Each of the posts to follow goes into the details of just how each step was accomplished.
Next post: Step 1. A Fantabulous Idea for a Non-fiction Book
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