Writing a book is really hard. I know. I’ve done it twice now.

But writing your book is the easiest part of this process. Getting published is infinitely more difficult, especially if you go with the first of the four basic choices: New York “Big Boy” Publisher.

Random House. Scholastic. HarperCollins. Penguin. WW Norton. Doubleday. Tor.
I would even consider Little Brown in this (non-comprehensive) list.

Pretty much, if J. Q. Public has heard of them. They’re big.

They also have countless number of imprints that look “Indie” at first sight, but they’re actually a Big Boy. Do your research.

Remember those questions I had you answer yesterday? Here is where you’re going to start to need them.

If you want your book to rocket to the top of the NYTimes Best Seller list, a NY Big Boy is your best shot. (Realities of a bestseller royalty statement)

If you want a hefty 5 or 6 figure advance, a NY Big Boy is your best shot.

If you want your book out within the next 5 years or you want more than 2-7% of the cover price, then you don’t want a NY Big Boy.

The Big Boy publishing industry is working on a century-old business model. Let’s say, just for kicks, that you query some agents and by some miracle you get one this week. Another miracle, that agent gets you a publisher next week. It will still be 18-24 months before you see your book in print.

That’s how the Big Boys work.

Additionally, Big Boy or not, it’s up to the author to market themselves and their book. Unless you win the lottery a third time (that’s after getting an agent and a big publisher with a fat advance), you won’t get any marketing budget from the publisher. If you’re really lucky, you *might* get matching funds to what you put up for marketing.

And if you thought getting a publisher was hard, it’s a huge piece of dark chocolate cake next to marketing your book. That will be the next blog series.

On top of that, with a Big Boy, your book as 3 months (90 days) to make its mark, or they go on to the next book.

However, with a Big Boy, you will likely have the benefit of their in-house publicist, their impressive name, their media and industry contacts, prolific distribution, and possibly excellent bookstore placement, which is how 60% of readers find their next book.

However, again, it’s extremely difficult (read: near impossible) to get a NY Big Boy as your publisher. Of course it happens every single day, but, again, the odds are akin to winning the lottery.

First, you absolutely have to go through a literary agent. NY Big Boys do not take unsolicited submissions.

Getting a literary agent takes huge amounts of research, a query letter even more polished than your completed novel, a high tolerance for rejection, more patience than this author has, and an unwavering positive outlook.

This I’ll save for tomorrow’s post: Literary Agents

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