I am finally
inking this article because I have been tired of answering people’s query about
how to get published on Facebook chat.
So here is
all the information and I hope it will be helpful for you, if you want your
work to be published in India. I am writing ‘India’ again and again because
when you Google search about ‘how to get published’, the first thing which
comes up is literary organization which claims to search for best publisher for
you. Things are much different in India and abroad, so advice number one,
ignore them!
If you are
hunting for publisher, it means you have completed your manuscript or you are
super excited about it. A humble request to those super excited people to
complete their manuscript first or you will rush into things spoiling your
chances.
When you
usually Google search, which is most likely for you to do because you don’t
have any clue about publishing, you get a lot of search results which are
unfortunately futile (not all of them but most of them.) Let’s go step by step,
to make it simple.
Step1: Complete your manuscript.
Step2: Prepare elements of
submission.
You need to
make a proposal/submission which you further send to publishers. So you should
be ready with the elements of submission, which are as follows
a) Synopsis(complete detail of novel in
minimum words)
b) Sample Chapters (Some random
chapters. Generally three or four)
c) CV(If you have a blog, do mention
about it with your previous works or achievements)
d) Complete Manuscript.
e) USP, Market Potential, Target Readers
(Rarely Asked but you should know about it)
Step3: Sending proposal.
After you
have all the elements of submission, you need to know the submission
guidelines. To get the submission guidelines, you must reach the official
website of either Literary Agency or the publisher.
How to get to their website? Type the name of publisher in google and it will take you there. On the main site, search for options like ‘submission’ or ‘publish with us’ which will yield all the details. Now there are two ways-
How to get to their website? Type the name of publisher in google and it will take you there. On the main site, search for options like ‘submission’ or ‘publish with us’ which will yield all the details. Now there are two ways-
a) Literary Agencies: They are the
agencies which have contacts with good publisher and if your manuscript/proposal
is good enough, they will represent it to various publishers. I have
differentiated between manuscript and proposal because even if your manuscript
is not that good but your proposal has some good market value, you still have
the chance.
Advantage- No headache further.
Advantage- No headache further.
Disadvantage- They takes a part of your royalty as fees. But in a sense
it’s good because they will earn as long as you will earn, which means hundred
percent efforts from their side.
In an all, I won’t say literary agents are a bad idea. Some of the literary agency you can look forward to are-
In an all, I won’t say literary agents are a bad idea. Some of the literary agency you can look forward to are-
Red Ink, Jekaranda, Lead start, writer’s side, Siyahi, author’s empire
etc
For more you can Google search ‘Literary Agencies in India’, it will help.
For more you can Google search ‘Literary Agencies in India’, it will help.
Publishers: After getting the submission guidelines, mail your proposal
to the given email address. Some publishers does not accept proposals by
emails, so you may need to get it printed and courier it!
After you have submitted the proposal, here comes the waiting period,
which can vary from two weeks to three months generally. Bigger the publisher’s
profile is, more is the time they will take for evaluation. The time is hard
but don’t get restless. Have patience and wait for the best deal and
simultaneously be ready for rejections, especially if you have written
something out of the box. Don’t feel bad and believe in yourself. You must have
seen so many of crappy books. If they can get published, you can get it too.
Some of the Publishers that you can look forward to are-
Rupa publications, Pustak Mahal, Srishti, Mahaveer Publishers, Grapevine,
Vitasta, Lead Start, Grey Oak, General Press India, Gyaana, Jaico, Penguin,
Haper Collins India, Random House etc
(If you don’t get info about them on Google, search in Facebook.)
Disadvantage: Fear of rejection, have to wait a lot without hoping, and
because you are new, can be exploited by Publisher.
Advantage: No middle man.
After your submission has been accepted, next is the contract/agreement
signing which include following details usually-
a) Royalty(five to seven percent of MRP
generally)
b) Copyrights (Make sure they remain
with you)
c) Price of Book
d) If they are asking any kind of
investment from your side, you should not prefer them because it means they
don’t really trust your work.
Now it has
been accepted and you have finalized the publisher, stay in constant touch with
the concerned editor and pay a lot of attention towards it. Super finishing is
always required to make it perfect. Write Acknowledgement pages (Thank everyone
you like without thinking if it’s going long, it’s your space.), get a cool picture
clicked of yours with a brief bio, decide who to dedicate it and get the final
draft done.
Step6:Tell your friends and enjoy
You are
getting published, what I need to say more? Live your dream!
Note: If you have lot of money to spend and
you want to get published only for the name sake, get some press, pay it and
get published. This
Phenomenon
is called self publishing which is very rarely successful. You can also go to
publishers like Power Publishers who will give necessary publicity and marketing
as well.
worthy information, but see to that there are few minor errors.
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