I won't say it will be easy, but it is definitely worth it! You'll struggle with patience and finding the right places to submit your manuscript, but don't give up. I went through many searches to find the publishing company that said yes to publishing my debut novel, "Will You Love Me Again?" I also submitted to one other company - that I never heard back from about if they were interested or not. But, I didn't let that stop me from continuing to search. One day, I found a link on Google that matched me with Dorrance Publishing (the only one that best matched my manuscript's word count and goals).
7 EASY STEPS
First things first, what are you interested in accomplishing with this seven steps process? Through this service, you can do the steps before publishing your book or get help to finish the manuscript.
My steps are based on me wanting to publish my book.
If you need a guide on what to expect, look no further than this blog post.
After you decide you are definitely interested in publishing your book, you need to tell the service what genre you are publishing in.
Next, have you published before? My answer last year was No. Meaning I was new and needed to know the path to being matched with the best publisher for my book.
I didn't start looking for a publisher until about a month after I completed my manuscript (edits included). I was a little behind, but that just meant my book would be put straight into editing and getting the ball rolling when I found my publishing outlet.
Remember your manuscript is much longer than the final book will be. Mine was 490+ pages, the final book ended at 252 pages. But still, your page count is your manuscript total or currently at if you aren't finished yet.
Your budget is important. You don't want something that is incredibly unreasonable either way you go. My advice is to either stick with the lowest (under $1,000) or the second one ($1,000 - $5,000) because let's be honest producing a book is expensive. Mine was a little over $1,000.
Your final step allows the publishing company or companies access to getting in touch with you once they receive a notification from the service.
I was lucky enough to have one publishing company come up and I was contacted either that day or sometime in the same week.
I received an email and phone call from a representative from Dorrance Publishing, June 24, 2019, following up that I was still interested in publishing with them. Along with sending my full manuscript for submission later that day.
I am not saying all publishers will be this fast, but it is very possible. I had a great experience publishing my debut novel over the course of nine months. These steps are the easiest I found out of all my research on matching specifically my genre to a publishing house. I'll tell you straight, I looked into tons of Young Adult to New Adult Fiction based publishers, but nothing fit right - the timeframe, cost, etc. Then, this service paired me with Dorrance Publishing and everything worked out.
I am still shocked that my manuscript was accepted as fast as it was! But, I couldn't announce the news on social media right away. Why? Because after moving from a goal of self-publishing, I was now under a publishing company. Meaning I had to go by them. Sharing news wasn't right away other than in person. I signed my contract on June 29, 2019, and finally got to announce my book update on July 9th. Yet, I would have to be silent on social media until the company gave me the go-ahead to post about my book when I received my first author copy on March 7, 2020. Two days later, I was blowing up my socials with book news! These last three and a half weeks have been a dream come true.
July 9, 2019
Keeping these news off social media has been incredibly hard, but I can finally announce them! On June 29, I signed a contract with Dorrance Publishing after they accepted my debut novel manuscript, "Will You Love Me Again?". I am incredibly thrilled for this project to keep moving forward in the coming months. I will have more updates in the near future.đ
March 9, 2020
I am happy to announce the long awaited publication of my debut novel, "Will You Love Me Again?" through Dorrance Publishing! I am over the moon right now! I have waited so long to officially share these exciting news that I have kept underwraps for months.âŁď¸
Stay tuned for more information & ordering details over the next few weeks!
It feels like forever since I finished my debut novel on May 9, 2019. Took a month to find a publisher, another week or so to find out they accepted it, then another month til production started, then 8 and a half months of keeping this huge project's progress under wraps!đThe day (March 7, 2020) finally came that I could hold it in my hands as an actual book, not a 400+ page manuscript!!!đ
On March 9, 2020 (best day ever!) 10 months after completing the Epilogue, my book hits the world by storm!đđ
Dear World, "Will You Love Me Again?" is yours. I hope you love it just as much as I do. I went through so much while writing this book - college, falling in and out of love, heartbreak (that was unbearable), graduating college, an abusive toxic relationship, and finally finding myself while I pushed myself to finish this book from the weekend of January 9th to the night of May 9th. I made it. Now, I give you my biggest accomplishment to date and my dream come true!âŁď¸đ To everyone who has believed in me and continues to believe in me, THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART.đâ¤ď¸
Some tips for new authors:
* Be patient with your writing and goals.
* Don't stress when the waiting becomes long.
* Never give up on finding a publisher for your book.
* Publishing takes time.
* Don't be afraid to ask questions or for help in general.
* Stay true to yourself.
* If you are new to writing and publishing books like me, only sign a contract for your current book. It helps because you aren't jumping right into another project while working towards publishing your first book. This helped me by allowing me to write at my own pace and also write in other formats and self-publish poetry, as well. So, for me, writer's block hit. During the publishing process of my novel, I took a break from writing stories or moving towards a second novel. That break allowed me to grow as an author in other areas of my writing.
* Take time for yourself - you deserve breaks, too!
* Celebrate the small victories - word count, writing that day, finishing a chapter, etc.
* Connect with fellow writers such as the Writing Community on Twitter.