So...who's tried their hand at getting their first book published?

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   ahostagesituationposted 14 years ago

   I'm not finished mine, but I worked my way across the US as a Labor and Delivery nurse, and am working on this book idea in my head that will NOT die.  I've finished about half...anyone tried getting published, or are there publishers that people on this site like?

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2. 0

   Website Examinerposted 14 years ago

   Here is some advice:
   
   - Major publishers usually will not accept work by an unpublished author, only from a literary agent - therefore, you may want to focus on finding one of those;
   
   - Non-fiction is generally believed to be easier to get published compared with fiction;
   
   - Some niche/smaller publishers may accept material submitted directly from you, check out The Literary Marketplace (also a good source for literary agents);
   
   - Given your specialization, consider contacting any professional associations and the like for suggestions and recommendations;
   
   - Beware subsidy publishers, vanity publishers, and fee-charging literary agents. Those are the ones that are most aggressively marketing themselves on the internet, and some writer's sites like writersbeware.org will educate you about them;
   
   - Unless in exceptional circumstances (like somebody famous), nobody is interested in ideas, preliminary drafts and the like. You will need to have your book completed and up to a fairly high standard prior to submission, in which event you will often submit a query letter, synopsis, and the first three chapters. If they want more, they will request it.
   
   Getting published is a long road. Many people here on HubPages end up self-publishing, like through Lulu.com, which you can do for free. But how many books can they sell? You can probably do better by going the long road as described in the above.
   
   Best of luck to you - and welcome to HubPages.

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   1. 81

      ahostagesituationposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you, and W. E. that just might be the best answer I've ever gotten on any question I've ever asked.  Thanks for all this!

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3. 60

   Super Chefposted 14 years ago

   Very good advice Website Examiner. Thats why I love hub pages it's just an overflowing Volcano of knowledge.

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   1. 78

      Shadesbreathposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Website Examiner gave good advice, but I would modify the first item on that list.  Major publishers will and do publish new authors who aren't agented regularly.  They don't take unsolicited manuscripts, typically, but a REALLY compelling query letter can get your stuff looked at.
      
      Get it all down on paper first though.  And revised.  A lot.

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      1. 81

         ahostagesituationposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks!  Revision--all part of the joy of the craft.  Thank you.

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4. 84

   KCC Big Countryposted 14 years ago

   There are lots of published authors on HubPages, including many who have just published their first book after being here a short time.

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5. 59

   Pandoras Boxposted 14 years ago

   Rod Marsden has a few books published and up on amazon, and a new one out soon I believe. You can read a sample of one of them on his hub.
   
   Dead Man's Stand, Chapter 8 from Disco Evil
   
   Sounds like an exciting story, and he's a great writer, so I've ordered the book.

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6. 67

   blondepoetposted 14 years ago

   Yes I had my first book published last year. Woo hoo!!!

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7. 65

   ceciliabeltranposted 14 years ago

   If it's fiction you have to finish it.
   
   But, if it is nonfiction, you have to have a market. You have to have statistics backing up that market and you have to have established yourself as an expert in that field. But sometimes just a good blog with about 2,000 to 5,000 readers is enough reassurance that your book will be sold.

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