What happens when you get a publishing contract?

The publisher’s responsibilities to the author (this includes a publication timeframe as well as their production and promotion obligations) Details of the royalties payable to the author, and when they’ll be paid those royalties, as well how many complimentary copies of the book they’ll get.

What is a publishing proposal?

A book proposal is a document designed to convince publishing houses to publish a book. Though a book proposal does not contain the entire book, it attempts to present a brief summary of the central book idea, sample chapters on the subject matter, and a marketing plan for the proposed book.

Do I need an agent if I have a publisher?

If you are interested in working with a small press, an independent publisher, or an academic publisher, you may be able to submit directly to them and so a literary agent will not be a necessary requirement, though again there will be lots of competition to get noticed.

What are first rights in publishing?

First Rights means the publication is buying the right to be the first to publish your piece. If they buy One-time Rights, they will be allowed to print a piece once, but not necessarily first; the piece may have already appeared elsewhere.

How long does it take to hear back about a book proposal?

That said, in general you should expect to receive an acknowledgement of the receipt of your proposal within a few days and a decision on it about two to three months after you submit it.

What is the difference between a publisher and an agent?

Agents are as diversified as publishers. Know what kind of book you’re writing (i.e., fiction–children’s, genre or literary), or non-fiction (i.e., a biography, a math book, a cookbook, a self-help book, etc.) Publishers are, well, the ones who spend all the money and take all the risks.

Do literary agents and publishers want changes to your book?

And here’s a post about How to Interpret Responses from Literary Agents and Publishers, in case you have heard back and they want changes to your book, as happened in the case of another client (short answer, it’s usually a good thing; the post explains why and where that response comes from). There’s a P.S. to today’s story.

How do I Prove Myself to a publishing house?

There are two ways to prove yourself, and how you do it depends on what you write. Write an entire novel. Save it to a flash drive and put it in your safe deposit box. Now write a second novel. You must bring a completed novel to the publishing house.

How much time is reasonable to give a publisher for yes-or-no answers?

The actual question about how much time is reasonable to give a publisher for a yes-or-no answer is never actually answered. The scenarios given here may take hours, days, or weeks. So the prospective author still has no clue about the time frame. I didn’t mean to be sneaky. This is a question I often hear (and heard from that client).

What happens when you submit a book to an acquisitions editor?

When an editor knows it’s not a fit for them, they respond quickly. When they are interested, they bring the proposal to an acquisitions board meeting where the board examines the proposal and decides. The acquisitions editor whom your agent contacted will make a case for the book and lead the group through highlights of the proposal.