The publishing industry remained virtually unchanged for decades in terms of how books are published. The writer would write a fiction or non fiction book, hire an agent, select a publisher, and eventually a book would be printed. Of course, printing and marketing a book are two entirely different things. The point is that once the printing process was developed, books were destined to be printed for hundreds of years on paper.
The printed book still remains the most common and popular method of publishing. Five-hundred thousand or more new titles are published every year. But there is an emerging trend that is expected to eventually change the world of publishing. Electronic books available online that can be downloaded to special readers or desktop computers are becoming more and more popular. In fact what people seem to be waiting for before this form of publishing explodes is a more comfortable reader, more available titles, and time to adjust to the idea of pages that are electronic rather than printed.
When you talk to people about books, many get a faraway look in their eyes. They are thinking of those wonderful moments before going to sleep with a book in their hands. They are remembering those golden moments when the day’s struggles and worries are over and it’s time to get lost in another world contained in the pages. This may seem like a romantic view of the books, but people who enjoy reading talk about the feel of the book’s page in their hands and the words that can convey emotions, actions, concepts, failures, and successes.
And for every person that loves to read there is most likely someone who wants to publish a book. There are millions of people who have a story inside of them but are afraid to tackle the world of book publishing. How do you compete with the likes of Stephen King, Barbara Kingsolver, Kathy Reichs, or any of the hundreds of other popular authors whose books have prominent places on bookstore shelves?
There is a way. The publishing industry is always looking for new authors that can appeal to both mass audiences and to niche markets. You don’t have to be the next Edgar Allen Poe or Sandra Brown to become a published author. You can simply be you. Almost everyone seems to have a book “in them” but what separates the real author from the would be author is first writing the book and second finding a way to get it published.
If you have a passion to write a book then you need a passion to get it published. Today there are two main choices: traditional books printed on paper and electronic books. Within the electronic book publishing industry there are even more options including eBooks, print-on-demand books, and books that can be downloaded to a special portable reader.
In the following sections the process of getting a book published is reviewed. There will be a discussion about the writing process, finding an agent, choosing a publisher, working with an editor, and marketing the book. There is also a section on electronic publishing using Amazon as an example of industry trends.
Book publishing has never been more accessible to potential authors then it is today. That is good news for anyone who is ready to publish!
