One of the biggest dreams of an author is to get his book published. Finding a publisher that will show immediate interest in your book is an obstacle though. You will have to follow the policies and procedures of a publishing company to have your book considered. However, your hard work and persistence will pay off once you see in your mail or inbox "manuscript accepted". Below are some helpful tips to get you started with book publishing.

Proofread and a good title

Make sure you proofread your book several times. You can ask a friend or a relative to do this for you or you can even hire a professional proofreader to read through your book at least twice. You also have to consider a good title and a good cover. Readers are often attracted to picking up a book from a bookstore through the title and the cover page. They would even look at the headings of each chapter to judge the overall theme of the book. As the saying goes "don't judge a book by its cover" but that's how most book readers do it.

Rules of the publisher

Policies and procedures of every publisher differ from each other. Get to know the publisher's policies first before submitting your manuscript. With today's technology, it's easier to find out the publisher's rules by visiting their website. You can also give them a call if you want to do it the traditional way. Don't go ahead and submit your manuscript without knowing the policies of the publisher as you will just be wasting your time and end up getting rejected. If you want to be noticed in the publishing world, you must follow the rules.

Personalize your letter/email

When sending emails to letters to publisher make sure you send it to a particular person. You can use "To Whom it May Concern" only when you are making an inquiry. But once your manuscript is already involved, there should be a particular person in charge of it to assure that it will go to the right person. This will save your time and avoid frustrations. If you don't know who to contact, you can always give the publishing company a call first.

Self Publishing

The easiest way to publish your book is through Self Publishing. Most of the time, traditional publishers would only publish a book if you already have a name. But if you are a new author, self publishing your book is your safest bet. You can even get more profit if you self publish. A lot of classic writers went to self publishing and made a name for themselves like Mark Twain, Walt Whitman and James Redfield. Self Publishing companies will also help you market your book, no questions asked. Traditional publishers would promote books if they think it will be a best seller. Anyway, your goal here is to publish your book and make it known to many. Self Publishing will surely get you to your dream.

Patience is a virtue

To become a well known author you must have a great deal of patience. In the professional world, everyone has to start in small, careful steps. There are a few who get lucky and become famous overnight. But not all find that kind of good luck. As Benjamin Franklin said "He that can have patience can have what he will". Everyone has to go through rejection once in a while but you have to keep moving on. If your manuscript gets rejected, then look for another publisher. Wait for them to finish reading your manuscript; they have to read through a lot. You are not the only author out there.

The key to success is to enjoy what you're doing. Just keep on writing and love what you're doing. This will keep your motivation going.