March 22/12 – © copyright Publishing Canada, a Provinsys.com Website

In your research to obtain information on how to get your book published, you should consider looking for ideas on the websites of book publishers. These resources can be valuable in building your knowledge of the book publishing process in general.

There will not likely be any particular specific advice on these book publisher websites about how to get your manuscript published, but by reviewing the information from these publishers you can acquire knowledge about the book publishing process and the book publishing industry, and also on what kind of material the specific publisher is looking for.

Many of the book publisher websites will provide details on how to submit a manuscript and whether the publisher will accept submissions only from literary agents, or whether they will accept what are called unsolicited manuscripts, which is the term used for manuscripts sent in without a request by the book publisher to see a particular manuscript.

In looking for information on book publisher websites, you need to bear in mind that these sites are designed to inform the book buying public about the books available from the book publisher. They are not designed specifically as information sources for book writers, so you will need to do your detective work in an indirect way to help you in finding out information on how to get your book published.

A lot of book publishers, particularly the larger ones, do not accept unsolicited book manuscripts and only acceptor or consider book manuscripts that have been submitted by an established literary agent with experience in books. Essentially in this case the book publisher is using the literary agent as a filtering device to weed-out book manuscripts that do not make the grade.

However, you should not let this aspect of the book manuscript submission process discourage you because there are successful ways to get your book published without the use of a literary agent. But right now you should be concentrating on how to better understand the book publishing process and using that information to make sure that the material you are writing for your book is in fact worthy of publication – which it needs to be; even if you eventually decide to self-publish your book.

Book publisher websites often have a section devoted to authors the company has published and is currently publishing in its newer titles. There may be biographies or similar background information on these authors, which is information that can sometimes help you understand more about how a particular book authors writes and their areas of interest in terms of subject matter for their books.

Some book publisher websites may also include detailed interviews with their authors. Check on the site to see if you can sign up to receive alerts on new information about book authors you may want to know more about.

Another important feature of many book publisher websites is information on the books that the company publishes, including current books and what is called the book publisher`s backlist, which is a list of books previously published that are still available from the publisher. Larger book publishers often publish books in a wider variety of categories and will list these categories on their websites.

There may be many different types of books available from a particular publisher, or it may be that the company focusses on a particular genre or type of book. Many smaller book publishers focus on one category of book, such as books for children or perhaps the young adult segment.

Investigate book publisher websites as well to see if the company has any newsletters that you can subscribe to, and if there is a blog published by the company providing the latest news on their publishing activities. Remember that it is your overall goal to gain as much understanding as possible about the book publishing industry in general and in particular ideas that will help you understand how to get your book published.

To sum up, a major key to success in writing a publishable book is to become familiar with the book publishing industry in general and what is currently trending in the book industry.

The Global Book Publishing Market Research Report published August 2011 by IBISWorld presents a picture of the book publishing industry around the world with less of the overall serious doom and gloom typically being predicted these days for book publishers.

An abstract of the report on the IBISWorld website indicates that “Book publishing has fared well through the turmoil created by new technologies, such as newspapers, radio, TV and, more recently, the internet. Nevertheless, book publishers are increasingly competing with other media for readers’ time. Publishers are also facing a shift toward digital publications, which is creating opportunities and risks that will have to be managed carefully.”

The abstract of the report further notes that the overall industry “…is forecast to generate revenue of $95.3 billion in 2011, up 0.6% in terms on the previous year. Annually, about 4.5 billion books are sold worldwide. The industry’s revenue is expected to have increased by 0.7% per annum over the past five years.”

The abstract says that “Barriers to entry are moderate overall, though they can vary by country and region. Barriers include the reputation and distribution capabilities of incumbents. It can take time and cost money to build a good reputation among authors, literary agents, book purchasers and readers.”

“A publisher’s reputation can be promoted by having a track record of publishing quality books; developed an expertise in particular subject matters; a strong and well-known brand; the ability to market books (such as in attracting media attention, arranging point-of-sale material, establishing book clubs and fairs, and helping authors develop a web presence); and a well-known ability to understand legal issues.,” The abstract of the report says.

The recent announcement by Encyclopedia Britannica that it will focus on the electronic version of its famous reference work should come as no surprise to the publishing world.

Although Encyclopedia Britannica is not a book publisher in the traditional sense, but rather a reference book publisher, it is significant that the company has chosen to go totally electronic in its publishing program.

Up until this point, it has been the generally accepted wisdom in book publishing that textbooks and reference works would be the farthest down the chain in terms of a timeline predicted for publishers converting to digital formats.

The thinking has been that textbooks and reference book works were by their nature publishing products that people wanted to work with physically, rather than electronically, and that textbooks and reference books had many features, such as complicated graphics, that would not easily convert into electronic book formats.

The company indicated in its announcement and subsequent discussions that for some time, sales of its encyclopedia in the electronic version had been growing and that sales of the printed version were in decline.

Encyclopedia Britannica indicated that rather than being a publishing decision forced by competitive factors, customers for the encyclopedia were the driving factor in that it was clear that customers preferred the electronic version.