Demystifying Publishing

The following articles are the work of Anna Genoese, and are free for personal use. Please remember that these are copyrighted and that no permission is given to reproduce or distribute the contents within unless granted by the author.

How to Find an Agent: The basic steps to take to find an agent to represent your work.
Manuscript Formatting: Beyond 101: What to do after you've put your manuscript in 12 point Courier New, double-spaced, with one-inch margins.
Things Authors Should Do: A list, written by two editors who are also published authors.
On Unsolicited Submissions: Unsolicited submissions are not junk mail.
Follow the Rules: If you don't follow the rules of the playground, we won't let you play in our sandbox.
Genre as a Marketing Category: Publishers and editors do not think about genre the same way authors do. Here's an explanation.
How to do a Castoff: A step-by-step guide to getting an accurate character count -- and how to estimate how long your manuscript will be as a bound book!
Rejection Letters: Can't interpret your rejection letter? Here's a walkthrough of a real rejection letter, and what it probably means.
Selling Books with GLBTQ Characters: Having trouble selling your "gay" book to mainstream publishers? Here are some thoughts on why.

The following articles, as with those above, are by Anna Genoese, and are copyrighted. No permission is given to reproduce or distribute the contents within unless granted by the author. Each of the below articles is a PDF costing 3.50USD.

Profit & Loss/Profitability & Liability : How Books Make (or Don't Make) Money

A basic outline of what happens when an editor buys a book and wants to publish it. This is very much a basic look at publishing and publishing finance, with some explanation of terms commonly used by the marketing and sales departments.


Pitch Sessions: What they are & how to do it

Everythiing you need to know about pitching your book to an editor, and more!


Publishing is Hard

Writing is an art, but publishing is a business -- and here are a few basic suggestions on how to navigate that business. Complete with explanations of various departments within a publishing company, and how they all work together to make your book.


Submission

A look at submission guidelines -- what they mean, how to read them, how to find them, and much encouraging to follow them.