How to get a book deal

What's the single biggest thing to do, if you want to see your book published? And what others steps do you need to take?

So you want to see your book traditionally published? Seeing your story go from being a vague idea in your head to something that exists, in the form of words on a page (or screen), which are for sale, whether it be physically or electronically, is the most amazing feeling. My earliest childhood ambition was to walk into a bookshop and see something I’d written on the shelf. Even now, a long time later, it still gives me a thrill and causes me to break into a grin whenever I see one of my books out in the wild.

Photo by Andre Hunter on Unsplash

But it can seem like a daunting prospect. More than daunting, in fact. Impossible. We are bombarded with stories about how hard it is to get a book deal, how few manage it, and how those that do manage to usually do so because they’re famous and/or related to someone in the industry. We learn that agents and editors are sent more manuscripts each day than they could hope to represent (or publish) in ten years. And then we are told that even if a book is published, the chances of it being successful are slim at best. It’s enough to make us want to give up, and many do.

But how much of that is true? And what do you need to do to get that book deal in 2024, and finally make your dreams come true? Let’s break it down…

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