WHICH MEANS YOU Wanna Be Published in Education

Writing for publication is work. check here means putting in consistent effort and time. Placing books for publication - acting as a literary agent - is work too. This means winnowing out, from among all of the offerings sent to you, what appears to be publishable, exactly what will grab an editor's (and obviously a reader's) attention, what has the potential to possess enough sales so that the cost of production and editorial work is covered and the publishing company makes a profit. What, you thought that the publishers are trying to find great literature as their solution to self-fulfillment? Guess again.

Is it possible to go it alone? Yes it is possible to, and several authors do that. website can write the book, edit it carefully, and try to find a publisher by yourself. One way is to send out many inquiries and manuscripts and hope that the publisher will see your gem among the dross. That is called submitting a work "on the transom." It really is put into the "slush pile," to be read (or not) by an editorial assistant, who will either discard it or send it on for further review. In fact, a variety of publishers do not accept any unsolicited manuscripts and want any submissions to come only from the literary agent.

There's another pitfall to the go-it-alone method. Many prospective authors do not realize that there are a variety of markets for which one can write. Publishers, and literary agent too, tend to specialize in certain of the markets, plus they reject anything that falls outside of these. For example, a publisher who specializes in science fiction is highly unlikely to consider a bodice- ripper that fits into the romance book category. Some publishers have a number of different departments, each of which handles another genre. Thus children's fiction, children's non-fiction, and children's picture books might all belong in various departments of exactly the same publisher and a submission to the wrong department doesn't imply that they'll route it onward to the correct one. Therefore, for anyone who is writing for the education market, seek only literary agencies who specialize in that market.

You can e-publish your book. Thus, you do all of the editorial work (or hire someone to take action), design your own cover, and upload it to Amazon (for the Kindle), or Google, or various other site. These sites will post your work and exact a particular commission from your own sales. However, the big questions for e-authors is simply so how exactly does your book get designated, how will you publicize it, how do you price it to market - in fact, how do you get it noticed?

What are the advantages of using a literary agent? First, this avoids the over-the-transom process and insures that your submission will be read and considered. Needless to say, it must fall within that agent's area of practice. For example, one literary agency writes, "We receive and reject submissions of children's fiction, children's picture books, non-fiction in every kinds of non-education-related areas, romances, etc. However, a simple reading in our web site would tell the prospective author that we specialize in materials for the education market, largely for staff development, teaching skills and textbooks. Despite the fact that an author may believe that there is an educational element of her book (and often there is), the book belongs primarily to a new market, one in which we've no expertise." What a literary agent offers is a variety of editorial contacts and expert knowledge of which publishers focus on different fields. Then, the agent has knowledge of publishing contracts, royalty structures, author rights, marketing issues along with other contractual matters. The agent negotiates the contract on the author's behalf and submits it to the writer for approval.

How will you interest a literary agent in your work? The first step would be to select an agency based on its regions of specialization. There are lots of sources of information about agencies. One will discover them in most public libraries. The standard reference is Literary MARKET. This annual group of books lists all literary agencies, and provides their contact information. The listing also describes where areas the agency specializes. Another reference source is Writers' Market. Additionally, there are businesses which, for a fee, offer advice and contacts to authors seeking representation. For instance, AgentResearch.com gets the expertise and contacts and contains been in business for a considerable period of time.

Second, either a query letter that briefly describes your projects or a genuine structured proposal alongside several sample chapters. Beware:

No hand-written submissions.

Carefully edited to get rid of misspellings.

Short sentences and avoidance of long, run-on sentences. If submitting by mail, always include a self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE).

If you want to submit by email, first determine if the agency accepts email submissions. For example, one educational literary agency prefers email submissions. Their web site states to whom submissions should be addressed. Ideally, attachments should be in.doc or.docx format using Microsoft Word, double-spaced, 12 pt. type and Times Roman font. Check for the appropriate email address. Email that's addressed to just the agency might not always be forwarded to the appropriate decision maker. The agency's internet site should indicate the contact information. (c) Bertram Linder 2011

Bert Linder is an educational literary agent whose agency, Educational Design Services LLC, ( [1] ) focuses on materials and books for the training market. The agency works with authors to place materials in the areas of teacher skills, staff development, textbooks for K-16, education policy and other education-related topics. The agency's web site provides home elevators preparing a work with submission.