How to Publish and Promote Your Work

Advice on publishers, query letters, book proposals, self-publishing and book promotion

 by Lisa Saunders  

(Disclaimer: this photo may have been stretched lengthwise to make Lisa appear thinner)

Illustration by Marianne Greiner. 

 I have written a free 20-page e-book on how to get published to share what has--and has not--worked for me. You can download it now at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/3053 in all kinds of formats to be taken to your favorite reading spot, or you can see the same material below.  

Note: When trying to get a non-fiction book published, it is required to submit a book proposal. The publisher for my recently released book, "Anything But a Dog! The perfect pet for a girl with congenital CMV," which is about a big, homeless dog’s devotion to my disabled daughter, gave their permission for me to release it to the public so readers can use it as a guide for their own proposals. For link to that,  please write to me directly at saundersbooks@aol.com

How to Get Published

Advice on publishers, query letters, book proposals, self-publishing and book promotion.

by

Lisa Saunders

Why I Wrote This

If you have a message that will inspire, make your readers smile, or teach them a truth that can change their lives, then you deserve to know how to get published with the least amount of wasted time and money. In my booklet that follows, I will attempt to tell you how.

About me

I’m a full-time writer at the State University of New York at Rockland and a member of its Speakers Bureau. A Cornell University graduate, I am the author of the light-hearted memoir, Anything But a Dog!, the children’s novel, Ride a Horse, Not an Elevator, the history book, Ever True: A Union Private and His Wife, plus several short stories and articles. I speak at universities, international conferences and local clubs about how to get published, finding ways to cope in adversity, the Civil War, and a preventable but little publicized cause of birth defects—congenital CMV. I live with my husband, Jim, and our pesky Beagle/Basset Hound, Bailey, in Suffern, New York. All of my books are available on Amazon or by writing to me directly at saundersbooks@aol.com. You can see my work and additional advice for writers at www.authorlisasaunders.com

Table of Contents

Introduction

Summary of What Works

 My Life as a Published Writer Finally Begins

The Truth About Publishing

Where to Begin: “Will you be my publisher (or agent)?”

Finding an agent or book publisher

Self-Publishing

Query Letters

Book Proposals

Promoting Your Book

Building an Audience (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn)

Links for Writers

Anything But a Dog!

Introduction

My story that follows is meant to be a starting point for you—it is based entirely on what has worked for me. In this booklet I will share my experiences getting published and also address the publishing process at large. I cover the publishing of short stories, articles, non-fiction, children’s fiction and memoirs. Although I’ve never written an adult novel, many of the principles still apply. Also included are lists of free resources available to writers seeking a publisher. Self-publishing is an increasingly popular alternative, so I will discuss that option as well.

Summary of What Works

If you're just starting out, you might as well know the truth now--you have to be "famous" (at least well-known) to get published by a major publisher. Unfortunately, I'm not kidding. (Don't believe me? Then how did Paris Hilton's dog, Tinkerbell, get published?) At the very least, the publisher needs to know you personally or know your best friend personally to consider your manuscript. It is difficult to convince them to take a chance on an unknown unless you have unique credentials to cover a topic that fits in with their general themes. One intern at a major, glossy magazine finally told me what I always suspected, "We never read unsolicited manuscripts."

If you want to get paid (or at least read by more than your mother), then you need to find a way to start writing about topics of interest to readers. Once editors and readers get to know and trust you, then you can start branching out with your own personal stories.

How to begin:

1. Build your portfolio--local newspapers and magazines WANT to print your words

The easiest way to get your thoughts into print and begin gathering "your" audience, is to submit letters to the editor (don't forget to include your hometown when you do) and to submit stories to those free weekly newspapers and monthly magazines you see lying around. They are short staffed and welcome free stories with a good photo or illustration (thoroughly caption your image and only send them work that won't violate anyone's copyright).

2. Call local editors directly, offering a story for free

I finally began earning money as a freelance writer when I called a Rockland County magazine offering them a story I did on a friend in the area who beat the Guinness World Record time for paddling down the Mississippi River. The editor replied, "That sounds very interesting, but we have a limited budget and won't be able to pay you." I assured him that was fine. I just needed to get my foot in the door.

That article lead to my very first assignment (though still unpaid) from the magazine: "Will you go to Nyack and find people to discuss Russell Crowe's stay there while he's working on his current film in New York City?" I have to admit, it was a bit exciting to walk into bars with a reporter's notebook and pen and ask around if anyone had seen Russell Crowe. After uncovering a few "Russell Crowe" sightings, the magazine offered me the chance to write the cover story, "The 7 Wonders of Rockland," and I was to be paid! The response to the story was great--not only did people call the magazine asking for several copies to use as a sightseeing guide, but a local developer contacted me with an offer to write about the towns where they were building. They paid my expenses to sleep in a bed & breakfast and eat in fancy restaurants in order to review them. They also paid for my husband Jim's expenses in exchange for digital photographs of our travels.

Although this magazine and developer were paying me to write on a specific topic, I was still able to share my personal insights and "voice" within. The local magazine went on to hire me to write reviews of hair salons (thus I got a free haircut from a lady who styles the heads of celebrities), and other places in my area.

3. Contact editors by name at national magazines

It's almost pointless to send a query letter to an editor without addressing it directly to them. You can find an editor's name by flipping through the pages of the big general books like the "Writer's Market" and "Literary Market Place," which are probably available at your library or local bookstore. I've always found my updated contact information by sitting on the floor of bookstores and libraries and skimming through magazines looking for the current editors, or I call publishers to find out who the submissions editor is.

4. Write a query letter that grabs their interest right away

The next step is the query letter, which introduces you and your work to a publisher. I've had the most luck when I begin the letter letting them know I've read their publication or I simply jump right into my story, hoping to catch their interest in the first sentence. For example, this query letter landed me a publisher for my memoir, "Anything But a Dog!" It began: "Inevitably, most kids ask for a dog. And who can blame them? Dogs like Lassie adore you, keep you warm when you're caught in a blizzard and drag you out of burning buildings when you're unconscious. But by the time we're adults, we've learned the truth: dogs urinate on your new wall-to-wall carpets; dig holes in your leather recliners to hide their rawhide bones, and bite your neighbor's kid. So when my seven-year-old daughter Jackie asked for a dog, I said no. Our younger daughter Elizabeth was disabled and wouldn't be able to protect herself from a frisky animal. But I did make Jackie a promise: 'If God brings a dog to our doorstep, you can have it.' In the meantime, I offered her a hamster..."

5. Learn how to use a digital camera

Magazines and newspapers need images to make their pages come alive--and many have had to lay off their photographers. Offer to provide images with your story, and if that's not possible, suggest in your query letter an image they might want to consider. In my historical story, "The Hanging of Henry Gale," I wrote to the magazine: "After reading the article about the Revolutionary War in your June issue, I thought you'd be interested in my story, 'The Hanging of Henry Gale.' My ancestor Henry Gale was a captain in the war who later became a leader in Shays' Rebellion. He was found guilty of treason and sentenced to hang. I can submit a photo of his headstone and suggest an illustration of Shays' Rebellion from the New York Public Library image database."

6. Get out from behind your computer and network

Meeting people in the industry is important. You'll never be "discovered" spending all of your time at a desk. Attending a writer's conference or taking a writing class improves your chances of finding work. At 45 years of age, I finally took my first writing class at Rockland Community College--Introduction to Journalism. Not only did I finally learn that periods should be placed before the end quotation mark, but the instructor was a copy editor who helped get my work published in her newspaper. I also joined the 18-19 year-old student staff of the College paper and learned how write and edit for that. When the College had an opening for a writer in their Camus Communications Department, I was offered the job.

7. Give readers what they want--but stay true to your voice

Why do you need to please your editors/readers first when starting out as a freelance writer? Only when you have developed an audience can you can branch out and truly say what you want to say.

When it came time to write the humorous account of how a homeless dog found his way onto my disabled daughter's couch, I wanted to secure a publisher before spending the time finishing the manuscript. So, I wrote a book proposal (required when seeking a publisher for non-fiction), sharing my harrowing search for just the right pet and analyzing the market, stating who my "readers" already were and who I thought would also be interested in my story. My query letter interested a few agents and publishers enough to ask for my book proposal. One publisher liked the proposal, so we signed a contract and "Anything But a Dog!" was published.

8. Write from your soul

When you write, write from your heart--really share your soul. Don't write what everyone else is writing. If you lay your heart bare, your readers may just find a kindred spirit in you.

My Life as a Published Writer Finally Begins

"Is this Lisa Saunders?" the caller asked.

"Yes," I said, irritated, sure it was a telemarketer interrupting me in the middle of writing a story featuring myself as the heroine. Recently recovered from years of writer’s block, I was on a roll and didn’t want to stop—despite the fact that I couldn’t get an editor to admire my work—or even to look at it.

Several months earlier I had sent out my first completed story to Snooty Home magazine (name changed in case they ever decide to publish me), thinking they’d be thrilled to get the first crack at my writing—a humorous piece about what a slob I am and what it takes to prepare for a guest. But instead of sending me an offer to be their next great columnist, I received a “Thanks, but no thanks,” form letter. I’ll show them! One of their major competitors will snatch me up. I’ll become a household name! As quickly as I could address the envelopes, I sent my stories to other popular magazines. Still no nibbles. Although the wind was leaving my sails, I pressed on and began querying magazines that nobody had ever heard of.

The caller, sensing I was annoyed at the intrusion, continued, “Mrs. Saunders, I’m sorry to bother you. I’m from Nice Home magazine (name changed so they won't know I lumped them in the “nobody’s heard of them” category). We really enjoyed your “Oh No, Camping!” and “My Apple Obsession” stories. Do we have your permission to publish them? We’d like to run the camping one in September and the apple one in October, but we can only pay you in three complimentary magazines. Is that okay?”

Somebody finally noticed me! Hanging up, I called everyone I knew along the Eastern Seaboard, “I have been discovered and am on my way!”

It was more than 10 years earlier in the late 70s, during my brief stint as a high school newspaper columnist that I first thought of becoming a famous author. I read books on how to write, scrolled a sheet of paper down into my father’s 1950s college typewriter, placed my fingers on the keys and waited. I couldn’t think of a thing to say! And that was it. I went off to Cornell University, majored in business, found a husband, worked in accounting, and had my first daughter Jackie.

Writing never crossed my mind again—until the birth of my second daughter, Elizabeth. Born with a severely damaged brain as a result of a virus, cytomegalovirus (CMV), doctors told me that she would never walk, talk, or even feed herself. Equally devastating was that my OB/GYN never warned me that I had put my pregnancy at risk by sharing utensils and food with my own toddler. I had no idea that children in daycare (I ran a licensed daycare in my home) were at greater risk for carrying CMV in their saliva. It is generally harmless and “silent” in healthy children, but it can be devastating to a developing fetus—to my little Elizabeth who was innocently developing in the “safety” of my womb.

My writer’s block left in an instant—suddenly, I had a lot to say! As a way to deal with my grief, I began writing letters to friends and family to express my feelings about her prognosis and our future. Gradually my tormenting thoughts were drained from my soul as I put them to rest on paper. Eventually I no longer focused on what we didn’t have, but on what we did have—a happy little girl who loved her big sister and parents, and my letters began regaling typical family adventures. Writing soothed my soul--perhaps getting my stories published would soothe it even more! I bought the Writer's Market, a fat book full of publishers, which included instructions on how to submit one’s work. Although I followed all of the directions carefully, I couldn’t get one publisher to say “yes.” But now, as a result of hearing about this obscure, non-shiny Nice Home magazine from a friend, I would finally have a byline.

The September issue of Nice Home finally arrived in the mail. I couldn’t wait to show it off! I pulled the magazine from the mailbox and stood on the porch, opening it to the table of contents. Wait a minute. I didn’t see my byline. I flipped through the rest of it. My camping story was nowhere to be found! I called the magazine.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Saunders, we ran out of space,” the editor explained. “We found a humorous piece about laundry that fit better with this month’s theme.”

Devastated, I read the article that ousted mine. I had to admit, it was pretty funny. But I had funny laundry too! Why didn’t I think to write about what a riot doing my laundry was?

When October came, so did another issue of Nice Home. I was scared to pull it out of my mailbox. Was more humiliation in store? But there it was—“My Apple Obsession.”

Eventually, several of my little stories made their way into specialty magazines and local newspapers. I wasn't exactly a household name, but I was having fun sharing the ups and downs of dieting, recounting my eccentric relatives who hid their false teeth and Twinkies in the dishwasher, and of raising a severely handicapped child.

With several articles published, I realized it was time to try my hand at a book about what it was like to raise Elizabeth. More on book publishing later.

The Truth About Publishing

You have to be famous to get published by a major publisher. If you’re not famous, or somehow “in” with a major publisher, you’ll have to start with a small one.

The reason you have to be famous? In book publishing, it costs a lot of money to promote a title and the profits on books sold in stores are slim. It is only worthwhile to the publisher if you already have a large following they can count on to buy your book. So that’s why it was a lot easier for Paris Hilton’s dog to get published (remember The Tinkerbell Hilton Diaries: My Life Tailing Paris Hilton by Tinkerbell Hilton?) than many great writers. Now that’s depressing!

And in the magazine industry, they already have several trusted writers they work with. It is difficult to convince them to take a chance on an unknown unless you have unique credentials to cover a topic that will fit in with that month’s theme.

It is much easier to get non-fiction published than fiction. Sorry, but it’s true. But by no means should you give up if you believe in your story. If you can tie in your novel to a particular group of people, you’ll have a shot at getting it published or selling it if you self-publish. For example, my children’s novel, Ride a Horse, Not an Elevator, sells well to horse enthusiasts (even though it’s about my terror of horses), because it has “horse” in the title (however elevator buffs don’t seem to be buying it and I haven’t figured out why yet). I met a poet at a writer’s conference who was doing very well with his book of car poems because auto show attendees loved to buy it.

Where to Begin:

 “Will you be my publisher (or agent)?”

What kind of publishers would be interested in your work? You can start by flipping through the pages of the big general books like, Writer's Market and Literary Market Place, which are probably available at your library or local bookstore, to get ideas on how to submit query letters and manuscripts to major publishers. Children and other specialty publishers also have their own publishing guides. For example, if you have a child who wants to get published, read The Young Writer's Guide to Getting Published by Kathy Henderson.

Although I’ve learned a lot looking through those general books, I’ve rarely found a publisher through them. I’ve always found mine by sitting on the floor of bookstores and libraries and skimming through magazines and books looking for the names and contact information of the current editors, or I call publishers to find out who the submissions editor is. I often find publishers by doing searches on the Internet and clicking into their submission guidelines, which tell me their required procedure and format for submitting manuscripts. Sometimes I find publishers through word of mouth (my sister-in-law: “Lisa, I just met the editor of a magazine on disabilities at a party and she said she would be interested in considering your story about Elizabeth). In my early years of seeking to be a freelance writer, I found a lot of support and advice in a writers group. You can probably find one by asking your library and bookstore if there are any locally or look at Meetup.com for one near you (I include this and several other valuable links toward the end of this document).

The next step is the query letter, which introduces you and your work to a publisher. I usually start my query letter saying something like, “After reading the article about the Revolutionary War in your June issue, I thought you’d be interested in my story, ‘The Hanging of Henry Gale.’ My ancestor Henry Gale was a captain in the war who later became a leader in Shays’ Rebellion. He was found guilty of treason and sentenced to hang. I can submit a photo of his headstone and suggest an illustration of Shay’s Rebellion from the New York Public Library database.”

I finally began earning money as a freelance writer when I called Rockland Magazine offering them a story I did on a local man who beat the Guinness World Record time for paddling down the Mississippi River (he did it in order to raise awareness of Rett syndrome).

The editor replied, “That sounds very interesting, but we have a limited budget and won’t be able to pay you.” I assured him that was fine. I just needed to get my foot in the door. That article lead to my very first assignment from the magazine: “Will you go to Nyack and find people to discuss Russell Crowe’s stay there while he’s working on his current film in New York City?”  I have to admit, it was a bit exciting to walk into bars with a reporter’s notebook and pen and ask around if anyone had seen Russell Crowe. After uncovering a few “Russell Crowe” sightings, the magazine offered me the chance to write the cover story, “The 7 Wonders of Rockland,” and I was to be paid—(although when all was said and done, I only made about $4/hour because of the extensive research and driving involved).

The response to the cover story was overwhelming. Not only did people call the magazine asking for several copies of that issue to use as a sightseeing guide, but a local developer contacted me and asked me to write about the towns where they were building. They paid my expenses to sleep in a bed & breakfast and eat in fancy restaurants in order to review them. They also paid for my husband Jim’s expenses in exchange for digital photographs of our travels (advice: learn how to use a digital camera so you can offer photos with your story).

Attending a writer’s conference or taking a writing class also improves your chances finding work. At 45 years of age, I finally took my first writing class at Rockland Community College--Introduction to Journalism.  Not only did I finally learn that periods should be placed before the end quotation mark, but the instructor was a copy editor who helped me get my work published in her newspaper.  I also joined the 18-19 year-old student staff of the College paper and learned how write and edit for that. When the College had an opening for a writer in their Camus Communications Department, I was offered the job.

The easiest way to get your thoughts into print is to submit letters to the editor (don’t forget to include your hometown when you do) and to submit stories to those free weekly newspapers and monthly magazines you see lying around. They are short staffed and welcome free stories with a good photo or illustration (thoroughly caption your image and only send them work that won’t violate anyone’s copyright).

Finding an agent or book publisher

It is so much easier now to contact publishers and agents because of the Internet. Although small publishers don’t require you to have an agent, most large publishing houses won’t even look at you without one—especially if your book is a novel. To sell a novel, you need to be prepared to present the entire manuscript once they tell you they like your synopsis and first three chapters. To sell non-fiction, you’ll need to submit a book proposal—which takes more work than writing the actual book—and I suggest you write the proposal before completing your entire manuscript because it may cause you to take a direction that will make it more marketable to a publisher (I’ve included an excerpt of my book proposal for Anything But a Dog! that resulted in securing a publisher). Most publishers and agents have their submission guidelines available online.

Self-Publishing (may lead to finding a publisher)

If you’ve tried everything and just can’t find a publisher, there is a very good alternative to those elusive publishing contracts. Self-publishing not only gets your book out there faster, but you maintain control of the content and how and when you promote it.

In the mid 90s, on a high after getting several of my stories about life with Elizabeth published in a variety of magazines and newspapers, I decided to write a book about our journey as a family caring for a profoundly handicapped child. I called it, “A Time to Weep; A Time to Laugh.”

A round of rejection slips. Despite all sorts of excuses like, “We already did a story like that”; We don’t do personal experience stories” and, “Our editor died,” I still felt the need to have my story told.

I’ll publish it myself! I was inspired by the self-publishing success story of Richard Paul Evans, author of The Christmas Box. His book was so successful he printed it in several languages and it was adapted for TV audiences.

I had my manuscript professionally edited and typeset. Sweltering in my garage during a particularly hot summer in Maryland, I attached the pages together with an old comb binding machine and made a hundred copies.

At first I felt embarrassed promoting a book to the news media that had been rejected by publishers…until the day I received my first letter from a reader:

“Dear Lisa Saunders, I recently read an article…about your daughter Elizabeth. I just had to buy your book…I’ve had a hard time with accepting [my daughter’s disabilities]…Thank you for writing your book. It helped a lot.”

Her letter meant the world to me. My story did have a purpose.

Then, unbelievably, a publisher contacted me. The editor said, “I am attracted to your book, not only because it’s a good story that fits into our market, but because you have already laid the foundation for a good promotional campaign.” I signed my first contract with a publisher. This was it! Or so I thought…

I gave up the right to sell my self-published version (which hurt when I received an order for a hundred copies from a hospital) and spent an entire summer rewriting the manuscript according to the editor’s specifications. But on the good side, I attended the publisher’s book parties, mingled with other authors, and received a copy of my book’s press release, bearing the publisher’s logo and a picture of Elizabeth and me. It featured rave reviews and announced my book’s imminent publication. I had arrived.

But wait. Moments before the book went to press, the publisher downsized. My editor was let go…and so was my book. Utterly defeated, I shelved the manuscript. I just didn’t have it in me to pursue another publisher or to self-publish it again.

I moved on. Besides, the voices of my eccentric relatives from childhood summers spent in upstate New York were calling me. Memories of my great-grandfather’s bed clanging back and forth in his bedroom on railroad-like tracks, my aunt making me use the outhouse, and the terror of riding my ornery pony, blossomed into the children’s novel Ride a Horse, Not an Elevator. It is basically a true story except the part where I, the heroine, overcome my fear of the pony to ride alone for help when my grandfather’s chest is smashed by a charging cow (in reality, my grandfather and I walked slowly back to his house with him holding his broken ribs together).

While the Sentinel newspaper in Maryland serialized Ride a Horse, Not an Elevator, I searched for a publisher. Another set of rejection slips convinced me to try getting an agent instead. Even getting one of those was difficult, but I finally did and signed a one-year contract with her. But she was unable to sell the story to a publisher within the year so I decided to self-publish again. This time I had a printer bind it to look like a real paperback book (called perfect bound) and I sold it to local school children, horse enthusiasts, and New York and Iowa featured it as part of their state-wide 4-H program called, “Horse Book in a Bucket.”

Once again I was back on the road of self-promotion (it would be so much easier if I was famous so someone else would promote me!). However, I do love sharing my experiences before a live audience and I particularly enjoy speaking to children at elementary schools. They’re excited to meet an author and pepper me with questions like, “Did your grandfather really knock over outhouses?”; “Did you really get gum stuck all over the dog?” and “Did your aunt really hide her Twinkies in the dishwasher?”

Not inspired to write a sequel to Ride a Horse, Not an Elevator, or to dust off my book about Elizabeth again, I feared a long season of writer’s block would hit. Little did I know that the inspiration for my next book sat languishing in the dark, right in my mother’s attic. And then it happened—I found them—the Civil War love letters between my great-great grandparents stuffed in a little, old wooden box. Through their correspondence I traveled more than 100 years into the past catching glimpses into the humble spirit of President Lincoln as well as a couple’s commitment to each other and their country despite the war’s infidelities and ever-present threat of death. I scoured overgrown forts and battlefields as well as out-of-print books and the National Archives to uncover the facts and family secrets behind those telling letters. My book, Ever True: A Union Private and His Wife, was born.

And this time, publishers were interested. It was released by Heritage Books in 2004. Although it was great to finally have a book published by someone else, the work of promoting myself was almost the same (but with their connections, they were able to get the book reviewed in a major Civil War magazine and it was a little easier to get certain media to interview me). I have heard that even if you’re published by a major publisher, if you’re not famous, you’ll still be out there promoting yourself. Although self-publishing is more work, there are certain benefits--especially if you are the type that doesn’t mind contacting the media and event planners. Carefully research the pros and cons of self-publishing before you jump in. If you can’t find a publisher but can’t stand the thought of putting a book together yourself and becoming a public speaker to sell those books, consider publishing your work as an e-book or e-article with www.smashwords.com

The Query Letter

If you are trying to get your book published by someone else, you will need to compose a query letter. Query letters tell the publisher about your story, your audience and your credentials. What the publisher really wants to know is, “How many books can this author sell? Do I already have the contacts and means to market this book successfully to this author’s particular audience?”

After receiving an invitation to speak at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) about my daughter’s life with congenital CMV (the invitation came after I interviewed doctors for an article I was writing about CMV), I decided it was time to update my earlier book about Elizabeth. But this time, I would focus mainly on the fun side of her life growing up beside a tomboy sister who wanted a dog. The general public likes animal stories so I decided to recount my harrowing search for just the right pet—one that would satisfy my oldest while not harming her disabled little sister.

The following is my query letter that gained a publisher for my light-hearted memoir, Anything But a Dog!, which is the true story of how a big, homeless dog found his way to my disabled daughter Elizabeth’s couch.

Dear [editor’s name],

Inevitably, most kids ask for a dog. And who can blame them? Dogs like Lassie adore you, keep you warm when you're caught in a blizzard and drag you out of burning buildings when you're unconscious.  But by the time we’re adults, we’ve learned the truth: dogs urinate on your new wall-to-wall carpets; dig holes in your leather recliners to hide their rawhide bones, and bite your neighbor’s kid.

So when my seven-year-old daughter Jackie asked for a dog, I said no. Our younger daughter Elizabeth was disabled and wouldn’t be able to protect herself from a frisky animal. But I did make Jackie a promise: “If God brings a dog to our doorstep, you can have it.” In the meantime, I offered her a hamster.

My nearly completed 40,000-word manuscript, “Anything But a Dog,” includes the accounts of our dysfunctional pets like the hamster who wouldn’t run in her wheel, a Stinky Rabbit who did even less, an ant farm that killed off its ants, the cat who attacked Elizabeth’s face and the inevitable appearance of a dog at our door. Of course we also had other concerns-- keeping Elizabeth alive and happy. Elizabeth was born severely disabled as a result of a virus I caught, CMV. Although congenital CMV causes more disabilities than Down syndrome, most women have never heard of it or how to avoid it through cautious handling of the saliva of young children. OB/GYNs often don’t realize how common the virus is or they just don’t take the time to warn their patients how to avoid it. The back matter of my book includes interviews with the country’s leading CMV experts about the latest prevention methods and emerging treatments.

Dog lovers or those who care for someone disabled will find “Anything But a Dog” a place to get comic relief from the very difficult worlds they have chosen, or have been forced, to enter.

Short stories about our dog and Elizabeth have appeared in newspapers, magazines and newsletters. I am the author of the books, Ever True: A Union Private and His Wife, published by Heritage Books, and the children’s novel, Ride a Horse, Not an Elevator, serialized in the Sentinel and incorporated into Cornell University’s statewide 4-H programs. I write public relations material for the State University of New York at Rockland and am a graduate of Cornell University. A public speaker, I have appeared at Cornell University, Johns Hopkins, West Point Museum, on radio and television, and at several libraries and schools. I will also be speaking at the international 2008 Congenital CMV Conference to be held at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta. To see samples of my work, visit www.authorlisasaunders.com

Please let me know if you would like to see my book proposal for "Anything But a Dog," which includes an overview, samples chapters, the target market and promotional ideas.

Sincerely,

Lisa Saunders

Suffern, NY 10901

www.authorlisasaunders.com

The above query letter intrigued a few agents I found through QueryTracker.com, but ultimately I found a publisher, Unlimited Publishing LLC, by searching online for one that would be interested in my type of book. After reviewing my book proposal, a contract was signed.  Anything But a Dog! was published in 2008 (the official date turned out to be December 18—my daughter Elizabeth’s birthday!).

Book Proposals

 Excerpt of my book proposal that landed me a publisher for

Anything But a Dog!

Book proposals are usually required when presenting a non-fiction book for publication. Below is just a brief excerpt and doesn’t include all of the components of the following table of contents (but you must be prepared to do so). Book proposals, like manuscripts, should be double spaced with page breaks for different topics—I’m just trying to save paper here!

Anything But a Dog!

by Lisa Saunders

Book Proposal Table of Contents

Summary, Page _

Format, Page _

The Market, Page _

The Competition, Page _

Anything But a Dog! Table of Contents, Page _

Sample Chapters: Chapter 1, Page _

Author Biography, Page _

Author Promotion, Page _

Chapter Summaries, Page _

Possible Reviewers, Page_

Author Resume, Page _

Sample Chapter (an excerpt of one)

.1.

“No, you can't have a dog.”

“Mom, can I have a dog?” my six-year-old daughter Jackie asked, standing next to me while I washed the breakfast dishes.

I cringed. The dreaded day was here—all kids inevitably ask for one. And why wouldn’t they? Movie dogs like Lassie drag you from burning buildings and keep you warm when you’re lost in a blizzard. But by the time we're adults, we've learned the truth about them: they urinate on your new wall-to-wall carpets, dig holes in your leather recliners to hide their rawhide bones, and bite your neighbor's kid.

“No, you can't have a dog,” I said, bracing myself for the age-old argument.

“Why not?” she demanded.

My mind raced for good excuses to make my point. Might as well start with the standard one: “A dog is too much work. And I know I'll end up being the one who walks it in the pouring rain.”

“I promise I'll take care of it. I will, I really will! Honest Mom!” Jackie exclaimed.

“Sure,” I thought, “that’s what they all say.” Avoiding her pleading eyes, I picked up a plate sticky with leftover syrup. “The truth is,” I said, “we just can't risk a dog around your sister.” I hated admitting that. I didn't want her to blame her little sister, three years younger, for being so fragile. But taking care of Elizabeth, who was quadriplegic from cerebral palsy, was already enough work without adding a dog that might playfully nip at her.

I know! I’ll give Jackie the “lip-severing story.” That’ll convince her we can’t have a dog around her sister.

“When I was 13,” I began, “I talked Grandma and Grandpa into letting me have a Weimaraner. His name was Bogie—short for Humphrey Bogart—and he was a nipper. One day, my two-year-old cousin Suzannah was playing on the floor underneath the table with a Popsicle stick in her mouth. Bogie snapped at the stick and bit her lip off! My grandmother got the lip off the carpet and wrapped it in a paper napkin to take to the hospital. But it couldn’t be sewn back on. A surgeon fixed Suzannah’s face, but when we got home, my mother loaded Bogie into the back seat of the car and took him to the vet’s. I never saw him again. He took the ‘long walk’ as they say in the Lady and the Tramp movie.”

I paused so Jackie could let the horror of the incident sink in.

But all she wanted to know was, “Where’s Suzannah’s lip now?”

“Gosh, I don't know! The last time I saw her lip it was stuck to the napkin, all shriveled and mummy-like on my grandmother’s bookshelf. But that’s beside the point; can't you see how dangerous a dog could be for your sister? She can’t speak—how would she call out to us if she was in another room and the dog was bothering her?”…

[Dear Reader of this free e-book, How to Get Published,

About.com published the following review of Anything But a Dog!: "If you're an animal lover, you'll love the critter tales as much as the special-needs storyline...really lifted my spirits." --Terry Mauro.

To help prevent congenital CMV from happening to other children, please consider ordering the book to share with women of child-bearing age and/or asked your library to add a copy to their collection to help raise CMV awareness in your community.

Anything But a Dog! is available through Amazon and Unlimited Publishing LLC, and if you want an autographed copy (or to buy in bulk), e-mail me at saundersbooks@aol.com for check writing or PayPal instructions or visit my Amazon seller’s account, which accepts credit cards, at http://tinyurl.com/amazon-anythingbutadog

If purchased through the National CMV Disease Registry or the UK CONGENITAL CMV Association, a percent of the proceeds are donated to raising CMV awareness and parent support. Thanks in advance for your support!]

Promoting Your Book

It doesn’t matter whether you published your book or if it was published by someone else, you must overcome any shyness and call places like public libraries and schools to offer yourself as a speaker. You must also learn how to write press releases about your work and send it to newspapers (although publishers do this, if you’re not famous, you have to do a lot of this work yourself too). Before I knew what a press release was (it’s just an e-mail/fax to the media alerting them to your latest news), I simply called newspapers and told them about my book and that I was available for an interview. Now I write press releases for my job as a Campus Communications writer. You can see my press releases at: http://www.sunyrockland.edu/news

Think of creative ways to sell your book (book stores are the worst place for a non-famous person to sell their books). Most of my book sales come from my public speaking engagements, sitting at events or by using them as fundraisers.

Building an Audience (which can help you get a publisher and/or sell books)

You can start your own blog or website for free using tools set up by http://www.google.com/ and you can submit your articles to sites like http://www.ezinearticles.com/  When people do a search on a topic, well established websites pop up high on the search. You can also submit your memoir to places like http://www.storyofmylife.com.

I have my own website for which I pay a monthly fee. Websites that you pay for show up higher on the list when people do Internet searches (one man told me that’s not true—but that has been my personal experience). I began the process of setting up my personal website page, www.authorlisasaunders.com, by registering my domain name on www.register.com (they allow you to set up a very basic Website for free). You’ll then need a service provider to host your site. Register.com walks you through the steps. One advantage of my website is that it has a guestbook to keep track of the e-mail addresses of people who want my occasional news in their inboxes. If you’d like to receive my news, you can go directly to my guestbook and sign in at: http://www.authorlisasaunders.com/pageemail.htm

People are sending strangers to their blogs and websites using Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

You can visit me on my following URLs:

Web site: http://www.authorlisasaunders.com

Blog: http://howtogetthinandfamous.blogspot.com/

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/lisasaundersbooks

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/saundersbooks

Twitter: http://twitter.com/saundersbooks

It is important that you know your book details at all times to join in on sites that promote books. The following are my book details:

Anything But a Dog! The perfect pet for a girl with congenital CMV (cytomegalovirus). Published by Unlimited Publishing LLC on December 18, 2008. ISBN: 1588329968

Ever True: Union Private and His Wife, Published by Heritage Books in 2004, ISBN: 0788425269

Ride a Horse, Not an Elevator, Published by Lisa Saunders in 1995, ISBN: 0964940302

You can set up a Facebook “page” versus a “profile,” which allows strangers to click on “Become a fan.” Then they can read your latest thoughts attached to your blog links you post with your updates. You can find my Facebook “page” at: http://tinyurl.com/LisaAtFacebook) At the left of my page, near the bottom, is a place for you to click to set up your “page” by clicking on “Create a Page.”

LinkedIn has groups for writers. You don’t have to know the members in the group to be allowed to join, although you do need to request permission. To set up an account, visit: http://www.linkedin.com/

Why Twitter?

• The media can follow your latest thoughts/news
• If you want to follow breaking news from your favorite organization or person like: http://twitter.com/Saundersbooks, Oprah, whitehouse, CDCemergency, Reuters_TopNews
• You don’t have to be someone’s friend to see what they’re up to and vice versa.

Begin:

Go To: www.Twitter.com

Click on:  Get Started—Join!

Full name: (can have spaces in it-people will see it)

Username: How you want people to see you

Password:

Email:

Type in those security words

Click on:  Create my account

Tabs in upper right:

Home: Where you can type your updates and read others.

Profile: Lists all your updates—this is what people see when deciding if they want to follow you

Find People: Provides ways for you to invite by email, find on Twitter, on other networks. If you still can’t find someone, click into “search” at the bottom which allows you to do a more advanced search on a person or topic.

Settings: Has your info about who you are.

Other important social networking sites:

Join any social networking sites that cover topics of interest to you. I joined the site, “Moms Like Me,” because I wanted to post information about congenital CMV, figuring that those women are in the high risk group for transmitting the virus to their unborn children. One day, thinking they might also be interested in knowing I just published a free e-book on how to get published (because I became a freelance writer after the birth of  my children), I posted the link to the e-book under the discussion board category, “My Story.” Dominique, a freelance writer and founder of Mommy Writers, downloaded my “How to Get Published” e-book, read it, enjoyed it and then contacted me for an interview to be published on her blog and incorporated into a future article. A book reviewer, Dominique also plans to review Anything But a Dog! I, in turn, was so impressed by her work and mission to help writing moms find publishers, that I posted an excerpt of our interview on my blog and included her link so my readers can find out more about her. The following is the excerpt published in my blog, How to Get Thin and Famous (or at least published!) at: http://howtogetthinandfamous.blogspot.com/

[Dominique]: What would be your best advice for beginning writers?

[Lisa]: Find out what audiences want to read and then find a way to write about that while remaining true to your “voice”—your unique way of expressing your thoughts. Only when you have developed an audience can you can branch out and truly say what you want to say. When you write from your heart, really share your soul—don’t write what everyone else is writing. If you lay your heart bare, your readers may just find a kindred spirit in you.

Visit Dominique’s blog for the rest of the interview at:
http://freelancerforhire.wordpress.com/2009/08/28/qa-with-published-writer-lisa-saunders/

Links for Writers

My blog, “How to Get Thin and Famous (or at least published!)”: http://howtogetthinandfamous.blogspot.com/

Writer’s groups: www.meetup.com For tips on writing memoirs, visit my blog: http://authorlisasaundersmemoir.blogspot.com/

Beginning and Seasoned Writers will find resources on: http://www.writing-world.com

Magazine Publishers: http://writingcorner.com/resources/magazines.htm

Literary agents

http://www.querytracker.net (helps you search for an agent and keep track of what you sent them)

http://agentquery.com (has great links to lead you directly to large and small publishers)

http://www.aaronline.org/ (lists agents)

Book Publishers:

HelpAPublisherPublishYou.com (Sign up for their free e-newsletter that provides publishing contacts)

http://agentquery.com/publishing.aspx (Provides links to large and small publishers)

Children’s Publishers: http://www.everywritersresource.com/childrensbookpublishers.html

Disability Publishers: http://www.rnceus.com/fam3/sidebar.htm

Self-Publishing reference e-newsletters & books: I recommend subscribing to the free e-newsletter, http://www.u-publish.com/ and the books: U-Publish.com 4.0: A ‘Living Book’ to Help You Compete with the Giants of Publishing, by Dan Poynter and Danny O. Snow. Order at: http://www.u-publish.com/ Also check out: The Self-Publishing Manual by Dan Poynter

Self-Publishing and Book Promotion:

Self-Publishing an e-book: I self published this e-book on how to get published at www.smashwords.com It was very easy!

Choosing a Printer: I don’t want to recommend any one printer, but there are two kinds of printers to consider: “print-on-demand” companies like www.lulu.com, which give you very clear steps on how to submit your manuscript and prepare it for selling through Amazon, etc., or traditional printers like www.bookpublishing.com. If you feel you can sell more than a few hundred copies of your book, you may want to go with a regular book printer because of the lower cost per book. "Some of our authors pay less than three dollars per book for printing. Most of our authors order two or three thousand books with each print run because they have made a commitment to becoming an independent publisher." Steven Bollinger, www.bookpublishing.com

Book Promotion: The books I recommended on self-publishing plus the following links will help you get started:

Make yourself available as a quotable source for writers/reporters at: http://www.helpareporter.com/

I also get several helpful promotional tips through these free e-newsletters:

http://www.u-publish.com/ and http://www.publicityhound.com/ and I have several links with ideas for the endless job of book promotion on my publishing blog: http://authorlisasaunders.blogspot.com/

Anything But a Dog! 

  “A hilarious set of pet tales!” Dr. Elisabeth Schafer, author of Vegetable Desserts: Beyond Carrot Cake and Pumpkin Pie

“If you're an animal lover, you'll love the critter tales as much as the special-needs storyline...really lifted my spirits." About.com 

“Saunders takes readers on a road trip as harrowing as any Dog Whisperer training challenge." Rockland Magazine

“Saunders weaves laughter and tears, congenital CMV education and the challenges of raising two daughters – one a tomboy and the other severely disabled." Times Herald Record

For an autographed copy of Anything But a Dog! ($14.99), United States residents have the first three options (if outside the U.S., you can purchase directly from the CMV organizations, the publisher or Amazon, but I’m unable to autograph those copies):

1. Check: E-mail me at saundersbooks@aol.com for instructions and my address.

1. Amazon.com (shipping added to the $14.99 purchase price). Purchase it directly from my seller account at: Anything But a Dog! or http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/1588329968/ref=dp_olp_collectible?ie=UTF8&qid=1233413673&sr=8-1&condition=collectible 

1. PayPal: If you don’t already have an account, set one up at www.paypal.com and click into "Send Money," then enter $14.99 to go to saundersbooks@aol.com You are purchasing a "good." Then e-mail me at saundersbooks@aol.com and tell me who to autograph the book to and where to send it.

Unlimited Publishing LLC: You can purchase directly from my publisher who takes credit cards (shipping added to the $14.99 purchase price.): www.unlimitedpublishing.com/saunders/

National Congenital CMV Disease Registry: Takes credit cards (shipping added to purchase price). A percent of the proceeds goes to congenital CMV research and parent support. Go to: http://www.unlimitedpublishing.com/cmv/

United Kingdom: CONGENITAL CMV Association: Takes credit cards (shipping added to purchase price). A percent of the proceeds goes to raising CMV awareness. Go to: http://www.unlimitedpublishing.com/dog/

If you would like to use Anything But a Dog! as a fundraiser, or to purchase my other books, Ride a Horse, Not an Elevator or Ever True: A Union Private and His Wife,write to me at saundersbooks@aol.com

[Cover design by Mary Kramer (MilkweedGraphics.com), Copyright (c) 2008 by Unlimited Publishing LLC, used by permission.]

Advice From Other Writers

I asked writers I found through www.helpareporter.com and www.linkedin.com what advice they’d like to offer you on publishing or promoting your work, and this is what they said:

"Create a ‘platform' to sell your book before sending in your book proposal; that way you already have a group of potential buyers. For example, I was giving talks to Adult Ed groups in schools/universities about the best places to retire/relocate." Jan Cullinane, author of The New Retirement: The Ultimate Guide to the Rest of Your Life, www.thenewretirement.net.

"Think about authors you should partner with who already reach the audience you want, and how the partnership will benefit both of you. For example, the author/publisher of a grits book partnered on a 15,000-copy deal with Quaker, who could sell more grits when customers knew more ways to use them." Shel Horowitz, award-winning author of Grassroots Marketing for Authors and Publishers, http://www.grassrootsmarketingforauthors.com 

"More people are now watching videos online than are social networking, making short promotional book videos an essential ingredient in an effective online book marketing campaign. There are dozens of websites to post your promotional book video for free including http://bookscreening.com/ and http://www.christianbookvideos.com/." Sarah Bolme, author of Your Guide to Marketing Books in the Christian Marketplace available at http://www.marketingchristianbooks.com/.

"Write a book proposal first, before the book. Include the marketing plan. This will help you get focused on the right things, even if you end up self-publishing." Diane Eble, publishing coach http://www.yourbookpublishingcoach.com/, author of the free Author Success Plan minicourse,

"Shoot for the stars, literally, for your foreword and blurbs for your book jacket because the worse thing that might happen is the person says no. But what if they say "YES!"? Laura Orsini, editorial consultant and marketer, www.WriteMarketDesign.com

"In this market, platform is key. Too many writers believe they can finish a piece and release it into the world without one, to their own detriment. Building a platform should be 50% of a writer's work, and can be done in small steps, a little bit each day.  Your platform serves as a business card, to generate future assignments, and makes you a very publishable expert when it comes time to release your book." Alyson Mead, editor, ghostwriter and publishing consultant, http://www.pageturnermedia.com

"Don't rush through your query letter because you're eager to get published. It's your handshake to introduce yourself (and your idea) to an editor/agent; don't make it weak and clammy." Wendy Burt-Thomas, author, The Writer's Digest Guide to Query Letters (Jan. 2009) http://askwendy.wordpress.com/

"As a self-published author of several titles, I offer the following tips:  The cover design of your book is essential. Use a professional photograph if possible (you can buy them for just a few dollars on several sites). It helps capture attention and make the cover pop. If you prefer no photo, then use some fun and interesting colors to grab attention with the cover. Get a graphic designer to do it or use a good cover design program to tailor-make the right cover for your book." Karen Moehr, Moehr and Associates, www.moehr-associates.com

"A series of books is always better than a single title. Think about how you can expand your markets by breaking up your topic so each section can also be offered as its own book or booklet." Kathryn Marion, author of Grads: Take Charge of Your First Year After College! (available at www.TakeChargeBookSeries.com) and College-to-Career columnist for Denver on Examiner.com.

“Write a small article (300-700 words) about something you are passionate about and that has a local twist to it. Submit the article to your local ‘small’ newspaper or regional magazine. Follow the guidelines for the article format (and, if possible, the requirements of the publication, if listed) as presented in Writers' Market. If you can arrange to chat with the editor of the publication beforehand, that's even better--you'll be able to more readily customize your article for the editor's needs.” Dave Gardner, Editor-Writer: http://www.squidoo.com/workingwords

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If you have advice to share, or want to read my advice (and others) in small doses, please go to my new blog, "How to Get Thin and Famous (or at least published!)" at http://howtogetthinandfamous.blogspot.com/