I know the excitement and feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction you feel when you look over that finished manuscript. It's a great feeling! Pat yourself on the back- you deserve it. You've worked hard, you've edited and re-edited, you've faced the good and bad of your work and have polished it to the best of what you have to offer. You are ready to make this manuscript into a book. Sooo. . . . how does that happen? I'm going to give you some tips and some hard facts about the publishing industry, so sit back and ready yourself for the next steps of fulfilling your dream of becoming an author. 
     When I was writing my book I knew NOTHING about publishing, really nothing. I went online and googled things like, "How to make a book? How to get published? What do I do after I write a book?" There are a LOT of resources available to tell you how to do it. I encourage you to look around and familiarize yourself with the information out there. This website will be as detailed as possible because I had to search a lot of different places to get the information that I am now compiling all onto this one site. With that said, I also recognize that different experiences and viewpoints will give you different information, and that is okay, in fact, different information is great. You'll want to know all you can to prepare for the next steps you will be taking. The most important information that I will tell you right now is that you need to join a writing community. If you're uncomfortable meeting new people online, just join a community to be a fly on the wall. . . or an online forum stalker. You will learn from others and get insights and warnings that you just can't get anywhere else. KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) has great forums for amateur authors. If you're not sure where to start- Google, Facebook, and Goodreads will be your friends. Search for your genre and 'author forum.' You can get really specific with your searches if there are too many to choose from. Get to know people - what they've done and how they've done it. 
     Another GREAT education tool is to attend a writers conference. Writers conferences are equivalent to sitting at the cool table in Jr. High. If you attend a writers conference you can consider yourself 'in.' Most agents will recommend attending several conferences, because you will be able to mingle and schmooze other authors and rub shoulders with more agents and publishers. I have only attended one conference, but the things I took away are unparalleled to any blog or book you can read explaining the process. It's just a right of passage you ought to do if you intend on really pursuing authorship. One thing I learned at the Conference I attended was how much politics are in the traditional publishing industry today. Having a book published traditionally has less to do with the manuscript and more to do with who you know and how large your social media presence is. Really, that's what it all comes down to - a popularity contest at it's finest. Traditional publishers are evolving because of the self-publishing boom and they now depend on the authors and their following to pull their weight in any contract. Most authors are only signed on if they have a large following or if they have a killer query letter and commit to writing a new book every year or so. That's how it works. I just want to give you some harsh realities that you need to be prepared for, but I don't want you to be disheartened. Publishers will pick up unknown authors and one-time wonders, it is just not as likely. Often times at writing conferences traditional publishers will send 'scouts' out to listen to queries and recruit new authors. If you are an unknown- a writing conference is the best chance you have at being heard and taken into consideration by a scout.

     SO, it's decision time! You need to decide how you want your work published: self-publish an ebook, self-publish a paperback or submit to the traditional publisher lottery. HERE is another post with a more in-depth look at pros and cons of self-publishing vs. traditional publishing.

     Once you've made a decision, you can now get to work while your manuscript is being edited.

Where to go next:

Query Letter Tips - for Traditional Publishing

Ebook Preparation - Self-Publishing