Agent Jamie Brenner, of Artists and Artisans, discusses how critical it is to know your audience and the market for your book. Your story is great, but you’re writing it because you believe that someone else can relate to it. With that in mind, authors...

Many authors dream of having their book made into a movie or television show, but the dream comes to fruition for very few. This is because it can be difficult to get to the right people. If you are interested in adapting your book to the big screen...

Following a recommendation from his agent, author William Heath used all of his research from his novel, Blacksnake's Path: The True Adventures of William Wells, to write the straight, full history in a second novel. Using education, training, and...

The first three chapters are the most important part of your book for those who are looking to get published. Agents and editors usually request either the first chapter or the first three chapters and then determine if they want to read the complete...

The publishing path you choose will determine the degree of “perfect” your manuscript should be in before submission. A fiction manuscript must be complete before you query agents or publishers, but there will be some final editing done by the publisher...

As a new author, breaking into publishing can be challenging. There are so many rules to learn and tips to follow. Meanwhile, you just want to tell your story, help others, express yourself, and achieve your dream. One industry standard to consider is...

Each proposal is different, just as each book is different, but there are certain elements that every book proposal should contain. These include an overview, an annotated table of contents (of the book—you should also include a table of contents of...

Over the past few years, there have been an alarming number of misrepresentations and scams frequently targeting self-published authors. Bad actors are touting false and misleading claims and even going so far as impersonating publishing companies. Some...

If you have written a book or are considering it, one of the first things you need to do is research the competition. Ideally this should be done before you start the book or in the early days of writing it. But if you didn’t research at that time, do...