Content

• Steps
• Part 1 of 3: Planning the Project
• Part 2 of 3: Preparing the Application
• Part 3 of 3: Submitting an Application for Review
• Tips

The publication request is an important part of the publishing industry. Knowing how to properly apply for your project will help you withstand the weight of the editors' opinions, and then make them beg you to tell more about yourself and your project. For further information, see step 1.

Steps

Part 1 of 3: Planning the Project

1. 1 Choose a suitable project. As a rule, only nonfiction books, textbooks and books for children are published on request. Collections of poetry, novels and storybooks are usually not submitted on request, as these literary forms are more aesthetically and impressionable and do not cover a specific topic. Publishers are constantly looking for investment projects related to specific topics or those issues that interest them.
2. 2 Pick a topic from an area where you can inspire confidence. It must be something that you are very good at. If you want to write about the American Civil War, but have not read the necessary literature or have not done a single coursework on US history, the credibility of your writing will be a big question. Why do you need to believe that your project will be successful, interesting and commercially successful? Unless you are an eminent writer, the impact of your application will be based mainly on three things:
   • on the significance of the topic raised and the chosen angle;
   • the suitability of the book for sale and the publisher's interest in the plot;
   • on your credibility as an author.
3. 3 Find a broad perspective on your topic. Successful books are those in which it is possible to make specific and narrow topics global. The average reader may not be interested in knowing everything about salt, but Mark Kurlansky's bestseller "Salt: A World History" managed to find a connection between salt and the structure of the modern world. This book became successful because the author was able to talk about something simple and specific as a globally important issue.
   • Alternatively, try to find a very narrow angle and only target smaller organizations that are in that publishing niche.
4. 4 Pick a topic that you can work on for months or years. Will it be interesting for you to write in six months about what the deputy commander ate for breakfast at Apromatoks on the third day after the start of the battle? If not, then the project needs to be slightly modified. You need to come up with a project that you can work on with full enthusiasm throughout the writing process.
5. 5 Include as many costs as possible in your application. Tell them that you plan to recreate a replica of Noah's ark or start growing organic produce from scratch. If you are an unknown writer, the publisher is unlikely to financially help a project with such a large budget. Or are you going to pay all the bills yourself?
   • Instead of engaging in “pleasant” running around personally, it may be better to find a third party to observe and learn with. Instead of starting your own organic growing from scratch, perhaps your project will work if you watch others do it? Consider alternatives.

Part 2 of 3: Preparing the Application

1. 1 Find a suitable location for your project. Start with publishing houses and academic publications that have already published books on similar topics.
   • You can try publishers that you personally like, are familiar with, and might be interested in your aesthetics and your project, although this is not necessarily what they have been doing lately.
   • Find out if they accept self-initiated submissions from authors. If you cannot find out in live communication, find the contact details and write a formal request, in which you inquire about their rules regarding applications. You can add a short informal letter and a short (1-2 sentences) description of the project to the request so that the publisher knows which editor is better to send your application.
2. 2 Start your application with a short (250-300 words) cover letter. The letter must be addressed personally to each publisher, agent or editor to whom you apply. In a cover letter, you can present yourself and your project in several sentences, directing the reader to your application. Let the reader know what they are going to read about. The cover letter should include:
   • your contact information;
   • your resume (don't get too detailed);
   • an introduction to your project;
   • working title of the project;
   • some discussion on the topic "Why are you proposing a project to this particular publisher."
3. 3 Give an overview of the book. Depending on the project, the main task of the application will be to review the topics, plot and organization of the potential book. This could be content, a formal outline, or summaries of individual chapters that you are working on. The review should include sections that are addressed to the target audience and a little discussion about how the publisher will benefit from investing in your project.
   • Describe the audience for your book. Who is it written for, and why will they be interested in it?
   • List your competitors and explain why your job is better than theirs. This is where your unique selling ability should come into play.
4. 4 Attach chapters for a sample. In the overview, you can attach a chapter by chapter description of the book (as you see in this project), which will give the editor a vision of its width and structure. You will also give the editor an understanding of the aesthetics and writing style, so it is a good idea to attach chapters that have already been completed, especially those at the beginning of the work.
   • Be prepared for criticism. Editors will have their say on everything from the title to the entire nature of the book; and they can easily share their opinions with you, especially if they are going to work on a project.Be prepared for alternative points of view and ideas regarding your creativity.
5. 5 Include the About the Author section. Share detailed information about yourself as a writer in it. List your major life milestones, going deeper where necessary and revealing your experience regarding the subject of the publication. Any diplomas you received, previous publications, scientific grants that were allocated to you - all this can and should be mentioned.
6. 6 Attach a self-addressed envelope to make it easier to reply. If a publisher is interested in publishing your work, they will most likely contact you by phone or email. If your application is rejected, you will most likely not be contacted personally unless you put in a little effort. Knowing that you can no longer wait is also good. Therefore, attach a prepaid self-addressed envelope to your application to inform you that your application has been rejected.

Part 3 of 3: Submitting an Application for Review

1. 1 Personalize your application and cover letter. The more individual your application will be, the more it demonstrates your familiarity with the activities of the publishing house and the works that it publishes, the more seriously your application will be taken. Some publishers provide a contact list for editors who specialize in a variety of topics related to your project.
   • Address the letter to a specific editor, not to “All Interested” or “Department Editor”. If you put extra effort into researching the structure of the publishing house, it will be easier for your project to stand out early on.
2. 2 Check with the publisher you are applying to if any additional documents are required. Large publishing houses require a whole package of documents to be submitted with the application.
   • Most of the information in these documents will relate to the issues that you have already worked through. Therefore, the submission of the required package of documents will constitute a rewriting of your application in the form required by this publisher. Good idea: go through the steps to create a standard proposal first.
3. 3 Consider the benefits of submitting a project to multiple publishers at the same time. It's tempting to have your project pending in multiple places at the same time, especially if you're short on time. Some publishers may be inundated with applications and it may take months for them to respond to your request, others will not even consider applications that are submitted to multiple locations at the same time. Check with specific publishers' policies before applying.
   • In general, publishers do not like to be the target of carpet bombing campaigns in which authors spam all publishers they know with their bids in the hope that something will catch on somewhere. Targeting certain publishers and making your project more attractive to them will make your project significantly more visible than filing a shotgun application.
4. 4 Submit your application, write it down and forget. Your mental health will be much better if you submit your application, write down the date it was sent in your notebook, and immediately put the case on the back shelf. Perhaps a pleasant surprise awaits you after a while.

Tips

• Please check your application carefully for errors. If you cannot even submit an application without spelling and grammatical errors, then your entire book may require many hours of editorial work, which will immediately turn away the publisher from you.