How to Get a Book Deal: A 6-Step Guide that Works

If you dream of seeing your work in bookstores, landing a book deal with a traditional publisher is the best way to make it happen. Turning your great idea into a deal-winning book may seem overwhelming — but with a compelling manuscript, a clear strategy, and a strong understanding of the publishing industry, your odds of success will go way up.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to walk you through that process.

1. Write a great book (or proposal)

Before you start thinking about finding an agent or choosing a publisher, you actually need to write your book. So put some coffee on, settle into your desk, and put that big idea into words! (You can check out this post for concrete tips on the writing process.)

Before you start querying agents, take a few weeks away from your manuscript before revising it from beginning to end. If you can, send the book off to a few beta readers for broad feedback. 

Note that this only applies to fiction authors. If you're writing nonfiction, you won't need to show a 100% completed book to publishers. Instead, you should start with a book proposal. This is a shorter document — usually 10,000 words or less — that summarizes your book’s thesis, discusses your target market and marketing plan, details your credentials as an author, and delivers a sample chapter or two. A great book proposal hooks readers and demonstrates a clear understanding of where your book will fit into the market. 

If you're thinking about publication options before your manuscript is finished, build connections with potential agents by networking at industry events and writing conferences. Here, you can meet other writers and publishing professionals who might be able to help you once you're ready to publish.

After you feel good about your manuscript or proposal, it’s time to start looking for an agent. 

2. Research agents

Most big publishing houses will only consider your manuscript if you have an agent — someone who believes in your book, knows how the industry works, and has experience selling books in your genre. 

As you compile a list of potential agents, remember it’s always better to over-research than under-research — you want your agent list to be long, since many agents won’t have the capacity to take you on (and most won’t even reply to you).

When evaluating agents, consider their experience in your genre, their willingness to take on new authors — and, to some extent, their known relationships with publishers you admire.

In your search, poke around on sites like:

• AgentQuery — a large database of literary agents across all genres

• QueryTracker — to find literary agents and read updates from authors who have queried them previously

• Manuscript Wish List — where agents post detailed descriptions of exactly what they’re looking for and what they’re accepting right now

A more “creative” way to find possible agents is to look at the “Acknowledgements” section of books similar to yours — particularly from newer debuts, since you know those authors have been signed semi-recently. Authors usually thank their agents early on, and you can look them up to see if they’d be a good fit for you.

Once you've compiled a list of potential agents, it's time to get their attention with a persuasive query.

3. Craft a compelling query letter

To get a top agent’s attention, you’ll need to write a great query. A query letter lays out exactly what your book has to offer — for nonfiction authors, it’s a truncated version of your book proposal. This letter should: 

• Open with a captivating “hook”; 
• Summarize your story (including an estimated word count); 
• Compare your book to similar titles, while also ensuring it stands out; and
• Pitch yourself as an author who’s qualified to write this particular book.

Proving that there’s a market for your book is important here. If you have a platform on social media, a newsletter with many subscribers, or a popular blog, leverage these as audiences for your book. If you don’t have an existing platform, explain why the topic that your book covers does have a platform — a group of people who will read your book. 

If you're writing fiction, a record of publication is probably more important than a platform. Before querying your manuscript, consider submitting shorter works to prestigious literary magazines to build your reputation. 

When you're sending your query letter off, make sure to customize it to each agent. Agents can tell when a letter is a generic copy-and-paste job, and they're much more likely to reply to authors who can demonstrate a familiarity with their work.  

Don't despair if this step takes a long time. Most agents recieve far more queries than they can answer, and struggling to find representation doesn't mean your manuscript is bad. 

But if you've found an agent, congrats! Now, the two of you will work together to find a publisher.

4. Submit your book to potential publishers

Your agent will help you find a publisher and secure the best deal based on your timeline, desired advance, and the creative rights you want to keep. Depending on these and other factors, your agent will help you find publishers that might want to publish your book.

Your manuscript is in your agent's hands now. Most agents will focus on presses whose editors they know well, prioritizing large publishers over smaller presses.

If multiple presses express interest in your book, it might go to auction. This can drive the price up and increase buzz around your book! But the truth is that even after finding an agent, most authors will still struggle to sell their books at all — some professionals estimate that the success rate for agented authors is 1 in 3. So don't lose hope, and don't assume that rejection reflects your talent as a writer.

Even if you do find a publisher, this process of querying and negotiation can take over a year. Be patient and open to making substantial revisions to ensure that your book appeals to the right audience. 

5. Sign a contract

Once you’ve found a great publisher and secured the deal that works for you, it’s time to sign that contract. The contract will detail your advance, the royalties you’ll receive, and which creative rights you get to keep. Review it carefully with your agent to make sure the deal is right for you. If you've never seen a book contract before, check out this example from the Authors Guild to negotiate with confidence.

Congratulations! The work of getting a book deal is over. You’ve still got lots to do, though — you’ll need to finish writing your book, go through multiple rounds of revisions, and help with marketing to drive pre-orders and guarantee sales. You can read more about the production stage in Rebecca van Laer’s post about working with Bloomsbury to publish and market her nonfiction book, Cat. 

Now: as you’ve seen, landing a book deal involves a lot more than just writing a great book. To make the process easier and increase your odds of winning a coveted spot on a top publisher’s release schedule, check out the additional tips below.

Bonus tips for landing a book deal

👩‍💻 Build a platform

Though it’s not mandatory, building an author platform can be a great way to improve your chances of getting picked up by a publisher. Publishing houses want a guarantee that your book will sell, and showing them that you come with a built-in readership will make them think twice before passing you up. 

Consider investing time into growing your social media presence, publishing a newsletter, or submitting your writing to literary magazines (especially if you're a first-time fiction author) to increase your visibility. 

🤓 Understand the market 

If you want to actually sell your book, it helps to understand what the bookselling market really looks like. Do a bit of research to determine what publishers are picking up, and use your query letter to tell a story about how your book fits into that trend.

Keep in mind, books that are “of the moment” are always going to be in higher demand than books on more esoteric topics. But while publishing trends shift constantly, one thing you can rely on these days is that short books — 75,000 words or less — seem to get picked up more quickly. 

In other words, if you’ve written a novella about something that everyone’s talking about, publishers might be more inclined to take you on — even if you haven’t published a book in the past. 

✍️ Never stop revising

In the process of seeking a book deal, be prepared to rewrite your query — and, perhaps, your entire book — as many times as necessary. Writing is mostly rewriting, and the in-house editors at publishing presses won’t send your book to print until it’s just right.

You might be surprised by the number of revisions you need to make, but remember that every round of editing brings you a bit closer to publication! 

🧘‍♀️ Practice patience

As you probably know by now, traditional publishing is highly competitive, and rejection is common. Even if you follow all the steps and tips above to the letter, it can take months or even years to land a book deal.

Remember that rejection isn’t a reflection of your talents. Often, it comes down to market trends, timing, and luck. Keep improving your work and be persistent. 

Landing a book deal is challenging, but not impossible. With a strong manuscript and your newfound knowledge of the process, you have a decent shot at securing a book deal and seeing your work in print. Stay persistent, keep improving, and never be afraid to put yourself out there — the perfect opportunity might be just around the corner.