How to Get a Book Published - With Rebecca van Laer

Almost every published author has the same story: they’ve wanted to see their name in print for as long as they can remember. I’m no exception. I studied writing in college and started an MFA with grand ambitions to publish a book before I turned thirty.

Although I quickly learned the ins and outs of the process — from polishing a manuscript to querying agents — publishing my first book was a winding road, as it is for many authors. While it took longer than I’d hoped, I got there in 2022 with my debut novella, How to Adjust to the Dark (Long Day Press). A year later, I inked a deal for a second book with Bloomsbury (Cat, forthcoming in 2025).

So, what does it really take to get published? You’ll need to write the best book you can and begin querying agents equipped with industry know-how. But more than that, you’ll need patience. Finding a traditional publisher is usually a years-long journey that requires revision, perseverance, and a willingness to change course as conditions demand. 

1. Finish and proofread your book

This may seem obvious, but don’t send your book to an industry professional until you’re sure it’s as strong as you can make it. You only have one chance to make a good first impression, and many agents and publishers are reading for a reason to say “no” — after all, they’re flooded with thousands of submissions per year and will only say yes to a handful.

How do you know when your book is ready? Be ruthlessly honest with yourself. My first book went out into the world before it was finished. I thought I had written a novel, even though it only clocked in at 40,000 words. Even at that very short length, an inner voice told me the book had a lot of fluff.

I ended up shelving that manuscript for five years. When I went back, I finally admitted it should be a novella, cut 10,000 words, and placed it with Long Day Press.

I don’t think it always takes five years to figure out how to finish your book (or what genre it falls into!), but it does take several rounds of revision and some healthy time for reflection. At the very least, you should:

😴 Give it a rest: Take a few weeks (or longer, if possible) away from your manuscript after you draft it.

📈 Edit for structure: Re-read, looking for structural issues, plot holes, and writing that drags down your momentum. Then, edit (or rewrite) as needed.

🗒️ Copy edit: Make each sentence shine. You’ll want to print your manuscript (or use a tablet) so you can annotate, and it can even be helpful to read it out loud.

You should also share your manuscript with beta readers, usually after the first edit. Ideally, your beta readers are other writers who can give you a vibe check. If there were sections that confused or bored them, or lingering questions about important characters or events, your book isn’t ready to send to agents.

Nonfiction is a different beast

Novels, short story collections, and children’s books are all queried and sold based on completed manuscripts. If you’re writing a memoir or another form of narrative nonfiction, the same rules usually apply.

However, some nonfiction is sold based on a book proposal. If you’re writing an essay collection, a how-to book, or any other kind of informational nonfiction, you can sometimes query agents once you have a few chapters — plus a detailed marketing plan. Naturally, your proposal should be as considered and polished as possible.

2. Research and query literary agents

Full disclosure: I placed my first and second books without the help of a literary agent. How? I’m an experimental writer with a strong sense of the market for my work. If you’re also writing in a specific niche, you may be able to bypass the querying trenches. But in most cases, an agent is your fastest route to a book deal — and the person who can negotiate for the highest payday.

Querying is famously difficult, but not because it’s complicated. To query, follow these steps:

1. Write a compelling query letter. This 300-400 word document introduces your book’s hook, major characters, and conflict, leaving readers eager to learn more. You’ll also need to include a few recent, buzzy comparable titles and an “about me” section. For best results, get a professional query letter review before you submit.
2. Research agents. You’ll want to begin with a list of ~25 agents in your genre. Check out this literary agents directory as a starting point, and read each agent’s profile carefully to make sure your work is a fit for their interests.
3. Decide on a strategy. Some authors query 25 agents at once. Others start with a much smaller pool and query one new agent for every rejection. Others still wait to hear from a dozen, revise based on feedback (or lack of it), and then query another dozen. I recommend the last strategy.
4. Submit your query following agency guidelines. Some agents accept queries via email; others use QueryManager. Some want 5 sample pages; some want 25. Give each agent exactly what they asked for.
5. Prepare to wait. You’ll get three kinds of responses: rejections, requests for more pages or a full manuscript (“fulls” in querying parlance), and closed no responses (CNRs) — queries you can safely assume have been ignored after 90 days. 

Prepare to query a lot to find the right agent

How many agents do you need to query? Unless you already have a personal connection to your dream agent, the answer is almost always a lot. While I recommend starting with a list of 25, you might find that you need to query 50 or more.

Remember, it benefits you not to put all your eggs in one basket. If you get an offer from one agent, you can inform other agents who haven’t responded. Your offer may spur them to read. And if you end up with multiple offers, you can choose the best fit based on personality, experience, and editorial vision.

3. Work with your agent to pitch your book

You have an agent. Congrats! While many writers imagine this as the pinnacle of their career, the reality is that no agent can guarantee a book deal. Once you’ve signed, another round of work begins.

First, your agent will deliver an editorial letter recommending revisions that they think will help sell your book. Once you’ve gone back and forth and are both happy with the manuscript, they’ll craft a pitch letter, often based on your query letter. Ask to see the pitch letter before they send it — you want to know exactly how they’re framing your book!

Then, it’s time for submission. Have an open conversation with your agent about how many details you’d like to know. Consider:

👀 Do you want to see the submission list? Some authors want to know the name of every single editor who might be reading their book; others know they’ll be tempted to stalk them on Instagram. Consider whether you want to know names, imprints, or nothing at all.

⛔ Do you want to see passes? While many agents will simply blank you during the querying stage, editors will usually provide a brief note explaining why they’ve passed. Consider whether you can handle seeing criticism at this stage.

☎️ Do you want updates? If so, how often? It’s hard to enjoy your vacation — or even your Monday — if you’re constantly refreshing your email. You can let your agent know if you want a blow-by-blow, a weekly update, or to only hear when there’s good news.

You’ll probably find it nerve-wracking to wait for your book’s ultimate fate. Have an honest, open dialogue with your agent to figure out what information will help and what will cause additional stress.

Besides that, work on something else while you’re waiting. Nothing takes your mind off your out-on-submission book like starting to work on your next book!

4. Sign with the right publisher

You may not get an offer on your first round of submissions. Many authors revise their books in response to feedback. You may not get an offer on your first book at all; many books “die” on submission.

But if all goes well, you’ll get an offer of publication. And if it goes very well, you’ll have an auction — multiple bids and the opportunity to choose which editor you work with. 

It might seem like any offer is a good one, and the best offer is the highest. But before you sign on the dotted line, consider the following:

• The editor. Do they understand your book? Would you be happy to make the edits they suggest during your meeting?
• The advance. If Press A offers $10,000 more than Press B, but you prefer the editor at Press B, consider the tradeoffs in going with Press A.
• Your career trajectory. Would publishing with this press align with your vision for your career, or would it require a substantial pivot (e.g., reframing your dark academia novel as middle-grade fiction)?
• Your agent’s advice. Your agent gets a cut of the deal, but they’re also your best advocate in this situation. Ask them what they think!

How I signed a publishing deal with Bloomsbury

I’ve written 4 books. At the time of writing this, they’ve not all been published — or even submitted to publishers. This goes to show what a lengthy process it can be to publish a book, and how many authors change course on their journeys.

In 2021, while waiting for How to Adjust to the Dark to be published, I was working on a novel about a cult. I thought it had a premise that would hook agents and get me my first big book deal. But the writing wasn’t flowing, so I took a break and wrote a short story about my cats, which was a pleasure. That got picked up by a wonderful literary magazine, The New England Review (you can read it here). With some wind in my sails, I amassed more writing and started calling my new book Psychoanalysis for Cats. When I took breaks from my cult novel, I began work on a book proposal.

I had known about Bloomsbury’s Object Lessons series for years; it publishes an eclectic mix of academic texts and memoirs, each focused on a single subject. Writers like Joanna Walsh and Henry Hoke penned slim volumes for the series before breaking out with subsequent books. I thought it might be fun to pitch my “cat book” for the series — but they were closed to submissions for months. 

I worked on my two projects for close to a year. When Object Lessons re-opened for submissions, I sent them a one-paragraph pitch right away. They asked for my proposal soon thereafter, and I adapted the work I’d already done to their in-house format. Before I sent it off, I had three trusted beta readers comment on it. And then I settled in for a long wait.

During that period, I ultimately gave up on my cult novel, which had never been fun or easy to write. I started another novel. And then, finally, I got an email — the team at Bloomsbury loved my proposal and wanted me to finish writing Cat.

What did my publishing contract include?

First things first: if you have an agent, they’re getting 15% of your gross amounts payable. In return, they’ll help you negotiate your publishing contract. But if you want a preview of what to expect, read on about two main features — your advance and royalties.

The Advance

If you dream of quitting your day job to start writing, you’ll likely need a big advance. An advance is an upfront fee paid to an author before royalties. This amount must be ‘earned out’ before the author is to receive any further royalties.

The fine print? If a novelist signs a deal with a major advance, they won’t see another cent until they make that money back.

So before you give your notice, keep in mind that the advance is usually paid in installments:

• ⅓ upon signature
• ⅓ upon the approval of the manuscript
• ⅓ upon publication

In some cases, your advance might be broken up even further, with a fourth installment due on paperback publication. And regardless of how many installments there are, you’re responsible for paying taxes on each one.

Also, don’t count on that $50,000. In 2020, a Twitter discussion on inequality within publishing led to the creation of a spreadsheet where authors anonymously shared their advances. Advances from large publishers ranged from $10,000 to seven figures, revealing disparities and also pure randomness in the process. Note that authors publishing with small presses — even those that are award-winning and prestigious — made significantly less up-front.

Royalties

Royalties are the percentage of a book’s proceeds that go to an author. Let’s say that Bonnie Garmus’s agent negotiated a 10 percent royalty — that means that 10 cents out of every dollar made from sales of Lessons in Chemistry should go to her.

If you earn out your advance, you’ll then start to earn royalties. The amount depends on the format of your sales. Authors usually earn:

• 10% on hardcover books
• 7.5% on paperbacks
• 25% on ebooks

Some publishers include a royalty schedule — a sales goalpost at which point you’ll start earning a higher amount of royalties. For Cat (published in paperback), my royalties schedule is:

•  8% on the first 3,000 copies sold
• 10% on 3,001 to 5,000 copies sold
• 15% thereafter
• 25% on ebooks

5. Work with their team on editing and production

By the time you’ve sold your book, you’ve already gone through numerous edits with feedback from beta readers and your literary agent — but that doesn’t mean that your book is done.

Next, your manuscript will go through the following stages:

• Editing – Don’t be surprised if your acquiring editor asks you to flesh out particular scenes, combine or remove characters, or change your POV. Your editor’s goal is to shape your book into a bestseller and, depending on their notes, that could entail a small revision or a larger rewrite.
• Copy editing – Once you and your editor have ironed out big-picture issues, your book will be carefully edited line-by-line. At the end of the process, the prose should be smooth and (largely) error-free.
• Typesetting – Your book’s print interior will be designed by a professional. The typeset proof is ideal for sending off to advance readers.
• Proofreading – Once you have your page proofs, you’ll have another opportunity to look through for any final stray errors. Don’t worry; a professional proofreader will also lend their eyes to the task.

Throughout the editing process, you’ll also begin working on a promotional plan, including but not limited to:

• Soliciting blurbs from other authors
• Collaborating with the production team on your cover design
• Discussing publicity strategy, including where to send Advance Reader Copies (ARCs) to create buzz

6. Launch your book – and keep promoting it

If you’ve received a large advance, your publisher will probably put a good chunk of their marketing budget toward promoting your book.

However, it’s increasingly common for authors to do most of their publicity themselves — or to hire a book publicist to help them out with it. The market is crowded, and your authorial success depends on your track record of book sales, so it’s crucial to invest in marketing. What you don’t have in money, you can make up for in time.

As a small press author, the marketing budget for my book was $0 — save for the printing costs of ARCs that were sent out to prospective reviewers, which my press thankfully covered. Still, I took marketing seriously. Here’s a quick roundup of what Long Day Press and I did for publicity:

📣 Created a press release, including author blurbs, a summary of the book, and an “About the Author” section

💌 Emailed friends and family to let them know the book was available for preorder

👋 Reached out to advance readers, including specific magazines and individual reviewers who I thought might be interested in covering my book (with the press release and an offer of an ARC)

🎤 Asked my friends to interview me for magazines where one of us already had a relationship with the editor

🎨 Created Canva templates that matched the book cover that could be adapted to highlight author blurbs and trade reviews in posts on Instagram and X

🎬 Planned a launch event, contacting bookstores in Brooklyn (the biggest major city near me) and enlisting an author friend to host the Q&A after my reading

Of course, marketing my book didn’t end on launch day. How to Adjust to the Dark picked up traction after release, showing up in the local print glossy a month later and on BookTok a few months thereafter. Every time I received new press, I reshared it on Instagram. Two years later, my small press book is still finding new readers.

To put things in perspective, that’s seven years after I first pitched the book. Luckily, the process for Book Two has been quite a bit faster; I pitched it in 2022, and it will hit shelves in late 2025. Remember, authors, the road to publication is long — but there’s nothing more rewarding than knowing that your book is out there in the world, actually being purchased and read by people you’ve never met.