8 Tips to Get Publishers to Notice You

If your articles aren't getting published very often, or you just want to increase the chances of them being published, then you will benefit from the tips in this article.

1. Article Length

You should always keep you article 500 to 800 words long. If you can't fit what you want to say into that amount of space, then break your article up into more than one part.

2. Resource Box Length

When writing your resource box, keep it 5 to 6 lines long. In a resource box you are simply trying to get people to request more information, not sell them something. If you want a longer ad, purchase one!

3. Line Length

The lines in both your article and your resource box should be formatted to 60 to 65 characters per line. One of the consequences of not doing so is that, in some email programs, your article may appear with every line at a different length.

You can get your article formatted, as well as learning its character, line, and word count, at the following website for free. http://www.fwointl.com/FWOFormatter.html

4. Is Your Article Actually An Article?

Publishers want to provide their readers with actually useful information and you should want the same. If you write an article that is just a sales letter or press release it will be rejected 99 percent of the time.

5. Inactive Links

Before you even think about publishing or submitting your article check that all links within it are active and working. Nothing is more irritating than to click on a link for a site you're interested in only to find out that it no longer exists.

6. Spelling, Punctuation, and Grammar

If you submit your article and it's full of errors it will be thrown into the trash folder so fast that your head will spin. Submitting articles with these types of errors not only makes you look extremely unprofessional, but it shows disrespect for both the publisher and their readers.

7. SPAM Triggers

As a courtesy, you should run your article through a program that will check it for triggers that could possibly get it rejected by filters. This isn't a necessary step but it will definitely impress publishers and increase the chances of your article being published.

You can check your article for free at http://www.lyris.com/contentchecker.

8. Publisher Guidelines

This should be understood without having to say it, but it is still important enough to mention. Always, always, always follow the publisher's guidelines when submitting an article to them. Not doing so will get your article rejected quicker than anything else.

Read this list, print it out, and keep it by you when you are writing an article. Read each tip and make sure that you are following it.

Making the above mistakes will insult the intelligence of both the publishers and their readers, as well as wasting your time and theirs.


Dan Poynter's Self-Publishing Manual, 16th Edition: How to Write, Print and Sell Your Own Book (Self Publishing Manual)

A Marketable Cover

Marketing your Book cover, Spine and Information.

Whether you've written your book or are just starting out, having an eye catching cover is a must. Did you know that customers may be looking over your book for 10 seconds or less? A good book cover entices the customer to want to read more information and to result in a purchase. To accomplish this, you need to know what catches a customers eyes. A good place to start is your friends and family. Ones that you trust. Ask their opinions. If you're uncomfortable with asking your inner circle or would like your book's cover to be a surprise, look to the net. You can post your book's cover idea and receive feedback. Only post your idea on the net if you trust it won't be stolen. When deciding to create my book cover for Mysterious Chills and Thrills for Kids, I looked at many other ones in the children's field. I kept in mind which book covers attracted me and for the ones that didn't, why it didn't. Keep in mind that not everyone is going to agree with your taste.

The same applies to your back cover information about your book. If the book is fiction, you'll need to ensure the customer that their entertainment dollars are worth purchasing your book. If your book is non-fiction, show the customer the benefits of purchasing. Can it help solve a problem? Many customers want to know that they are purchaseing something that in some form can benefit them. You'll also need to show how your book is better than then next one in it's category.

Don't forget the spine and price. If your book is spine out, it'll need to attract the customer's eyes. When they pull out your book, the price can turn a purchase away. Look at other books in the field and price accordingly. Much lower prices than your competition may appear to sell more but may give the idea that your work isn't as good.

Self publishing, Small Press or a Large Publishing company, either way your book is competing against others out there. Make it count!


Here, you’ll find a review of a great resource

Publishing Your Own Book -- Get It Done !

Review Of The Secret Rules Of Publishing

If you’re serious, and I do mean SERIOUS about wanting to get your book published, then this book is a MUST READ. I don’t say that about very many things online, but this is one of them. I would venture to say that this will someday be looked at as the book publishing bible. It is THAT good.

Okay, let’s get right down to the meat. What’s in it?

First of all, the author, Donnie Sozie, struggled for 7 horrible years before she finally figured this nightmare of a business out. So she is speaking from experience. As she simply puts it, there are only 3 things needed to get your book published…a great manuscript, the guts to make it happen, and inside information. Okay, she can’t give you 1 and 2. If you can’t write and don’t have any guts, this book is probably a waste of your time. You need to have a solid product to sell and the guts to do what’s needed.

Having said that, the book, as far as the info you need, reveals a killer presentation letter that will make the publisher completely forget that you’re a first time author. You MUST see this to believe it. That’s what I call guts.

Donna also goes over the 11 most common mistakes that authors make when trying to get a book published. If you’ve tried in the past, I’m sure you’ll find about 5 or 6 of these on your own personal list…if not more.

Donna also shows you how to tap into the commercial aspects of your book in order to get publishers to grab it before anybody else does. If you read any of my articles, you know that you have to convince the publisher that there is money in it for him. Donna shows you how.

Think a non fiction book won’t interest anybody? Think again. Donna shows you how to put together a proposal for a non fiction title that is almost fool proof.

Look, I could keep going all day long. Why don’t you just visit Donna’s site and see what she has to offer. I promise you, you won’t be sorry.

Here is the site

Publishing Your Own Book -- A Changing World

Publishing has been changing in fundamental ways for several years now, and combined with the global recession, this change has impacted the industry dramatically. This essay, and others to come, seeks to understand the meaning of this change, it's effects, it's ethos, and what the future may hold.

To understand the rapidly changing publishing environment, we must begin with facts. America loves anything that is new. It's not clear if it's the media that loves newness or Americans themselves, but either way being new is no. 1 in America. So Americans are in an endless quest to find something new. Certain businesses, such as movies or music, are in a constant search for anything that is new. Mere mortals are gobbled up whole, should they try to somehow alter or play with this unyielding desire the new thing. There are numerous variations on this theme, such as the quest for the "next big thing."

Pop culture has ruled the American landscape since the mid-1980s, and its influence has only increased. As a result, things like literature or theater have been driven away from the lives of mainstream Americans, to the point of near-extinction. Books have been consumer by American's and media's desire for the new, so that the marketing of a new book has become more important than what is in the book. And, this means that the rules of marketing are now central to the business of publishing. Books and authors suffer as a result. Rules like a product's shelf life expires after 30 days, after which customers will grow disinterested and possible return the item, guide the publishing industry and how it markets books. I have found that this is an American problem. In England, for example, where my titles sell well, they never return books.

American academia has become political, primarily Leftist, and no longer a place that is part of greater American culture, and able to influence it, either through books published by university presses, or by the teachings of great professors.

The US government has grown to obscene proportions. President Obama has married the government with the media, and thus grown the government further. And, President Obama has expanded the government's role into the Internet, to include how Obama markets his "image" online. Back when the government was smaller, say when Kennedy was president, literature and culture had a healthy relationship with government, and the entire artistic community dined with the president. That is no longer the case, partly because it is unclear who is in the artistic community to begin with. In one sense, everyone is in the artistic community, and everyone is an "artist"--or think that they are.

American culture is extinct, and is possibly not even capable of being resuscitated. Into this storm comes the technical, drastic change to the business of publishing. It is understood among publishers of all stripes that print-on-demand technology is revolutionary. POD means that a digital file of a book is printed only when an order is placed for that book, and then the book is shipped in a matter of days. This is in contrast to traditional publishing, where a print run of books entered the market in the many thousands.

In these articles on this site, I seek to understand how publishing is changing and what the meaning of that change is for American culture and literature. At present, there are few rules to the publishing, or the old rules don't apply to new technologies. I am not following any of the old rules, customs, traditions or business practices of traditional. In fact, I take great joy in breaking any of those rules. For example, I may get scolded by a bookstore for not trade discount of 40-60%. But bookstores themselves have become obsolete in this new environment. A journalist might say that he does not want to review one of my titles because my front matter is not listed in roman numerals (I purposely start my page counts on p.2 just to be ornery, for this very reason). And yet, that very journalist is probably out of a job by now, and his newspaper is closed or closing soon. Furthermore, I have gotten a number of reviews in large newspapers and I saw no discernible change in my sales as a result. Conversely, a review from an influential blogger can make a real difference in sales. Oprah is still Oprah.
This book, if this is something you still want to do,is a great resource that will teach you everything you need to know about book publishing. I strongly suggest you read it.
Hopefully, after you’re done reading this, you’ll give yourself the best chance to get YOUR book published.