Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Do You Know How to Get a Book Published? Want to Learn?


So as of, uh, just about right now, Chris Guillebeau has just launched his newest guide, The Unconventional Guide to Publishing.

So to be upfront about all this, yes, we are affiliates (meaning that we get paid a % of the money if you click on the links in this post and end up buying something), but there is a non-affiliate link at the bottom of the page.

Frankly, we know a lot of authors out there, as well as people who are working to being paid authors, so we figured we'd talk a bit about what this guide is all about.

So it's authored by a guy named David Fugate who is a badass of a literary agent.  He's sold over 1000 books to publishers of all sizes over the past 20 years (meaning he averages about 50 books per year...not too shabby). So what is the guide?

The Unconventional Guide to Publishing is the beacon of light in the dense, hard-to-find-answers world of book publishing.  It was conceived of at a conference when people kept asking him the same questions over and over, and he realized that these questions were asked again and again of him for the past 20 years that he's been a literary agent.

What will you learn in this badass, 45,000 word mammoth of a guide?  Stuff like how to:
-Develop a compelling concept
-Land an agent/find information about agents
-Learn what editors are looking for
-Determine how much $$ should you expect for an advance
-Write a book proposal
-Hustle and get your book out there, and why you still have to do it even with a traditional publishing deal
-Actually write the book
-Negotiate a publishing deal

You'll also learn how foreign translations work, what "reserves for returns" are, and other cryptic stuff that budding authors should know.  There are also tons of bonus features, like sample contracts and proposals, audio recordings and transcripts of interviews with authors, There are three different packages (Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and Austin - clever!) which have different amounts of stuff and different price points.

A note about this.  Monkey bought Chris' Empire Building Kit in 2010 at the lowest price point (then it was $97, now it's $147), and it was pretty damn awesome.  Totally worth the $97, and it would be easily worth $147 as well.  So basically, if you can only afford the most basic package, it's still worth it.

So there's also going to be a product launch special(!!) that'll go on until midnight, PST, on Friday, January 13th.  Nutso!  Not only is there a 25% discount on the $129 tier (dropping the TOP tier down to $97), and extended Q&A conference all with David Fugate, but there's also a review of your community-buidling plan with Chris Guillebeau.  Both David and Chris don't offer consulting services, so if you can afford 'em, it's time to get 'em.

So if you're still asking "is this guide right for me," we recommend you going over HERE to check it out for yourself.  Is it right for everyone?  No.  If you're the type who isn't going to take notes while reading this, and isn't the type to take some inspired action steps, you probably shouldn't pick this up.  If you're not really interested in getting your book in the hands of a major publisher, then this probably isn't for you.  If the price of the book is going to cause you to miss rent, this is also probably not for you.

HOWEVER, if you are someone who wants to get serious with their writing (or hell, if you're a visual artist and you want to pitch a book of images), and is willing to make an investment in themselves, then by all means, this book is for you.

If you want to check it all out and deprive us of our share (that's okay, we understand), you can click this non-affiliate link here.

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