Notes

AND THAT MEANS YOU Wanna Be Published in Education
Writing for publication is work. This means putting in consistent time and effort. Placing books for publication - acting as a literary agent - is work too. check here means winnowing out, from among all of the offerings delivered to you, what seems to be publishable, exactly what will grab an editor's (and obviously a reader's) attention, what has the potential to have enough sales so the cost of production and editorial work is covered and the publishing company makes a profit. What, you thought that the publishers are trying to find great literature as their way to self-fulfillment? Guess again.

Is it possible to go it alone? Yes you can, and a number of authors do just that. You can write the book, edit it carefully, and try to find a publisher on your own. One way would be to distribute many inquiries and manuscripts and hope that the publisher will see your gem among the dross. That is called submitting a work "over the transom." It really is put into the "slush pile," to be read (or not) by an editorial assistant, who'll either discard it or send it on for further review. Actually, several publishers usually do not accept any unsolicited manuscripts and want any submissions ahead only from a literary agent.

There's another pitfall to the go-it-alone method. Many prospective authors don't realize that there are many markets for which you can write. Publishers, and literary agent too, have a tendency to specialize in certain of the markets, and they reject anything that falls outside of these. For example, a publisher who specializes in science fiction is highly unlikely to take into account a bodice- ripper that fits in to the romance book category. Some publishers have a number of different departments, each of which handles another genre. Thus children's fiction, children's non-fiction, and children's picture books might all belong in various departments of the same publisher and a submission to the wrong department doesn't imply that they'll route it onward to the right one. Therefore, in case you are writing for the education market, seek only literary agencies who focus on that market.

You can e-publish your book. Thus, you do all the editorial work (or hire someone to take action), design your personal cover, and upload it to Amazon (for the Kindle), or Google, or various other site. These sites will post your projects and exact a particular commission from your sales. However, the big questions for e-authors is simply so how exactly does your book get singled out, how can you publicize it, how will you price it to sell - in fact, how will you get it noticed?

What are the benefits of utilizing a literary agent? First, this avoids the over-the-transom process and insures that your submission will undoubtedly be read and considered. Needless to say, it must fall within that agent's section of practice. For instance, one literary agency writes, "We receive and reject submissions of children's fiction, children's picture books, non-fiction in all forms of non-education-related areas, romances, etc. However, a simple reading in our site would tell the prospective author that people focus on materials for the education market, largely for staff development, teaching skills and textbooks. Even though an author may believe that there is an educational component to her book (and frequently there is), the book belongs primarily to a different market, one in which we've no expertise." What a literary agent offers is really a variety of editorial contacts and expert knowledge of which publishers specialize in different fields. Then, the agent has understanding of publishing contracts, royalty structures, author rights, marketing issues along with other contractual matters. The agent negotiates the contract on the author's behalf and then submits it to the author for approval.

How can you interest a literary agent in your projects? The first step would be to select an agency based on its areas of specialization. There are various sources of information regarding agencies. One can find them generally in most public libraries. The standard reference is Literary MARKET. This annual set of books lists all literary agencies, and provides their contact information. The listing also describes in which areas the agency specializes. Another reference source is Writers' Market. There are also businesses which, for a fee, offer advice and contacts to authors seeking representation. For example, AgentResearch.com gets the expertise and contacts and has been in business for a substantial period of time.

Second, the query letter that briefly describes your projects or an actual structured proposal alongside several sample chapters. Beware:

No hand-written submissions.
Carefully edited to get rid of misspellings.
Short sentences and avoidance of long, run-on sentences. If submitting by mail, always include a self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE).
If you wish to submit by email, first determine if the agency accepts email submissions. For example, one educational literary agency prefers email submissions. Their web site states to whom submissions ought to be addressed. Ideally, attachments should be in.doc or.docx format using Microsoft Word, double-spaced, 12 pt. type and Times Roman font. Always check for the appropriate email. Email that is addressed to just the agency might not always be forwarded to the correct decision maker. The agency's site should indicate the contact information. (c) Bertram Linder 2011

Bert Linder can be an educational literary agent whose agency, Educational Design Services LLC, ( [http://www.educationaldesignservices.com] ) focuses on materials and books for the training market. The agency works with authors to place materials in the areas of teacher skills, staff development, textbooks for K-16, education policy and other education-related topics. The agency's site provides information on preparing a work for submission.
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