Plug Your Book: Q&A: How can I sell my self-published book to a traditional publisher?

QUESTION: I self-published my novel with Xlibris last year, and it won awards at two book festivals. I was able to sell many books directly to readers during public appearances. Now I'd like to get picked up by a traditional publisher, but my previous sales aren't ranked by Amazon and Barnes & Noble. How can I get noticed by a publisher?

ANSWER: I consulted Morris Rosenthal, publisher of Foner Books, who has had success as a trade-published author and in self publishing. I asked him whether you're at a disadvantage because you self published, and he said:

The fact that the book was self published is no impediment. Any trade publisher who says it's a problem is just making an easy excuses. Trade publishers love books with proven records, that's why they buy smaller publishers. I've had offers on all of my books. It does happen with fiction, but not every week because not that many self-published novels succeed.

If the book sold modestly, say a few hundred copies, and if there's anything niche about it, a trade publisher will often say "You've already accessed the natural market, there won't be any more sales." But I think they are less likely to take that stand with fiction because publishers believe that they do fiction marketing better than any self publisher.

Rosenthal suggests you begin writing query letters to publishers, but not before studying up on the market. Don't just send an e-mail to everyone listed in Writers Market. Search on Google, use Amazon, and look up the names of the acquisitions editors of similar books (the acquisition editor is usually listed in the front material or on the publisher Web site). Study up on the market, competing books, and their Amazon sales ranks.

When you write your query letter, get to the point immediately. Mention your awards and your initial sales into the first two sentences. If the editor or publisher has submission guidelines, follow them to the letter. They aren't impressed by unsolicited manuscripts. They want a compelling query letter or proposal.

Rosenthal's Web site has tutorials for writing a query letter and selling out to a big publisher.

I also asked Rosenthal whether it might help to hire someone who knows how to pitch books, and he said:

I wouldn't. I think it's money thrown away. With fiction, the big houses don't even take submissions, you have to go through agents, but the same thing applies to the query letters. Authors are sometimes better off trying mid-size and small presses, especially if they had modest sales.

Also, being a fiction author isn't about writing one book, it's about writing many books. Some of the worst fiction I've read is by great authors whose publisher (after the author achieves icon status) goes back, buys, and republishes anything they can find with the author's name on it. Also, unlike nonfiction authors who can sell a dozen titles despite never selling out an advance, fiction authors supposedly only get two or three shots, after which nobody will touch them.

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