We’ve written in the past about the PR value of publishing a book and about strategies for doing so. In that spirit we bring you this post from Britta Alexander, President of EAT MEDIA. The post originally appeared, in a longer form, on the EAT MEDIA blog.

As a former literary agent, friends and family are constantly asking me advice on how to get their book published. And since I end up giving out the same information over and over again, I thought I’d share a recent email I sent to a friend. Chris emailed me because his friends have a b-to-b title they’d like to shop around.

Hi Chris,

My experience is in consumer publishing, so I don’t have any editor contacts in the b-to-b sphere. However, some of the same search tactics still apply.

I did a search on Amazon for professional/medical books and got this result.

From this search, you’ll be able to identify book publishers who publish in your category. This is a good way to figure out who you should submit your proposal or manuscript to.

(NOTE: Chris doesn’t necessarily need an agent because his project is a professional/technical title. See below for more info on whether or not you need an agent.)

Once you narrow down your list, go to each publisher’s website to get specific instructions on how they want material submitted. And by all means, follow their guidelines so your manuscript doesn’t get trashed by some intern who was told to go through the pile and light fire to any submission that doesn’t fit their submission criteria-seriously!

However, if you find that a publisher wants a proposal and if you need help writing one, I highly recommend the book How to Write a Book Proposal by Michael Larsen.

About finding a Literary Agent

Authors hoping to get published by a mainstream consumer publisher (Random House, Penguin Putnam) will need an agent. Most mainstream publishers no longer accept submissions directly from authors. And no author should even think about signing a publishing contract without having an agent or experienced publishing lawyer reviewing it first.

How to find a literary agent? Start by reading the acknowledgments page of your favorite titles in your category. Authors usually thank their agents, and agents tend to be interested in fresh takes on the same topics. Don’t fret if a junior agent expresses interest in your project-do you really want to share an agent with Stephen King?

Additional tools for finding a literary agent:

• 2009 Guide to Literary Agents by Chuck Sambuchino
• Jeff Herman’s Guide to Book Publishers, Editors & Literary Agents 2009
• Thinking Like Your Editor: How to Write Great Serious Nonfiction-and Get it Published by Susan Rabiner
• MediaBistro.com’s “Pitching an Agent” column

Posted in Management of a publications enterprise, Marketing and promotion