“It really was quite simple,” says Art Riggs, author of The Deep Tissue Massage Manual. “I already had a Xeroxed manual, about half as big as my book, so I took it to North Atlantic Books. [The owner] saw the manual and immediately said it looked like a good idea.”

Certainly not everyone will meet with the same instant success that Riggs did, but with perseverance and a little know-how, you, too, can become a published author. So, how does one go about it?

The book proposal
Common sense might suggest that the first thing you’ll need is a completed manuscript. But this is not the case. The biggest misconception most people have about selling a non-fiction book to a publisher is that you have to present the finished product. In fact, 99 percent of agents and publishers don’t want to see a manuscript at all, at least not initially. What they are looking for, and what you’ll need to put together, is a 30- to 50-page document known as a book proposal.

A book proposal serves two purposes: 1) to present your idea for a book; and 2) to demonstrate that there’s a market for it. The proposal contains a detailed outline of your book, two sample chapters, and a thorough discussion of who your audience is, why they’ll buy your book, and what you’ll do to help promote it. You’ll also have to present a biography that explains why you are qualified to write on the topic.        

The formula seems simple enough, but the deal is in the details. Agents and publishing houses are perpetually inundated with submissions, so you’ll need to impress them. 

Should you self-publish?
Of course, you may be able to forego writing a book proposal entirely if, as an increasing number of authors are doing, you decide not to sell your book to a publisher at all and publish it yourself. Each route has positive and negative aspects.

Many of the advantages of self-publishing boil down to control—something that even best-selling authors have to sacrifice to the major publishing houses. As a do-it-yourselfer, you need not omit or change one word of your manuscript to suit the dictates of an editor. The title of the book is yours, and yours alone. The cover and jacket design will be exactly as you want them.

And the benefits don’t stop with creative decisions. Your book can get into the marketplace in a fraction of the time that it would take going through the production, marketing and distribution schedules of a publishing house. But perhaps most importantly, you’ve eliminated the middleman and will pocket a greater share of the profits. Consider the difference between making $6 for every soft-cover book sold, versus the $1 you’re likely to get from a traditional publisher.

If only there weren’t significant drawbacks.

A self-publisher must be an entrepreneur. Aside from the considerable up-front costs of getting a book printed, distributed and marketed (among other things), he or she will need massive resources of time and energy. And while a publisher will pay you upfront for your work regardless of how well it ultimately sells, a self-publisher has no guarantee that there will be a return on the investment.

But if you believe that you have the time, market savvy and financial resources to publish your book on your own, the option certainly merits further research. The potential rewards are great. Dan Poynter, author of The Self Publishing Manual, asserts that if a publisher can't sell four times as many books as you can, you are better off publishing it yourself.

On the other side of the coin are traditional publishers, who offer a strong backing that you won’t have working on your own. For one thing, they pay for everything, including, possibly, some upfront money to help you live while you write your book. They can get your book into stores. And if you’re one of the lucky few, they’ll help publicize your book. Good marketing can’t be underestimated; indeed, it could be the difference between success and failure.

“I've talked with several authors, and they all feel that promotion is 90 percent of the success of a book,” Riggs says. A publisher will have better resources to accomplish this crucial step.

You also must decide whether you’re going after a big publisher or a small one. You should only approach the big publishers if you believe that there is an audience of at least a million people who are interested in your topic.

Finding an agent
If you want to be published by one of the larger houses, you’re going to need an agent. While it’s true that agents earn a percentage of your profits (usually 15 percent), they earn it for a reason: It’s virtually impossible to work with a large publisher without one.

For one thing, agents will by nature have more clout with editors than an unknown, unproven author. In addition, you’re more likely to be taken seriously by an editor who knows from the outset that an agent is taking you seriously. Agents are also sure to have connections in the industry, some of them very personal connections, which you do not. Finally, because of the nature of their work, agents know books. They’ll know which houses and editors are most likely to take interest in your work. Plus, they’ll do all the contract negotiations for you, and will almost definitely be able to get you a better deal than you would on your own. That 15 percent may pay for itself.

If you think that your book idea has the potential for success with a large publisher and you’d like to seek representation, you should try to connect with an agent through personal contacts, according to Mahesh Grossman, author of Write a Book Without Lifting a Finger.

“Your best bet is to try to meet an agent in person, or meet someone who can recommend you to one," he says. "You can do this by attending writers' conferences [or] meetings of the National Speakers Association."

If you’re unable to get a referral, you can submit your proposal to an agent and wait the six or so weeks it will take for a response. “If you work with the small one-person agencies it’s likely that your proposal will be read by the agent himself,” says Grossman.

You can also find the right agent by looking at the acknowledgments section of books on the shelf where yours is likely to be placed. Make a list of the agents who were thanked, then subscribe to www.writersmarket.com (for just $3 a month) and search for their contact information. Writer’s Guide to Book Editors, Publishers, and Literary Agents, is published annually and is another resource for aspiring authors.

So why not go with an agent? The single most important consideration when it comes to books about massage is that they serve a niche audience. That being the case, you may need to find a smaller publisher. Some examples of small publishing houses that may be interested in massage and related topics include Rodale Press, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins; Inner Traditions International; New Harbinger Publications; and Paradigm Publications. And since smaller publishers offer smaller advances, many agents don’t have the incentive to work with them at all. So it may be the best option (if not the only option), to submit your proposal directly. The advantage of these small publishers is they may give your book much more attention than you would get at a big publisher like St. Martin’s, which publishes 1,200 books a year instead of the 50 or fewer book published by the smaller houses.

The ghostwriter
Once you’ve figured out whether you want to self-publish or sell your book to a publisher, large house or small, agent or no agent, your main concern is getting the book and/or proposal finished. Unfortunately, books don’t write themselves. In fact, any published author will tell you that while getting published can be easy under favorable circumstances, actually writing the book can be one of life’s most difficult undertakings. And if you’ve got a book inside you but dislike writing, are in a hurry to be published, or simply aren’t as skilled a wordsmith as you’d like to be, hiring a collaborator to do some or most of the work might be the perfect solution. And you won’t be alone: According to sources in the publishing industry, one or more ghostwriters write 43 percent of commercially published books at least partially.

Defined simply, a ghostwriter is someone who takes your ideas and turns them into a readable book. He or she can be an asset that runs anywhere from “helpful” to “essential,” depending on your circumstances. Besides beautifying, tidying up, and producing some or all of the text of your manuscript, a ghostwriter can accomplish myriad tasks. He or she can help you come up with a great title, do research and footwork that you are too busy to accomplish on your own, write query letters, network with agents and publishers, and provide much-needed insight and expertise into both writing and the publishing industry. And the best ghostwriters can make your book sound just like you.

When it comes to hiring a ghostwriter, you’re first going to have to ask yourself two questions: “How much do I want to spend?” and “How good do I want my ghostwriter to be?” Your answer to the first, of course, will be intimately connected to your answer to the second. Choices range from unpublished novices to best-selling authors, with fees from six figures all the way down to those willing to work for a mere $3,000 and the experience.

For most books about massage and health, you will probably need to work with someone less expensive. By their nature, books of this type tend to serve a niche audience and therefore won’t sell as many copies as books that appeal to a broader audience. By working with someone expensive, you risk deeply cutting into, or even negating, your profit from the book. Instead, the money you pay for a ghostwriter should be proportionate to the money you expect to earn from the finished product. The best of these writers will come in the form of editors at small magazines, and free-lance writers. You might even be able to find willing talent at the local college newspaper, or in writing groups. Odds are that you’ll be able to get these people to write a book proposal for you for free, in exchange for future royalties.

A book builds business
When it comes to getting published, there is a dizzying array of options and considerations, and a lot of time and effort will go into the process. But when the dust settles, the benefits will be apparent. You may find yourself in a much better position to write or be quoted on health topics. And having authored a book can give you added credibility with the press.

“But the real value in a book,” according to Grossman, “is what it does for you in terms of building your business. It helps you get on radio, television and newspapers. If you want to build your practice, give seminars, or sell more high-priced workbooks and tapes and videos, the book is a front-end product that gets people to know who you are and gives you credibility. You get separated from the crowd who doesn’t have a book. When people know that you’re an author, they think you’re an expert.”

See Issue 106