Gold11:

Golden Rule No 11:

Knowing and understanding

the marketplace

It is easy to work out which publishers would best suit your project. Walk into any mainline bookshops and study the books on the shelves. Look out for which books are closest to your topic and make a note of the publishers. Just suppose you are writing a book with angling as the subject. It would be pointless submitting your work to a publisher specialising in the classics (unless you are doing a modern Compleat Angler!). If your book is a novel, do not bother to send it to a publisher whose lists are non-fiction.

I have submitted book ideas to dozens of publishing houses on the way to having my 66 books published. When I first started out in the book world in the 1970s there were scores of publishers, many of which have disappeared or have been gobbled up by the big-muscle conglomerates. But there are still dozens of small, special-interest publishers who could be interested to hear from you provided you have an idea that carries the potential for sales.

The Writers' and Artists' Yearbook (A&C Black, London) has a comprehensive list of UK and overseas publishers, and included in each entry is a full breakdown of the topics in which they specialise. Many of them carry the note: No unsolicited manuscripts. It is essential that you approach these publishers with a preliminary letter or through an agent. It is also worth studying The Writers' Handbook (Macmillan, London) and, for the American market, the Writers Digest Books (and in particular The Writers' Marketplace, F&W Publications, Ohio).

There has been an enormous change in the publishing marketplace in recent years following the ending of the Net Book Agreement. This revolutionary step put a stop to the cosy arrangement by which booksellers observed publishers' cover prices. Now it is a cut-price, cut-throat world, and the market has widened to take in supermarkets and petrol stations. If you have got an idea that would seem a certain seller for the supermarket shoppers then get writing!

One thing to bear in mind is that with the huge discounts now being offered the author's royalties will come down in proportion. A £19.90 cover price allows supermarkets to sell at anything from £12.90 upwards.

Try to use some crystal ball thinking when considering a topic for your book. If, for example, you get to hear that Hollywood are planning a blockbuster on Fidel Castro next year it could be a good time to submit a book with a Cuban topic. Stress in your covering letter that the film is due for release late next year. It just might give that extra nudge to the publisher to commission a book. Anniversaries can also give you a springboard into the publishing world. If, for instance, you are an expert on Russian history and you know that it is the Centenary of Lenin next year hurry a synopsis to a publisher with an idea of how a book could marry in with the anniversary.

Your book is one that you should read as well as write, as I explain in Golden Rule No 12.

Golden Rule No 11 is to study the marketplace and seek a publisher who specialises in your subject.