Ok, so you’ve written your masterpiece, but how do you get published?

We’d be lying to you (and we don’t do that at Infinite Ideas) if we told you it’s easy to get published through a commercial publisher. Frankly, it’s not. The publishing and bookselling worlds are struggling. Too many books are published annually and the high street booksellers are having the life squeezed out of them by supermarkets and online retailers.

Let’s look at some grim facts.

1. According to the Society of Authors, in 2008 the average author earned less than £7000 per annum. So it’s unlikely you’ll make your fortune even if you do get published.

2. Of all the books available for purchase in 2007, as many as 58,325 sold an average of just 18 copies.

So the publishing world is in freefall, which means it is very difficult as a first time author to get published.

If it’s any consolation JK Rowling, Wilbur Smith, Beatrix Potter, Kenneth Grahame, William Golding and HG Wells all got turned down at the start of their careers.

But you’re thick skinned and determined to get published, so what should you do? It does depend on what kind of book you’ve written. If you’re an expert in a particular field, say horse dentistry, then there’s every possibility that a specialist publisher with a presence in that sector will publish you. But if you’ve written a novel it’s much harder.

Most big houses won’t look at unsolicited manuscripts. They’ll rely on a network of agents, so your first task is to try to find an agent. Most of the big guns are listed in The Writers' and Artists' Yearbook. This fine tome will also tell you what to submit, usually a synopsis and the first ten thousand words. But don’t hold your breath. Agents are inundated with hopeful authors and they have to be discerning themselves to make a living.

You can always look at self-publishing as an option. That means that you do get published and you’re absolutely in control of the process. Click here to find out how Infinite Ideas can help you.