Why to Get Published

"Anyone who publishes a book is immediately asked versions of the same question, "How do you get published?"I have been asked by everyone from colleagues and former students to healthcare providers and complete strangers. Behind the question used to be the assumption that the published author has access to some secret, insider knowledge. A former editor of mine spoke occasionally at conferences, and told me he wondered if writers believed that there might be a magic font--Garamond 12.5!--that hypnotized acquisition editors into saying yes. It's a simple question to ask but not easy to answer. You can be glib, of course, and give an answer like the punchline to the old joke about how to get to Carnegie Hall ("Practice!"). But it's more complicated than that. Now with so many new platforms and venues, so many new ways to make written work public, I suspect that for all the writers frustrated and disappointed because they did not publish, that there are just as many who are published, and still are, if not bitter exactly, at least not entirely happy and satisfied. Whatever they thought was going to happen didn't happen. Well, what did they think was going to happen? It strikes me as a real and important and fascinatingly complex question. What do you think is going to happen when you publish your book? What do any of us think is going to happen?..." Author Mick Cochrane shares more in this thoughtful piece.

READ FULL STORY