The best way to approach a publisher

As soon as you have finished writing your manuscript, collection of short stories, children’s book or poem you will want to get on and get the thing published. It might have taken years to complete the planning and writing of your masterpiece, but as soon as it is finished most writers then rush impatiently on towards locating a publisher and thrusting the work into their printing portfolio. Unfortunately, this approach can often lead to disappointment and delays as you find yourself breaching the etiquette that surrounds approaching a publisher. So adopt the same amount of rigour and planning to your publisher approach as you did to the creating of your written work in the first place and you’ll find you’re in a much better position for securing that publication deal.
Firstly you need to make sure you approach the best publisher for your text. So do a bit of research. Use guides such as the ‘Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook’ to determine a list of publishers who (a) accept writing of your genre and (b) accept unsolicited writing (which basically means writing that hasn’t been passed on to them from a literary agent). Once you have your list of approachable publishers, ensure that you are aware of their submission guidelines. Do you have to send a publisher pack, a sample chapter, an initial enquiry letter, etc?
If you need to send an enquiry letter first ensure that it is business like and has content of value within it. Don’t try to be funny and don’t grovel too much either, keep the letter formal. Talk about why you feel this book is publishable and why that particular publishing house would be best placed to publish it. And provide a stamped and addressed envelope so that they can reply to your letter without incurring any costs.
A lot of publishers will be happy to receive a ‘publisher pack’ directly from you, without the need to send an enquiry letter first. This pack should include a biography of you- the author, samples of your writing, a synopsis to the book or collection of poems or stories, and a covering letter. It is important that this pack is well presented. Your pack must be typed, and it must be printed on good quality A4 white paper. Only print on one side of each piece of paper, include page numbers and use a minimum of 1.5 line spacing. Finally ensure that your pack has been fully proof read and amended to rectify any discrepancies in style of writing and layout, and to amend errors in spelling, punctuation and grammar.
Once you have all of the information you need for your ‘pack’, pull it together into a display file and send it through to a named publisher at your chosen publishing house. Ensure that it is sent in an envelope that will not bend.
And so now you will enter the waiting part of the submission process, waiting for the publishers to give you a decision. This is hard and can take some time, but try to distract yourself where possible. If they come back and ask to see more of your writing then great, you should be extremely happy with yourself! And if they come back with a rejection letter, take it in your stride, move on and re-apply again to a different publishing house.