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Reader's Forum » General Topics » Advice for Advertising my First Book
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March 24, 2025 at 08:39 pm Reply
Sarah TranHello Mr. Korman,
Ever since elementary school when I was reading the 39 Clues series and Schooled (still one of my all-time favorites), I've been such a huge, huge fan of yours. If you have time, I have some questions about advice for advertising my self-published book as a high schooler. I've read some of the other messages on the forum about this topic, and I read how you advised others to go to the library to check out a book on writers' market to find a publisher. How long does this usually take to get your book officially published by the publisher, and what happens after that? This is my first book, so I'm trying not to get lost in the process! Also, how did you advertise your first book, and did it reach the audience that you planned for? Any tips or strategies on getting my book out there would help!
Thank you so much,
Sarah Tran
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March 25, 2025 at 03:33 am Reply
object(stdClass)#836 (23) { ["ID"]=> string(5) "28687" ["post_author"]=> string(1) "3" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2025-03-25 03:33:55" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2025-03-25 03:33:55" ["post_content"]=> string(1712) "Hi, Sarah,
I can see that you're confused between publishing and self-publishing.
If you send your manuscript to a publisher and IF (it's a big IF) they choose to buy it from you, it usually takes up to a year to have it edited, illustrated for the cover, and printed. Then the publisher deals with all the advertising and distribution. Apart from a sum of money paid to you upon signing the contract, you will be paid thereafter based on sales of copies. I didn't advertise my first book, nor would you have to advertise yours. I sent it to Scholastic and they did the rest. That was over 40 years ago, and they are still publishing my work.
Self-publishing is something different -- it's all done by you, paid for by you, advertised by you. I have no experience at all with self-publishing. I would imagine you have to find a competent editor to make sure your book is in publishable condition. They would do the art and the binding, etc., for a price -- sorry, I have no idea how high. And then you might find a sales company willing to take on a new writer for a price. Or a bookstore(s) willing to stock your book. If you advertise in newpapers or magazines, it would be at your own expense. As you can tell, I don't self-publish, and I know very little about it aside from the fact that you have to arrange all of it yourself and pay the costs of producing the book.
If there's anythng I've missed, you know where to find me -- right here.
Good luck! -----Gordon Korman-----
" ["post_title"]=> string(5) "reply" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(6) "closed" ["ping_status"]=> string(6) "closed" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(11) "reply-10065" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2025-03-25 03:33:55" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2025-03-25 03:33:55" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> string(5) "28669" ["guid"]=> string(33) "https://gordonkorman.com/?p=28687" ["menu_order"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_type"]=> string(5) "reply" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" }Hi, Sarah,
I can see that you're confused between publishing and self-publishing.
If you send your manuscript to a publisher and IF (it's a big IF) they choose to buy it from you, it usually takes up to a year to have it edited, illustrated for the cover, and printed. Then the publisher deals with all the advertising and distribution. Apart from a sum of money paid to you upon signing the contract, you will be paid thereafter based on sales of copies. I didn't advertise my first book, nor would you have to advertise yours. I sent it to Scholastic and they did the rest. That was over 40 years ago, and they are still publishing my work.
Self-publishing is something different -- it's all done by you, paid for by you, advertised by you. I have no experience at all with self-publishing. I would imagine you have to find a competent editor to make sure your book is in publishable condition. They would do the art and the binding, etc., for a price -- sorry, I have no idea how high. And then you might find a sales company willing to take on a new writer for a price. Or a bookstore(s) willing to stock your book. If you advertise in newpapers or magazines, it would be at your own expense. As you can tell, I don't self-publish, and I know very little about it aside from the fact that you have to arrange all of it yourself and pay the costs of producing the book.
If there's anythng I've missed, you know where to find me -- right here.
Good luck! -----Gordon Korman-----
