How to get your book published

Finding a publisher, unless you opt for self-publishing on lulu.com or elsewhere, is perhaps as much of a task as writing the book. I spent around two years mailing off to publishers in London.

Rejection after rejection followed but many with encouraging comments praising my research and work.

A part of the problem was that I had read it was not thought of as good etiquette when seeking a publisher to approach more than one at the same time so this meant I had to wait for a publisher to get back to me before I could send to another.

Finally I got a letter back from Louise McNamara, who was an editor at Thorsons Books, and she asked me to come in and see her in person because she was interested in my work.

I researched publishers that might be more likely to accept my work and in just a couple of weeks found success when Loompanics Unlimited agreed to publish my book.

A point to bear in mind here is that just because no publisher in your own country is interested does not mean that one in another land might not be waiting to offer you a contract.

I had sent off all my manuscript and photos and illustrations and in a short time Herbs of the Northern Shaman became a reality. I got a very welcome advance of $1,000 plus a box of the books was delivered to my house. At last I was an author!

Probably the best thing that happened was that Howard Marks, the best-selling author of Mr Nice, who also was successful as a public speaker and DJ, said he would be happy to help me sell my book. Howard went as far as offering to stock Herbs of the Northern Shaman alongside his own work that would be on sale on all dates on his UK tours.

This was such a fantastic offer but unfortunately I couldn't accept because I simply could not afford the shipping rates that would be needed to make this economically feasible.

I sold books via my own engagements as a public speaker at pagan festivals and suchlike and via a friend's shop.

There was never to be a second run of my books though because Loompanics was forced to close down and so my book became out of print. This swiftly resulted in crazy prices being asked for it on Amazon, eBay and elsewhere. Herbs of the Northern Shaman went from a $12 or $14.95 cover price to a whopping $150 or more because it was now a "collectible."

The original Loompanics edition, which was only printed in black and white, is still selling at these inflated prices on-line.

This of course meant that I was back to square one but with a lot of learning experience and some great reviews to help me onward.

While looking for a new publisher my friend the photographer Katrinia Rindsberg and I came up with the plan of creating a new updated book that would include additional text as well as a whole new series of illustrative photography that she would contribute, and this time it would be in full colour.

Eventually, after Katrinia had been able to track down all the plant species and get photos, and after her husband Ole, had used his desktop publishing skills to sort it all out into a neat book format, we self-published Herbs of the Northern Shaman on lulu.com.

Whilst this meant that my book was back in circulation it is nowhere near as good as having a 'proper' publisher and distribution. I set out again with the goal of finding one.

In January of 2009, my friend the author Philip Coppens, came over to Tenerife to investigate the pyramids here. I had a look at the book company he is published by, which is O-Books, and thought they might be interested in my work.

I got in touch and was able to use my experiences to date and contacts already made, as well as all the past reviews my book had gained, to get accepted for publication again. I am very proud to be able to announce that Herbs of the Northern Shaman was republished and relaunched in October 2010, and this time in full colour.

This time it has proper distribution and the marketing it had needed but didn't get on its first time round. Tesco and Waterstone's have my book on their lists.

Copyright © 2012 Steve Andrews. All Rights Reserved.