Book Publishing

Writing a work of fiction and getting it published are two different things. The hardest part may be the selling of your book to a publisher. How does that process work? Who does one appeal to, and how? In this TuneUp, we speak with 4 time author Kelly O'Connor McNees who releases her 4th novel, Undiscovered Country, with Pegasus Books in 2018. Kelly shares with us her winning query letter that sold her book - we get to see the components of the letter that your letter will soon have too!

Kelly is also an editor-for-hire under her company Word Bird Edits, and you'll see why. Writing a book and submitting it to publishers or literary agents isn't enough. The manuscript must be almost perfect. Kelly reveals what a finished manuscript looks like - and while you may think it's done, it's really not.

Questions covered include:

• What catches the eye of a publisher.
• The components of a winning pitch query letter.
• How the editing landscape has changed for editors who work in publishing houses.
• Why fiction authors need to work with an editor before submitting the book idea.

During this TuneUp interview, we speak with literary agent Anna Knutson Geller, the founder of Write View. Anna is a publishing industry veteran who has experienced some of the most important aspects to selling and publishing a book. With a specialty in negotiating the different rights that come with a book published by a major publishing house, such as film, audio and foreign rights, Anna tells us what to look for when publishing a book, as well as what appeals to literary agents like herself, and to the major book publishing houses you want to buy your manuscript. Do you wonder about the pros and cons to self-publishing? We cover that too.

ABOUT ANNA KNUTSON GELLER
Anna has over fifteen years of experience in the publishing industry, ranging from editor to literary scout to rights director to agent. She founded Write View in 2016. Anna began her publishing career in Paris, working as an assistant at the literary agency Agence Michelle Lapautre and as a junior editor at Editions Plon. In 2008 she moved to New York to join Maria B. Campbell Associates, where she scouted books for international publishers as well as for Warner Bros. As Director of Foreign and Subsidiary Rights at The Book Group, she negotiated translation, film, and audio deals on behalf of bestselling authors such as Joshua Ferris, Paula McLain, Celeste Ng, and Helen Simonson. She has been on the faculty of the Columbia Publishing Course since 2011, and she also teaches meditation. She speaks fluent French, conversational Italian and Spanish, and enjoys dipping her toes into the oceans of Sanskrit and Pali.