How to Get Happily Published

According to Judith Appelbaum, author of How to Get Happily Published, "it is largely within your power to determine whether your work will get published and whether the public will buy it once it's released." Anyone who has had a manuscript boomerang back from every publisher who sees it (or a book remaindered mere months after publication) may view this assertion with some amount of skepticism. But, as Appelbaum says, "hardly anybody treats getting published as if it were a rational, manageable activity," and it's hard to argue with that.

In addition to providing a mini-course on editors and agents and submissions and funding--peppered with revealing anecdotes from the front lines--Appelbaum offers information less frequently found in books of this sort. For one, she emphasizes the importance of taking publicity for your book or article into your own hands (and she has savvy advice on how to do so without alienating your publisher's publicity department). She also makes a very strong case for self- publishing--not to be confused with using a vanity press--and then tells you how to go about it. And finally, her annotated resource guide to books, Web sites, periodicals, courses, organizations, and more--stretching to over 120 pages--is astounding. That's right. Astounding. --Jane Steinberg