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The Steve Laube Agency

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The Steve Laube Agency

The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World Word by Word

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Home » Indie

Indie

What Is the Best Way to Submit My Self-Published Book?

By Steve Laubeon April 21, 2025
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We are asked this question so frequently that I have to re-run this post on a regular basis!

Since it has become so easy to self-publish, many authors are creating their own books, both in ebook and print form. Later, those authors are not quite sure what to do if/when they want to approach an agent. Or pitch to an editor at a conference.

Should they just send a copy of the book with a letter? Or should they create a proposal? Or do both? Is there truly a right way and a wrong way? And if you are at a writers conference, why not just bring a copy of the book? You may not like my answer:

It depends.

In my opinion, it is best to start over with a full proposal and sample chapters. In other words, act as if the self-published work doesn’t exist.

YET, at the same time, within the proposal itself you must, absolutely must, disclose that the book was self-published and has sold xxxx number of copies.

Why not just send the book? Or a PDF of the ebook? Or the Kindle file?

I didn’t say you couldn’t. What I said is that it is best to start over fresh. Why? Because of first impressions. Over the years, I’ve received hundreds of finished self-published books instead of proposals with sample chapters. Unfortunately, the artwork on the cover or the interior design or the printing quality of the book can be less than stellar. It is unfortunate, but I cannot avoid comparing your book to the covers I see from the industry’s finest designers. It is human nature to compare.

Beyond the book cover, I’ve seen some weird font inside a finished book, which rendered it unreadable. Or the author was trying to save printing costs by reducing page count. Try to imagine a printed book with an 8-point font, single-spaced. (Yes, that has happened–more than once.)

We’ve had people email a PDF of their entire self-published work. Often, the file size is enormous. Or another author sent me their epub file (expecting me to download the file, then upload it to my eReader). [Nope. Not going to happen.] More than once, we’ve been sent a flash drive with files on it that we were instructed to download for review. [We don’t know where your flash drive has been.] Or we frequently receive a link to a cloud-based folder to download the file. [Nope.] And believe it or not, I was once invited in an email pitch to buy their book on Amazon if I was interested in representing it. [????]

I mentioned full disclosure of sales above. If your book has sold 5,000 or 10,000 self-published copies, say that in your cover letter. That is significant news. (And that means full-price sales, not free ebook downloads.) It means you are quite the entrepreneur and know how to sell books. That is a good thing.

If your book only sold 75 copies, that isn’t quite as exciting.

The next question will be asked, “Of those 10,000 sold, at what price were they sold?” Plus, “Were those print sales or ebook sales?” If you say, “I sold 9,500 at 99 cents each,” that won’t move the needle.

Why do we ask those questions? Because if we represent the project, a major publisher will ask the same questions of us.

Ultimately, what you really want is to have your words be what is evaluated by the agent, the editor, and the publisher. Not whether or not you had a good graphic designer. The best way to make that happen is to present your story or nonfiction book plain and simple in a regular book proposal.

Of course, there are exceptions (and it is not a “rule,” only a guideline). There are times where the packaging of someone’s book is so terrific that it actually helps sell the book! But in a case like that, you are betting that the agent or editor has the same taste in design that you do. I’ll admit to being “sold” by an indie author’s extraordinary packaging of their book. It suggests they are willing to invest in their work and their brand, and they know good work when they see it. (But then if they did so well on their own, why are they looking for an agent? That is a question for another day.)

As always, check the agent’s guidelines before sending anything to an agent or a publisher.

Read and then add your thoughts to the previous comments below. The exchanges can be instructive.

[An earlier version of this post last ran in May 2020.]

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Category: Book Proposals, Indie, Self-PublishingTag: book proposals, Get Published, Self-Publishing

The Anatomy of the Publishing Cycle

By Steve Laubeon November 25, 2024
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If you ask an editor or an agent, “What’s hot right now?” you are too late with the question. The nature of the publishing business is that what you see selling today are books that were conceived, written, published, and marketed over the past couple of years or more. That is why we, on this side of the table, avoid making pronouncements on current trends. In some ways, the agent and the …

Read moreThe Anatomy of the Publishing Cycle
Category: Book Business, Branding, Career, Creativity, Indie, Marketing, TrendsTag: publishing, The Publishing Life, Trends

Give Away Your Story

By Dan Balowon November 9, 2022
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Agents have a difficult time selling any kind of personal story, from memoirs that contain memories from one’s life to other types of autobiographical works that might recap the author’s story as a series of events. Regardless of the type, this writing generates very limited interest from traditional publishers, unless the author has a good-size marketing platform because they achieved a level of …

Read moreGive Away Your Story
Category: Book Proposals, Indie, Inspiration, Marketing

Publishing Is Publishing

By Dan Balowon October 6, 2022
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Every part of the book publishing ecosystem adjusted its perspective to accommodate both traditional publishing and author-published works. It wasn’t long ago these two paths were treated as either/or decisions; but now they are both/and. Many traditional publishers offer author-paid services, some agents have indie services for clients, and a large number of authors publish both traditional and …

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Category: Book Business, Book Business, Indie, Marketing, Self-Publishing, Trends

What Goes on the Copyright Page?

By Steve Laubeon August 9, 2021
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I have an odd habit born of being in this industry for four decades. Whenever I pick up a physical book, I look at the front cover, back cover, and then the copyright page. I know, it’s a rather nerdy thing to do; but you would be surprised what information can be found there and what it means. The copyright page is placed after the title page and should always be on the left-hand side …

Read moreWhat Goes on the Copyright Page?
Category: Book Business, Common Questoins, Copyright Issues, Indie, Publishing A-Z

Where Do Your Readers Come From?

By Guest Bloggeron May 24, 2021
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Today’s guest writer is Carla Laureano. She is a two-time RITA® award-winning author of over a dozen books, spanning the genres of contemporary romance and Celtic fantasy. A graduate of Pepperdine University, she worked in sales and marketing for more than a decade before leaving corporate life behind to write full-time. She currently lives in Denver, Colorado, with her husband, two sons, …

Read moreWhere Do Your Readers Come From?
Category: Book Review, Book Sales, Branding, Indie, Marketing, Self-Publishing, The Writing Life

7 Good Reasons to Self-Publish

By Bob Hostetleron February 21, 2018
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I have mentioned before on this site (here and, most recently, here) that aspiring writers often shoot their publishing futures in the foot, so to speak, by self-publishing a book (or books). I won’t repeat myself again (see what I did there?). Instead, I will talk briefly about the good reasons to self-publish. There are many bad reasons to do so, of course (because no agents or editors seem to …

Read more7 Good Reasons to Self-Publish
Category: Indie, Self-Publishing, The Publishing Life, The Writing LifeTag: Indie, Self-Publishing, The Publishing Life

Three Things I’ve Learned as an Agent

By Bob Hostetleron January 10, 2018
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Just over six months ago, I became a literary agent with the Steve Laube Agency. Hoo boy. It has been some ride.  Lots o’ fun, lots o’ work, and lots o’ learning. So I thought I’d take a few minutes (it’s all I have before the boss calls and starts yelling at me again) to reflect on what I’ve learned in that short period of time. It’s not an easy task, considering I already knew pretty much …

Read moreThree Things I’ve Learned as an Agent
Category: Agency, Agents, Book Business, Indie, Self-Publishing, The Publishing Life, The Writing LifeTag: Agency, Agents

Test Marketing Books

By Dan Balowon May 23, 2017
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In the traditional book-publishing world, insiders often refer to the initial release of a book from a new author as a marketing test…more R&D than launching and promoting a known product. The self-publishing process can function in a similar role of market testing for a first time author. You won’t know for certain how it will be received, but it is worth the effort to try. Most authors …

Read moreTest Marketing Books
Category: Book Business, Indie, Marketing, Self-Publishing, The Publishing LifeTag: Indie, Marketing, Self-Publishing, The Publishing Life

At What Point Would an Agent be Interested in an Indie Author?

By Steve Laubeon April 10, 2017
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I am an indie author. I’ve written several novels, some of which have sold well and all of which have *at least* 4.7 stars. Is there a point at which an agent would want to talk to someone like me? When/why might I consider getting an agent? Thanks to Heather for the question! A number of factors play a role in answering this question. (Are you getting tired of my “it depends” answer to all your …

Read moreAt What Point Would an Agent be Interested in an Indie Author?
Category: Agents, Book Proposals, Indie, Pitching, Self-Publishing, The Publishing Life, The Writing LifeTag: Agents, Indie
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