The dream of every author is getting a book published. The process of getting your book accepted can be long and complicated and you soon learn there are some basic pitfalls to avoid. So how do you go about getting a book published?

The first rule is to do some research. Find publishers who are specialists in your genre of book. It still comes as a genuine surprise to publishers and agents who specialise in crime or romantic fiction to receive books of poems - yet they do. This is an easy way to the rejection pile and waste of time for all concerned. So check out agents and publishers who are relevant to your work. There are Writers' Guides and Handbooks available to help you narrow the field down.

The second important aspect of getting a book published is how you present your manuscript to a publisher. There are two components to this. The first is producing a concise covering letter and a good synopsis of your work. If you are serious about getting a book published you should know your genre and the type of audience you are appealing to. These are key parts of your covering letter. The synopsis should be that, at most a double side of A4. If you are not capable of summarising your book like this, the harsh assumption is your writing will be just as excessively full of verbiage.

There is also the physical appearance of your manuscript to consider. Illegibility makes it all to easy for another rejection.

As for the style of writing, you no doubt have your own ideas, but basic mistakes to avoid are loving descriptions of matters that are not relevant to the plot and a lack of drive to the storyline. With what makes good writing subjective, the only guarantee is you will get one rejection at least!