How does a poor person get a book published?
475154
There are many routes you can take. I tend to send clients the route less traveled as you have a better chance of getting picked up.  Most say you need an agent, and yes that is true if you want to be published by Powerhouse or other Large Publishing company.  However, they often pass on great books because they have so many in progress.  I manage writers, poets, models, and musicians. For all my writers I send them to small publishing houses first. I currently have a client and friend signed to YinSumi Press (www.yinsumi.com) at first I was hesistant to send her but they gave the best long term deal.  It is ran by people who have worked in the entertainment industry for over 15 years. So they already have her doing speaking engagements and her book doesn't go to press until August. Plus she will earn more than the larger publishing house was offering her.  They are a small publshing house with all the connections of a large publishing house. You might want to check them out. But if you do choose to go to a large publishing house, please get an agent and be patient, it may take years before anyone picks up your story.
230813
You need a copy of either 'Writers Market' (US) or the 'Writers and Artists Yearbook' (UK). They list hundreds of publishers and agents in all fields. When you find one that looks as if they are interested in your kind of book then you need to send them a query letter. A professional approach is very important. There are quite a few sites on the internet that tell you how to write a good query letter (just type in 'query letter' or 'how to write a query letter' into a search engine).\nThere is also 'self publishing' but that means you pay the initial cost of producing the book and have to market it yourself. If you do go down that route you go to a 'bespoke publisher' but choose carefully because the level of service you get varies dramatically, as does the price (I know all about it, I am one).
76823
Check out Booklocker at the source.  Using their system you can self publish and keep all rights.  Read the FAQ's.  They will help you with many of the publishing tasks for a reasonable fee; or you can do most or all of it yourself.  They are selective but will review almost anything.  Good luck with your book.
714734
Start at Lulu.\n\nwww.lulu.com\n\nThere are forums there and you can publish parts of your book electronically for no cost.\n\nAll the best.  Having a book ready to publish is always exciting.  Been there. Have 5 published.  Working on 6th.
948451
Don't know about publishing houses in the states, but what really makes a bestseller is Media Exposure. If your stuff catches the media's attention or your agent lands you promotion work on TV/Radio then the chances of your work being on the bestseller list skyrocket.\n\nLike here in the UK, the best promotion a writer could get is to have their book as part of Richard & Judy's Book Club. There's easily over a million people participating in that every year, plus there's constant TV attention then too.
656373
your local library is always a great resource.  Also, if the person wanting the book is vision impaired, you can look for services for the blind in your area.
492761
There's NO federal grants available to support authors when writing a book. There's hardly any grants for individuals, more so for your type of purpose. \n\nYou can go to the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) http://www.cfda.gov and Grants.gov http://www.grants.gov - these are two sites created by the federal government to provide transparency and information on grants. Browse through the listings and see if you can find any grant that would support your purposes.\n\nYou can find the federal grants available on CFDA through this link: \nhttp://12.46.245.173/pls/portal30/CATALOG.BROWSE_BENEF_RPT.show\n\nEven if you buy books on "how to get grants" or list that supposedly has information on grants -- all of them are mere rehash of what CFDA has, albeit packaged differently.\n\nNote though that these grants generally support non-profit organizations, intermediary lending institutions, and state and local governments. Most of the federal grants are given to specific target groups with specific requirements (e.g. minority business owners involved in transportation related contracts emanating from DOT - Grant#20.905 Disadvantaged Business Enterprises Short Term Lending Program. Individuals especially for personal purposes are not eligible for federal grants. \n\nGrants are also often given to non profit groups or organizations involved in training or other similar activities (grant 59.043 Women's Business Ownership Assistance that are given to those who will create women's business center that will train women entrepreneurs \n\nThe government is NOT in the business of giving away free money for the sake of giving away money. Grants are free, but it means OBLIGATION. You will be obligated to do as the grant sets out to do. Grants have objectives, and your purpose must fit the objective of the grant.\n\nYour best bet would be to seek grants from private foundations. For private grants, you may want to check the Foundation Center's Foundation Grants for Individuals Online. It's a subscription based website ($9.95 per month) but their opening blurb only says that the database is ideal for "students, artists, academic researchers, libraries and financial aid offices."
815613
Head to Authorhouse (www.authorhouse.com)\n\nDo your own promotion and save a ton of money. Most authors get 80 cents or less per book sold. Do it as a POD and you can make $6 or more.
653597
Probably the hardest thing to do, especially if you don't know the subject very well to begin with is to find reliable sources.  Almost anything you find on the internet is sketchy, that includes wikipedia.  Any crank can churn out a web-page or a Wiki article that sounds good at first pass.  Books tend to be better, but again, any crank with enough money can get their works published by someone.\n\nThat said just be careful, try to find sources that back each other-up, ones that list their own sources (that you can verify) tend to be a bit more reliable, both in helping you find more good sources, as well as helping you avoid sources that base their statements on the same group of like-minded wack-jobs.\n\nOn a first go at things stay with major sources, peer reviewed articles, well-known books by major (reputable) publishers.  Once you get a handle on the subject you can start evaluating a source on its own merits and identify if it is good or not.
892912
Check out http://www.lulu.com/ if you don't want to go the traditional route. Just know that you will have to do a lot of the marketing yourself and POD books are rarely stocked in bookstores unless you make it happen by going to each book chain or store. It usually involves keeping your own stock and sending out free copies. There is some out of pocket expense here.\n\nIf you want to go the traditional route, go to google and search for "Publishers" Religion and find publishers that publish religious books. Then you'll want to check out their writer's guidelines and make sure you follow them when submitting your manuscript. You might also want to research how to write a good query letter.\n\nADDED: Well, making money aside (because there is very little money in writing unless you get lucky with a bestseller or have a name that will sell)  and that's not why most authors (you included as you stated above) write anyway --- what route you take really depends on what you want your distribution to be. Big traditional publishers give your book distribution. Self publishing is the more difficult route because you want people to read it so it's up to you to market it so that they know where they can get it.\n\nPersonally - I suggest starting out self-publishing, especially if you have a specific audience you can target yourself. If the book is good enough - you would likely get offers from other publishers at some point anyway.\n\nBTW - Lulu is a FREE publishing service, which means you don't even have to buy copies of your book if you don't want to. It's a great option for authors, especially with specialized non-fiction topics.
1102356
I'm not sure about publishing, but I've heard of a program that helps you write books. I think it's called y-writer, and i think you can download it free from the internet
528478
Good luck with your book proposals. If you happened to have stashed away some cash over those 7 years, you may want to self-publish your book (ex., "What Color Is Your Parachute?" was self-published).\nYou can try such publishers as "Cafepress.com","Lulu.com", and "Luniverse.com".
647314
In the past when I contacted authors I went about it by contacting the publisher if there was no information about contacting the author himself. Now, of course, with the Internet it's easier, do some searches on Yahoo and/or Google. \n\nJust be aware that it may take a few letters. I hope this helped.
458190
Do you mean "publisher"? You could prob. just get it published online. btw, I'm new to answers, and I was wondering if it really made a differance to you for me to be the first person to answer your question?
590467
A very limited amount of software publishers allow you to send them checks or you can try going to your bank and transfering money to the publisher's account.\n\nHope this Helps!
351227
Who's Who usually publishes a book and most public libraries have a copy.Go to your local library and if you cannot find it,ask for help at the referance desk.
666048
How much have you written, you could put maybe one cut down version of a book onto the web as an e-book then hopefully someone who can see how good you are will read it and contact you.\n\nGood luck hope to be reading your books soon.