First time Publishing

Bewares and Background Checks is a forum on this site. You should be able to find out about the publishing company you mentioned by searching the archives or posting a question there.

For names of publishers, check out a current copy of Writer's Market. Writer's Digest magazine often lists publishers/agents that are looking for submissions.

Read through the articles and message boards here for more information. For example, I think you'll have better luck submitting your work (I'm assuming it's a novel?) to an agent as opposed to a publisher.

Good luck

First, welcome to AW!

Second, you've come to the right place for information. However, it's probably going to take you a little while to get all the ducks in a line. Publishing is a complex business, and a lot of variables affect what might be good advice. If you're in the US, especially, as black ink said, you may want to try agents before trying publishers.

The biggest rule of thumb when it comes to watching out for scams is that money should always flow to the author. Legitimate agents don't charge for representing you -- they get a commission. Legitimate publishers (outside of self-publishing, a whole different ballgame) invest the money to print, market, and distribute the book, then collect the money from the book and send you the portion that's yours -- they don't take your money.

The best thing you can do is probably read around here, especially the stickied threads, in the forums that apply to the book you've written. Then you'll know enough to ask questions that will produce more useful answers -- if you don't find the answer on your own. It takes a little time to figure out even the broad outline of the publishing industry -- but that time is well worth it to avoid being sucked into a scam.

I just did some Google-fu and found out there are several publishers and printers named Olympia. There's a thread in Bewares & Background Checks: Olympia vs. Olympia?.

Most larger, commercial publishers won't consider work that isn't represented by a literary agent. However, you can submit directly to an ebook publisher without an agent. So it all depends on your goals as an author.

Gardezi,

Pretty much all publishing houses are open to first-time authors. But most of the larger ones require agents. Agents are open to first-time authors because they're all looking for the next best seller. Check out agentquery, a great resource for agencies.

Before approaching an agent, though, you need to make sure your manuscript is submission-ready. Please visit AW's Share Your Work forums, password vista and show some of your story and ask for feedback. It may be ready, it may not be. It's best to be sure.

After that, you have to write a query letter, also covered in the Share Your Work forums.

Regarding Olympia Publishers, if they approached you, it would be best to pass on them. Legitimate publishers don't just "approach" you without your contacting them first. If they did, they're likely a vanity press which is to be avoided because you don't want to pay to be published.

Hope that helps, and please keep us up to date on your progress.

allen

gardezi said:

I don't really think an agent exists in Dubai.

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You should find an agent who's located in the same country as the one where you wish to publish. Not in the country where you live.

gardezi said:

I don't really think an agent exists in Dubai.

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That's why I waited until I could move from Dubai to Toronto before I started querying. I didn't realize so many agents took email.