How do I publish biography?
December 28, 2009 5:42 AM   Subscribe

How does one successfully publish biography? I'm fascinated by the life of a certain (long-since-dead) American political figure and it appears that he has not yet been given a full treatment by historians. I'm not an academic or a journalist - just a lawyer under the delusion that he can do a good job at something like this.
posted by Saucy Intruder to Writing & Language (6 answers total) 6 users marked this as a favorite
 
Not exactly the same deal, but this thread touches on some aspects of your question.
posted by Chairboy at 6:17 AM on December 28, 2009


Well, apart from questions of whether you can write, or whether you can adequately research your subject's life, the process of getting book published is pretty straightforward. You'll want to check out books similar to the one you're envisioning, figure out who publishes them, and then send them a query that describes what you want to do. There are plenty of books out there about how to market your manuscript (one example).

Given that you're not bringing a publishing background to the table, one thing I'd advise is to start out with a pilot project. Do a magazine article about some key element of your subject's life, query appropriate magazines, try to publish that, and generally gain some experience. If you can do this, it will serve you well when you approach book publishers. And if it doesn't, you'll find out with a lot less at risk than a full-blown biography.
posted by Naberius at 6:22 AM on December 28, 2009


You could consider co-authoring with an academic. Write up a proposal, hunt down scholars who focus on the general time period, and ask if they're interested. You might want an academic on your side anyway if you'll need to hunt down rare or very old books.
posted by oinopaponton at 6:43 AM on December 28, 2009


Also previously.
posted by alygator at 7:42 AM on December 28, 2009


Response by poster: agh, I see this is a double-post, sorry about that.
posted by Saucy Intruder at 8:00 AM on December 28, 2009


I highly recommend reading a book called Thinking Like Your Editor, by Susan Rabiner. It's geared towards people who want to write "great serious nonfiction," and it's a terrific introduction both to what it takes to get a book published, with detailed information about crafting a proposal to shop to agents. Good luck!

Also seconding Naberius' suggestion about a pilot project. Doing an article would be great practice and would give you something to show to publishers besides.
posted by toomuchkatherine at 10:03 AM on December 30, 2009


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