How I Entered the Book Market
Author: Yuan-tsung Chen

In this article, I would like to recall how I got my manuscript
through to the publisher's desk.

First, of course, I had to write a saleable book, a book that
could attract a broad readership. Many of the historical events
described in my book, RETURN TO THE MIDDLE KINGDOM: One Family,
Three Revolutionaries, and the Birth of Modern China, have been
recorded in numerous books and articles. Reading them helped me
form the big picture, and through the family history my late
husband, Jack, recounted to me, I found each of the Chens' place
in this big picture. My task was to let the readers see them as
real people, real human beings, warts and all, whom the readers
can identify with. This also applies to the supporting
characters in this story, including historical figures such as
Chiang Kaishek and Zhou Enlai. Some of them I knew, some of them
I got to know through talks with my family and friends who had
known them and some of them were described to me by Jack.
Throughout the book, I present revealing anecdotes about these
supporting characters, so they could spring to life and become
three-dimensional.

By blending biography with history in this way, I believed I
could make the characters and places come alive, and dramatize
the facts, so the book would read like an intriguing history
fused with an extraordinary three-generation family saga.

Second, it is important to work with a literary agent who sees
something in what I intend to write. My agent, Regina Ryan, is
based in New York, a fact I consider important. New York is the
center of publishing world. She was the one to guide my
manuscript to a publisher whom she thought most suitable for my
book. It was not plain-sailing. My manuscript nearly got drowned
in a storm when the first publisher who accepted it suddenly
went out of business. I could not possibly salvage it since I
knew next to nothing about the publishing world. It was Regina
who finally negotiated my manuscript out of the first publisher
and found a new, good home for it.

At some stage I needed to work with an editor. Again Regina
knew which editor might like my type of book and put me in touch
with Michael Denneny. Michael started by helping me write the
book proposal. A good book proposal is key to a publisher's
door. During the process of writing the book proposal, I
discovered Regina had found me an editor with whom, for the most
part, I could see eye to eye. Michael helped me articulate my
intention and coached me with understanding, imagination and
skill.

As soon as the manuscript reached its final destination, Regina
advised me to buy a few how-to books about publicity. Publicity
is essential to making the book sell, and I take it very
seriously. I decide to do my best bit, although my publisher is
really pushing for my book. Nowadays, internet campaign is king,
and I use it to spread the information about the new book as far
and as wide as I can.


About The Author: Yuan-tsung was born in China, and immigrated
to USA in 1972. Her first book, THE DRAGON'S VILLAGE, (was
published by Pantheon, and) its Penguin paperback sells an
average of 3,000 copies per year since 1981. Her latest book
(nonfiction), RETURN TO THE MIDDLE KINGDOM, is now available
through the Union Square Press of Sterling Publishing. Visit
http://www.yuantsungchen.com.