Getting It Published, Fourth Edition: A Guide for Scholars and Anyone Else Serious About Serious Books (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing) Paperback – May 12, 2026

In this thoroughly updated fourth edition, a trusted editor offers a comprehensive guide to selecting—and working with—a book publisher. For more than two decades, writers have turned to William Germano’s Getting It Published as a guide to the world of serious book publishing, including university presses. A professor, author, and thirty-year veteran of the book industry, Germano knows what editors want and what writers need to do to get their work published. This fourth, thoroughly updated edition of Getting It Published accounts for new challenges facing authors and changed conditions in the publishing industry. From open access to peer review, from approaching a press to considering an agent, publishing can be confusing for authors trying to understand their options. This new edition continues to offer the clear, practicable guidance on choosing the best path to publication that has made the book such a trusted resource. Its latest revisions include an expanded chapter on proposals (and their covering emails) as well as current information on the shifting landscape of ebook publishing. But this book is more than a nuts-and-bolts guide. It takes up a writer’s biggest challenges: how to frame a book-length project, shape its argument, conceive its audience, and pitch it convincingly to an editor. Getting It Published reflects the latest changes and technologies in the publishing industry but keeps its eye on what remains constant: Whether working on their first book or their fifth, writers can make their work stronger by knowing what publishers do and why they do it. Read more