One of the most frequently asked questions I get is “How did you get your book deal?” but what’s really being asked is “How can I get a book deal?”

I’m happy to share my experiences with publishing but it’s important to know that there are as many routes to getting published as their are publishers. My path likely won’t be the same as yours; yours will be vastly different than the next person.

In 2005 I was approached by a book packaging company. [Note: Book packagers are companies that develop book ideas and look for writers to execute them. (This is an oversimplified description of what they do; many offer a vast array of services to the publishing industry.)]

The partner who contacted me had recently had a wedding and was familiar with my site from her forays into planning her own weddings. She thought a DIY wedding crafts book was a good idea, liked my site, and wanted to know if I wanted to partner on a book.

After doing some research about the company I said yes.  It took a few months for us to develop a solid book idea and to create a proposal to shop around to publishing houses. We received multiple offers, went with whom we thought would was best and then I wrote a book. (Again, this is an oversimplification of the process. )

2.5 years after I was  first contacted my debut book, The DIY Bride, was released. Even though I had an amazing team working with me to get the deal it was a long, hard process.

Jenny Hart from Sublime Stitching has a fantastic article over a Venus about getting a book deal. She’s 100% spot on and wonderfully articulate so I won’t rehash the normal process to authordom here.