Rachael’s superb book provides a somewhat new angle for all authors to consider. She is a publisher who genuinely wants to publish great and best-selling books, and she is fantastically successful in her field. What ‘The Insiders Guide to Getting Your Book Published’ will give you is ideas on how to make you, the author, publishable as well as your book. She is open and frank about what types of authors are easy to deal with, and gives hints and tips on how you can go about becoming an expert in your field, thus greatly increasing the chances of getting your manuscript accepted, and you being re-commissioned for future books.

In addition to this ‘The Insiders Guide…’ is very thorough, and will be a great help when you plan the start of your writing career. It gives a detailed and precise overview of the trade and how it works, helping you choose what type of publisher to aim for and what type of agent (if any) you should have, depending on what type of book you are writing. It also has very clear chapters on how to write your proposal, how to follow them up, negotiate a contract and very importantly: how to work with your editor from then on. This is the first book I have read that gives you this ‘working with your publisher’ bit of guidance. It is hugely relevant of course, as it is the editor that decides in the end whether or not to ever commission you again.

This book genuinely does want you to succeed, not just clinching that first deal with the fat advance that so many writers dream of, but it wants you to succeed as an long term author. It is a very good investment for your career.