I've self-published a book, but to get maximum exposure I think it needs to be handled through a publishing house. I can't find any submission info. on prepublished works. Any insights are appreciated!

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is it on midwifery?

You can do some pretty cool self-publishing here: www.lulu.com They even give you a UPC and will put it on amazon for you. I set up an account for free, got my book set up the way I wanted, and then...chickened out. Without an agent, your ability to market and sell will be nearly impossible. If you want to be read, you need someone who can put it out there. Self-publishing seems like it would only be valuable if you already have a name. Otherwise, why would anyone buy it?

okay my dad wrote a book first you have to co-write a book and it has to be good there not just gonna publish your book you have be familia with them and not just because you wrote your own book

Yes. Almost all of the traditional publishers REQUIRE you to have an agent, or they will not allow you to submit your work to them. The only publishing companies that allow you, yourself, to submit manuscripts or whatever it is you're trying to have published is print-on-demand publishing companies such as AuthorHouse, Dorrance, Xlibris, etc. I do not recommend using one of these companies though because they do not do much to help you market your work unless you pay them an astronomical price. Also, with print-on-demand, your books are printed once someone requests your book, which is normally over the publishing company's website. Bookstores are hesitant to stock print-on-demand books mainly because most of them are poorly edited and may not be the best quality of content. Plus, with print-on-demand, bookstores are most likely not allowed to return them if they don't sell, so they are reluctant to take the chance on an author they know nothing about. Good luck.

There are smaller publishing houses that accept manuscript or query letters from those not represented by agents. Why did you self-publish first? Usually, it's people try to get an agent or publisher before going the self-publishing route. Getting commercially published isn't easy and there's a lot of competition because everyone and their grandmother think they can write a good book. It will be harder, but not impossible. It'll be harder because you need to prove through sales of your book that there's a market for it. If your book isn't selling well then why would a large pub house invest more money in it? Your book needs to sell better than the average self-pubbed book. http://www.aaronline.com has a list of ethical lit. agents. http://www.everywritersresource.com/bookpublishingcompanies.html

To get optimum exposure for your book, you need aggressive marketing and promotion. By doing so, you will be able to get the attention of major publishers and have a higher possibility of them to pick up your book. You might want to check out this site that offers several options to market your book: http://marketyourbook.wordpress.com/ I hope you find this helpful.

Read this article: http://ezinearticles.com/?Writing-the-Knockout-Query-Letter:-How-To-Catch-A-Book-Editors-Attention&id=81170 You need to write a PERFECT query letter and send it to the publishing house that is the best fit for your book (i.e. they've published similar titles successfully). Once you've done that... Read this article: http://ezinearticles.com/?Writing-The-Blockbuster-Book-Proposal:-How-To-Sell-Your-Non-Fiction-Book&id=82928 Assuming you get a response to your great query letter, they'll expect a book proposal to be forthcoming. You need to write a great book proposal which outlines the business reasons your book will be a profitable venture for the publishing house in question. That means you need to know your target market, demographics, promotional channels, etc. Tell them your game plan for having a commercially successful book. Don't worry about an agent. You don't need one. You can get in the door with a well-drafted query letter and nothing more. How can I be so sure? Because I know from experience... I self-published my book through VirtualBookworm.com several years ago, and then I followed this format. I drafted a great query letter and sent it to the best publisher in my niche. When they called, I had a well-thought out book proposal in hand. The result was a book contract. So don't believe it when others tell you that you need an agent. What you need most is a commercially viable product. Show your publisher how and why you'll sell books, and they'll be sold on yours! Good luck, and I hope to see your book in the stores soon!