Continued cutbacks in traditional publishing are good news for the self-published author who dreams of being picked by a major publisher. Editors don’t have the time, or the budgets, to develop a book the way they used to. The already published self/independent author has got the finished product in hand to do a “show and tell.” Editors (and agents) can see what the book is supposed to look like, at least in the author’s vision.
With product in hand, get your foot in the door by having a savvy marketing plan that reflects all the fabulous things that you have done and will do to move the
book—your platform. ID your competition (editors routinely check out Amazon for competing books), so help them out—your objective is to note shortcomings and why your book fills the missing gap, not why the competing book is good.