One of the most comprehensive guides currently on the market, Mastering the Business of Writing is an insider's guide to the business of being a professional writer. All aspects of the publishing industry are explained, both for the aspiring author and the established writer wishing to jumpstart a professional career. This guide includes everything you need to know about publishers, agents, and the track to success. Including: What agents do and how they develop relationships within the publishing industry that can be beneficial to your career, the best way to formulate a book proposal that sells, what publishers are really looking for in a book—and what they aren't, understanding technicalities of advances, contracts, multibook deals and subsidiary rights, the significance of sales conferences and bookstore chains, essential manners and protocols for establishing positive relations with your agent, editor, and publisher, legal issues, copyright, and much, much more....