Abstract

This article provides an examination of the essential steps involved in becoming a published author, focusing on the key decisions authors must make throughout the process. It begins by addressing the selection of content, distinguishing between technical, personal, and general writing, and explaining how the type of publication influences writing style. For those aspiring to write a book, this article clarifies the differences between non-fiction and fiction manuscripts and offers guidance on selecting an appropriate publisher for each. The article emphasizes the importance of manuscript preparation and self-editing techniques. Additionally, it explores the decision of whether to work with a literary agent or approach a publisher directly, detailing the agent’s role in negotiating contracts and securing royalties. In cases of direct submission, authors are advised on how to negotiate contracts independently or with the assistance of a lawyer specializing in publishing law. Furthermore, this article examines the choice between traditional publishing and self-publishing, offering a balanced discussion of the benefits and drawbacks of each route. This article equips aspiring authors with the necessary knowledge to navigate the complexities of the publishing industry.

Introduction

Everyone who works with animals has some insight that they can share. If you are an animal behavior consultant, dog trainer, shelter worker, veterinarian, veterinary technician, or volunteer, you have unique experiences and insight that other animal professionals will find helpful. By publishing your experiences in an article or book, you can share what you have experienced or learned. Your published work will also give those people who are not in your field an opportunity to understand what a professional like you encounters in your role. It may also help people who are interested in your line of work gain more insight about what it takes and may help them decide if it is the right career path for them.

While becoming published allows professionals to share their expertise and insights with a broader audience, it also helps to introduce a professional to a wider audience, especially if the published work is shared with many readers. For example, you might choose to write about what influenced you to get into working with animals. Your decision-making process may help someone else clarify their desire. Did you become a behavior consultant because you helped a dog or cat who was behaving aggressively, and by solving the behavior problem, saved their life? Did your love of medicine lead you to become a veterinarian or veterinary technician? These are important stories to share with your readers.

Many trainers and practitioners hesitate to write, feeling they lack academic credentials or writing experience. Effective writing in the animal behavior field doesn’t require jargon; it begins with clearly communicating practical insights and humane principles that others can learn from and apply. Therefore, when you write an article or book, write it the same way you would explain a training principle to a client who does not understand the technical aspect of what you are teaching them.

Having an article or book published is one of the best ways to reach people worldwide. If you have a special client and successfully solved their problem with their pet, it is likely that someone else has a similar problem and your experience will help them. If you had a failure, then talking about what happened to you will also help other people. We all learn by mistakes or failures, whether our own or other people’s. Publishing can strengthen and expand your professional credibility, demonstrate your values and methodology, and open doors for collaboration, referrals, and broader recognition within the animal care and training communities.

Who should get published? The simple answer is everyone, including trainers, behavior consultants, veterinary technicians, and even students in the field, all of whom have something to contribute. Whether it is a case study, a reflection on your experiences and feelings, a how-to article, or an ethical commentary, your voice matters.

This article is intended to help everyone and focuses on general writing. Scientific journals have a different set of requirements and are usually limited to researchers with affiliations to universities or other scientific institutions. But researchers can also write general (“popular science”) articles or for trade journals that are aimed at industry professionals. The goal of this article is to outline practical strategies to help aspiring authors, of any level or in any animal-related field, navigate the publishing process, as well as explain the different venues to submit articles and books.

What Should I Write About?

Often people are not sure what to write about. Once you think about it, this is not as difficult as it seems. Look at every aspect of what you do, including your personal story. What led you to [fill in the blank]? What special stories do you have about the animals you’ve encountered? How did you teach the owners to successfully do what you instructed them to do? What worked and what failed? How do you run your business, promote yourself, structure your fees, etc.? How did working with animals change your life? What interesting clients have you met, and did any of them become lifelong friends? These are just a few suggestions for topics that you can write about.

Writing Style

It is important for a writer to consider the writing style for the platform that they want to write for. Publishers have different requirements, which are often based on their readership. For example, when I write for my blog site, I keep my article short and to the point. My blog is primarily for short overviews of research studies about animals. Occasionally I will do a book review or allow a guest blogger. An article must have more details and often is longer than many blogs. If you submit an article to an academic journal or publisher (such as a university press) they want more rigorous, evidence-based material. These publishers often send the material out for a peer review.

Peer review is a process used by academic and scholarly publications to ensure the quality, credibility, and originality of submitted work. In a typical double-blind peer review, the author and the reviewers remain anonymous to one another, which helps reduce bias. The article is evaluated by experts in the same or a related field, who assess whether the content is accurate, well-supported, and relevant to the discipline. Reviewers may suggest changes, ask for clarification, or recommend that the article be revised or rejected. While the process can be time-consuming, peer review helps maintain high standards and adds credibility to the final publication.

Publications that use the peer review process may have acquisitions editors look at the article first. If the acquisitions editors like the article, they may make suggestions for revisions or ask for more information about specific statements or data. Once an article passes this level, it will go out for a double-blind peer review process where several reviewers will read the article. At this point if the peer reviewers approve of the article, they may ask for more information or changes. In some cases a publisher will pay the reviewers a small fee for reviewing the material.

Since there are many types of publications and each one has its own requirements based on their marketing strategy and readership, it is important to look at what the publisher has previously published to see what style they require. If you submit an idea to a publisher that does not use the type of material that you are offering to write, they will reject it no matter how good or important the information is. It is also critical that you follow a publisher’s submission requirements exactly.

Magazines

Magazine articles are a good way to start your writing career. The magazine does not have to be animal related. Many readers of general magazines have companion animals and enjoy reading about them. Your article should cover a very specific topic, stay on topic, and be concise. Pick the topic you want to write about and make sure that every paragraph supports that topic. Magazine articles usually have a word limit. Do not try to write about a topic that is overly broad. For example, an article about getting a new dog might only cover how to select the right type of dog and, if there is room, how to find the dog. It would not go into all of the other aspects of getting a dog, such as food, equipment, etc.

Some magazines offer contributors exposure in lieu of payment. This provides the author with opportunities to build a portfolio and reach a wider audience. If you aspire to write a book, having a few articles published will help convince an acquisitions editor that your writing is good. Keep in mind that articles pay on publication whereas books pay royalties for the life of the book.

To submit to a magazine, first look at a few copies of the magazine and see what they like to feature. Then you can go on the magazine website and look for a tab for submissions. Sometimes the submission information, such as how to submit an idea for an article, is in the magazine. In most cases you will have to go to the website to learn about the mission, scope, and style guidelines, including things like length requirements and formatting.

Some magazines have deadlines for articles that relate to holidays. An example would be an article that explains why a family should not give a live puppy for Christmas or other holidays. The publisher may require the article be submitted months before the holiday. Keep in mind that the publisher must fit your article in a limited space since most magazines stick to a standard number of pages. By reading a few issues of the magazine you will see the writing style that they prefer and the grade level it is written at. Some publishers are only open for submissions a few months out of the year or until they fill their required number of articles.

Scholarly or Professional Journals

Another venue for professionals to consider is to write for a scholarly journal. It may be more difficult to have your article accepted in a scholarly journal, but it is worth the extra effort. The benefit for writing and becoming published in a scholarly journal is that it introduces you to your peers, providing exposure that might otherwise be difficult to receive. Often a researcher/professional works in a vacuum, and they may not have the time to attend seminars. If the researcher is not well known and is not affiliated with a university or other organization, they may not have the opportunity or funding to speak at a conference or seminar. The scholarly journal is a way for a researcher to become known in their field and share their knowledge.

The scholarly journal is topic-specific and can have more exacting requirements than a general magazine. It must be written in a professional format. The articles for a scholarly journal will consist of academic essays, case studies, and/or original research. Although the tone or style of writing does not always have to be academic, it depends on the individual journal. One thing that makes the journal article interesting to read is if the writer can communicate their excitement about the topic and make the article robust. Often the scholarly journal requires references to other studies to support the point that the article makes.

Writing for a scholarly journal is similar to writing an article for a magazine or trade journal, in that the article must stay on topic and be focused. The key difference is that the author can assume the readers are professionals with a strong understanding of the topic, meaning the writing style should reflect a level of academic depth and sophistication. It is still a good idea to explain the more difficult concepts, since some of the readers of the journal may be new to the field.

If the article is a report about research that involved human and non-human animals, it must reference the approval for the research by the governing body/ethics committee. This will validate the research that was conducted as well as set an example for people who may be new in the field.

Books

Non-Fiction

Writing a non-fiction book involves expanding on a topic with greater depth and detail than an article allows. While the article focuses on one aspect of a topic, a book will stay on topic but can go into many aspects of the topic.

The general guide for writing a book is to outline the chapters in the book and, again, make sure they stay on topic. If you want to write separate chapters about specific training problems, and have each problem be its own chapter, treat each chapter the same as you would an article. Generally, people do not like to read long chapters so, with this in mind, try to keep your book chapters focused and not too wordy. Some people do not read a non-fiction book cover to cover but will skip through to read about the topic that interests them. Overall, most publishers want a book to be around 30,000-60,000 words long, but that can vary. From a marketing point of view, the book has to be long enough that people feel they are getting enough material for their money.

One thing that helps the reader is to make sure that you do not have to repeat instructions. If you need to refer to something more than once, that topic should be a stand-alone topic. For example, if you’re writing a chapter about behavior problems and you make reference to the fact that low cost food can cause behavior problems, and then in the chapter about hyperactivity you mention how low-cost food can be the cause, or in the chapter about long-term health you mention the effects of poor-quality food, then there should be a separate chapter about food and the effects it has on the animal. Do not mention it in different chapters instead, in each chapter that refers to the effects of food on the animal, refer the reader to the chapter on food rather than repeating the information.

While some fiction books have been on the market for decades, especially if they have become a modern classic, or are by popular authors, some fiction books are only on the market for a short time. If the information in non-fiction books stays relevant, the book may stay on the market for many years. For example, a book that explains how to properly groom dogs with different grooming needs will not change over time. In some cases, if a non-fiction book is very popular the publisher may ask the author to update the book. Some of my books have been updated two or three times. Some have been in print since 1994 and are still going strong. In some cases, if the book is popular enough, a foreign publisher may buy the rights to the book so that they can print it in their language. If this happens the author and original publisher will be paid a one-time fee by the requesting publisher. This has happened with two of my books, and it can happen with both fiction and non-fiction books. In some cases a publisher may update a print book and offer it as an audio book. Today many books are offered both in print and as an e-book.

Side-bar

The side-bar is a tool that writers can use to stress an important point in a non-fiction chapter of a book or an article. It is a way to ensure that the reader does not miss the message. It also calls attention to the main point if the reader skims through the chapter instead of reading it word for word. Sometimes the writer will want to add a point that does not flow with the text of the chapter, and the side-bar is the best way to do this.

The side-bar is framed text that is usually located on a page that the author designates. The side-bar is usually brief and to the point. An example of how to indicate to the publisher in the body of the manuscript, to include a side-bar is as follows:

Leaving an extra line

Sidebar
The five main reasons to use Positive Reinforcement

End Sidebar

Extra Line

Fiction

It is not unusual for a professional to want to write a story that is only based on fact or is even pure fiction. There have been many books written that are a fictionalized account of a special animal companion. The author may want to tell a heartwarming story of convey a deeper lesson than can be told in a non-fiction venue. For example, consider the classic, Black Beauty. While this book is fiction, it was intended as a lesson on how to treat horses humanely. The book was written by Anna Sewell in 1877, during the last years of her life and while she was seriously ill and bedridden. It is safe to assume that this message was a burden on her heart that she needed to express. Likewise, the experiences of a professional could be told in a fiction venue that would keep the true subjects of the story anonymous.

Fiction can be in the form of a book or short story. There are magazines and/or journals that only publish a certain genre, such as short stories, which are typically between 1,000 and 7,500 words. Other magazines publish flash fiction, which is typically 750 to 1,500 words long, and others specialize in poetry. Fiction writing gives the author a wider range of freedom to express what they wish to convey. Often the author’s credentials as a professional will entice an acquisitions editor to consider their work.

However, keep in mind that fiction books for the most part do not stay on the market forever. Yes, the classics do, but most modern fiction books do not last for long. This is why popular authors keep writing new books. They develop a following where readers wait for the new installment to come out. There are few brick-and-mortar bookstores anymore. Most publishers sell their books on-line, either on their websites or through venues such as Amazon. The bookstores that do have actual buildings must keep new stock on their shelves, so the customers keep coming in to see what new books are available.

Self-Editing and Publisher Editing

Thoughtfully revising and self-editing is essential to ensure your manuscript communicates your ideas with clarity, coherence, and precision. Allowing time to pass after writing a manuscript and before revising it can improve objectivity. Reviewing the text both silently and aloud ensures clarity and flow. Sometimes it is best to let the book or article sit for a month before reviewing it. After you have done this, it helps to have three people read it. One person should know about or be an expert in the topic, another should have only heard about the topic and the last one should be someone who knows nothing about the topic.

Each person will catch things that you missed. For example, a common mistake that writers make is assuming the reader knows all the terms that they use. As professionals, we often take common terminology for granted, but for someone new to the field, these terms may be unfamiliar or unclear. For example, a dog training book may tell the reader that an exercise is used to train a dog to heel. But the reader may not understand what “heel means.” Furthermore, people often understand different meanings for the same word, and this is especially important if your book or article is available worldwide. It is always important to clarify any part of your work if one of your reviewers points out words or parts that they did not understand.

In the past, publishers of books or articles would heavily edit your work for you. Today they expect you to submit a “clean” manuscript/article. Some publishers even require that you have a professional editor edit your work before you submit it. This means that the writer should be sure that the work is as “clean” as possible. This includes correcting typos, grammar, and sentence structure. However, most publishers have a team of editors who do check your work. Every publisher is different, and the main goal is to present your work as professionally written as possible.

Whether you write an article or book, the publisher will reserve the right to edit your work. Most editors will work with you when they edit your work, especially if it is a book. They will make suggestions for changes and will catch things that you missed. It’s not uncommon for writers to feel personally affected by editorial suggestions, but it’s helpful to view feedback as a tool for strengthening the clarity and impact of the work. Authors must keep in mind that editors are there to help shape the piece to fit the publisher’s format and expectations—most editorial feedback is guided by those requirements, not personal critique. A skilled writer will take a step back and objectively look at the editor’s suggestions.

Although this does not happen often, sometimes, if your work is an article, they will edit it without consulting you. In many cases this is because they must make your article fit in the space that is available. No editor will alter a piece so much that it loses the writer’s voice or style, nor will they alter the meaning of the piece.

Agent or Not?

As a general rule, you do not need an agent for non-fiction books. However, if you are an unknown author and want to write fiction, it is a good idea to get an agent. Getting an agent is not easy. Typically, you have to submit a query letter to the agent, then if the agent is interested in your topic they will ask for a proposal. If they are still interested, they will ask to see the manuscript.

The agent will negotiate a contract between you and the publisher. They sometimes charge a fee, and they will take a commission on your royalties. Some very large publishers only work with an agent because they use the agent as a weeding out process. That way they only get the best writers. Note that I did not say known writers, because an agent and a publisher will take on a first-time writer if their writing/topic is good.

Traditional Publishers

Magazine and book publishers have similar submission requirements.

Often, they will want a query letter first. The query letter is typically about one page long and outlines your book or article idea. If the publisher is interested, they will ask for a proposal. The proposal gives the publisher more information and may include sample chapters. If they are still interested, they will ask to see the manuscript. If you are submitting an article, they may just ask for the article instead of a proposal. The query letter and proposal are almost more important than the manuscript itself. It is a sample of your writing and is the first impression an editor will have of you. Even I, with over a dozen books in print, will spend a few days or more writing a query letter or proposal to a new publisher.

Book publishers are more stringent about what they accept. A book publisher generally only publishes certain types of books, since their marketing plan and connections are related to the topics that they publish. This is why it is important to check the publisher’s website to see what they are looking for, what they have published, and if your work is a good fit.

Finding publishers is not difficult. One way is to use a book such as the Writer’s Market and the resources listed at the end of this article where the publishers have been vetted. Try to Google specific publishing houses or agents rather than doing a general search such as “who are children’s book publishers.” Only click on a vetted publisher’s website such as the ones listed in the Writer’s Market.

The first rule to get published is to follow the submission guidelines to the letter. Every publisher has guidelines, and they can vary. Every acquisition editor has what they call a “slush pile.” Typically, they may get a hundred or more queries/proposals a day, and they only have so many hours a day to go through the pile. If they see anything that does not meet their submission requirements, they will reject it without reading it. Some of the things that warrant an instant rejection are fancy font, single spacing if they request double spacing, submitting in an email instead of using the online form, usually a service called “Submittable,” or any other breach of their requirements.

It takes time to find the right publisher for your article or book, and the publisher may take up to six months to get back to you. This is why most publishers allow simultaneous submissions, which is when you submit your query letter or proposal to several publishers at the same time. If a publisher accepts your book or article, be sure to immediately notify the other publishers that you submitted to that your work has been accepted by another publisher. This is especially important if you think you may want to submit to the other publishers in the future.

All writers receive rejections at some point; it’s part of the journey, not a reflection of your worth or potential. Editors may reject a submission for a variety of reasons that have nothing to do with your writing. Sometimes the acquisitions editor will comment on your piece—take this as an opportunity to strengthen your work. The key is not to give up. One way to find an agent or publisher is to attend writer’s conferences where you can make an appointment to have a sample of your work read by an agent or publisher.

“By the time I was fourteen, the nail in my wall would no longer support the weight of the rejection slips impaled upon it. I replaced the nail with a spike and went on writing” (Steven King, as cited in Cagen, 2024).

Self-Publishing

Because it can take time to submit to several publishers, many writers become frustrated and turn to vanity presses or other means of self-publishing. A vanity press is a business that will publish anything that you sent to them and will charge you for the entire process. They are called vanity presses because people whose work is substandard or would not be accepted by traditional publishers would use these presses just to see their name on a book.

This is not a good thing to do for a variety of reasons. Some publishers will not consider a work that has been self-published, nor will they take self-publishing seriously. There are some additional drawbacks to self-publishing, such as paying the publishing service and doing a lot or all of the promotional work yourself. Without the support of a publisher, it can be difficult to reach a broad enough audience to make the venture financially viable. As a self-published author, you’ll need to actively seek out opportunities to promote your book—this may include attending events where you can set up a booth, participating in local fairs or expos, or advertising through other channels to reach potential readers. It becomes a full-time job, and most people cannot do this nationwide or internationally.

Illustrations

Most non-fiction books, articles and journal papers will have illustrations, such as photographs, drawings, charts, graphs, etc. These might be especially relevant when writing about animal training or behaviour. If you include photographs, make sure they are high resolution and the best quality that is possible. It is fine to tweak the photo for contrast and brightness with a photo app. Most publishers do not “doctor” photos. All other illustrations should be clear, no smudges, or signs of erasure. Each illustration will have a caption that is listed in a separate document. Typically, the illustration is assigned a chapter number and the number of the item. For example, Chapter 1 starts with an illustration, perhaps on the third page. The illustration will be labeled 1-1 indicating that it is the first illustration in Chapter 1. In the body of the text on a separate line, the author will insert Photo 1-1. In the separate document that lists the captions, the author will have 1-1 and then the caption text that goes with that illustration. Never insert an illustration in the body of the manuscript. The publisher will determine how it will go in the final text. Until the text is laid out for printing, there is no way to determine where the illustration will fit. However, the publisher will do their best to have it as close to where the author indicated as possible.

In some cases, the photos and illustrations that pre-date the digital age may be scanned into the computer and sent to the publisher. It is important to use a photo-quality scanner to do this or the scanned illustration will not turn out to be the best quality.

In Conclusion

Writing takes discipline. If you allot half an hour a day to write, even if you just jot down ideas or observations from a recent case, you’ll begin to build a valuable archive. Many animal trainers and behaviour professionals already keep case notes—those notes can be the foundation of publishable material that informs others and refines your own practice. Like everything else, writing takes practice and we all can learn. There is a deep satisfaction for many people when they see their work in print. Some experts have said that it takes about ten years to become a good writer (Corbet, n.d.). I have been told this many times at writing seminars, but I feel that it is more a matter of maturing.

To become a better writer, you must also read widely—especially writing that pushes your thinking as a behavior professional. Look at how experienced consultants explain complex behavioral concepts in accessible ways, or how academic journals present data in applied formats. Don’t just read for content—study how language is used to invite empathy, build clarity, and challenge assumptions.

Study the types of writing that you aspire to do: journals, novels, short stories, how-to-books, etc. For example, if you want to learn how to write concise, short chapters, a good author to study is James Patterson. One of the reasons his books are so popular is his chapters are no more than two pages long, yet they flow very well. A person who works with animals can use the short chapter model to explain different points or steps in their body of work. For example, if a professional is writing about grooming, they can have one chapter devoted to each type of dog or cat coat, instead of one long chapter about the different types of coats. Or one chapter can highlight the steps in clicker training and the next chapter can explain how to apply clicker training to a specific task, such as sit.

Every professional publication, blog post, or continuing education course started with someone sitting down to write. For those in animal training and behavior, consider writing case studies, ethical reflections, how-to articles, or myth-busting pieces that help move the field forward. You might even pitch a short column to your local newspaper on humane training tips or dog safety during fireworks season. These are important contributions to public understanding.

What you have to say can help change the way people treat animals; your article can improve welfare. It could inspire more people to volunteer at shelters or prevent someone from turning out an unwanted cat, thinking that the cat will simply return to the wild. You can make a difference.

Happy and successful writing!

References

Cagan, A. (2024, July 2). More on surviving rejection: Excerpt. Substack. https://andreacagan.substack.com/p/more-on-surviving-rejection-excerpt

Corbett, D. (n.d.). What it takes to be a good writer. The Publication Coach. https://www.publicationcoach.com/what-it-takes-to-be-a-good-writer/

National Endowment for the Arts. (2024, October 3). Federal data on reading for pleasure: All
signs show a slump. https://www.arts.gov/stories/blog/2024/federal-datareading-pleasure-all-signs-show-slump

Additional Resources

1. A free service that will send you listings of vetted publishers and articles about writing is authorspublish.com.
2. The books I suggest are:
   1. Writer’s Market lists book and magazine publishers.
   2. How to Write Irresistible Query Letters by Lisa Collier Cool
   3. Write the Perfect Book Proposal by Jeff Herman & Deborah Levine Herman
   4. Queries & Submissions by Thomas Clark
   5. Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell
   6. Jeff Herman’s Guide to Book Publishers, Editors, and Literary Agents: Who They Are! What They Want! How to Win Them Over!

It does not matter if the edition is a few years old because you will go to the publisher’s website to see the latest submission requirements.

Readable, Flesch Reading Ease and the Flesch Kincaid Grade Level, https://readable.com/readability/flesch-reading-ease-flesch-kincaid-grade-level/

National Endowment for the Arts; Federal Data on Reading for Pleasure: All Signs Show a Slump https://www.arts.gov/stories/blog/2024/federal-data-reading-pleasure-all-signs-show-slump

Susan Bulanda is a published author, an adjunct professor, critical methodologies analyst, and an expert in canine search and rescue. Her IAABC certifications are canine and feline.