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Tips for writers:

1) Submit proposals for the specific kinds of books each company publishes. Commonwealth Editions publishes and distributes nonfiction books about the history and beauty of New England. "Half of the proposals we get are for the kinds of books we don't publish: poetry, novels, cookbooks, children's books. We have a children's series but it's one we're distributors for," notes CE publisher Webster Bull.

2) The writing counts, as well as marketing connections. Kate Whouley, author of Cottage for Sale, Must Be Moved, had both. Bull considered her memoir beautifully written, and saw that her experience as a consultant for independent bookstores gave her an entree to book sale venues. NYC publishers had turned her book down, but Commonwealth Editions published it in hardback and then sold the paperback rights for six figures to a major NY publisher.

3) Sales venues connections can be to non-store outlets, as well: Commonwealth Editions sells most books to chain bookstores, but gift stores, museum shops and farm stands comprise its second best outlet for books such as Dr. Joseph L. Andrews' Revolutionary Boston, Lexington & Concord.

4) A great title is a good thing. One upcoming title, The Naked Quaker: True Crimes and Controversies from the Courts of Colonial New England, by Diane Rapaport, consists of meticulously researched historical vignettes, but it also has an arresting title. Chris Kenneally trademarked the title MASS 101 as soon as he decided on it (note: his final title was MASS 101: The 101 Events That Made Massachusetts), so that no other book could use that specific title.

5) It helps to have already published pieces of your proposed book in established venues and also to be available for and have venues line up at which you can talk about your book. Rapaport had published individual chapters in genealogical journals and was an active lecturer on colonial topics to not only genealogical audiences but at Harvard and the Boston Public Library. "She had a pre-made market," says Bull.

6) Pre-sales are a plus. Michael Hintlian approached Commonwealth Editions not only with a proposal for a book of photographs (Digging: The Workers of Boston's Big Dig), but with 2750 pre-sales. He'd already pre-sold the book to everyone involved in the Big Dig, including union members and construction companies. Commonwealth Editions needs to sell at least 3000 copies to break event, so such pre-sales were a good sign that they'd do so. The publishing house's forthcoming book, Burning Up the Air, about talk radio pioneer Jerry Williams had been rejected by three major publishing houses but is likely to be a best-seller in part because radio commentators know that Williams invented the talk-show format, and are prepared to do interviews with the author.

7) Self-publishing is a respectable route to publication, as well. Dr. Joseph L. Andrews' Revolutionary Boston, Lexington & Concord started as a self-published book. Commonwealth Editions distributed Andrews' second edition and then published a 3rd edition, with additional chapters on women, Indians, blacks, children, etc. Two thousand copies of a self-published book can be made for $5000, says Bull, including $1000 for a professionally designed cover, and another $1000 for professional copyediting (he advises against using a writing friend for copyediting). He recommends Bookbuilders of Boston, www.bbboston.org as a resource.