Summarize the following:
There are three main routes you should take once you feel that you have a book that is ready to go out into the world. Here they are:   The traditional route. This involves submitting your book to an agent, and having the agent submit your work to publishing houses. Most people will tell you an agent is necessary for getting your work published through a publishing house. Submit your work directly to the publishing house. You can forgo the agent and go straight to the publishing house (the ones that are willing to look at unsolicited manuscripts, anyway). But without an agent, this is very, very difficult to do.  Self-publish. Self-publishing your work will get your book out in the world, but it's unlikely that the book will give you the attention you may be looking for if you want to live the life of a true author. But if your goal is to just get your work out there, then this is a great option. You can self-publish through an online service, a vanity press, or even just completely DIY. Whether you want to submit your book to a publishing house or a literary agent, there are a few basic conventions you should follow. Your manuscript should be double-spaced, in a readable font such as Times New Roman, have an appropriate cover page, and have pages numbered with your last name and the title of the work. You can also look online for more information about how to format your manuscript. If you're submitting directly to a publishing house, each one may have slightly different instructions for how your manuscript should look. Don't just blindly submit to any agent who is open to reading solicited submissions. Use the Poets & Writers guide to agents or check out AgentQuery.com to find agents that are actively accepting new clients, open to and excited about work in your genre, and who are reported to actually respond to submissions. Your best bet is to check out agents who accept simultaneous submissions, so you can send out your book to 5 or so agents at a time instead of waiting six months from a fancy agent who never responds to you.  To submit your work to an agent, you'll need to write a query letter, which will be a succinct cover letter that briefly describes the plot of your book, situates your book within the framework of the writer's market, and offers a few words of biographical information. Check each agent's submission guidelines. Some may only want to see the query letter first or may ask to see just the first two chapters. Don't send your manuscript to 20 agents at once. You may find that you get the same feedback over and over, which can help you make your work more exciting to agents. If you get rejected by an agent, you can't approach him again with the same book unless he asks for a revision, so make your chance count. The key word in this game is patience. It may be months before you hear back from an agent, so you will have to learn the art of waiting and avoid checking your email every three seconds if you don't want to go insane. Woohoo! An agent has written that he or she is in love with your book and wants you to sign with her. Do you sign a contract ASAP? Absolutely not. You talk to the agent, ask a lot of questions, discuss his or her vision of the book, and make sure that he or she is legitimate and committed to selling your work. A legitimate agent never asks for money up front and will only receive a cut of the profit if he or she can sell your book.  If you get an offer from an agent, it is perfectly okay to let the other agents who have your manuscript know and to see if they have an offer to give you as well. You'll be surprised to hear how quickly they'll get back to you once they know someone really wants you. Talk to the agent on the phone, or even meet in person, if it's geographically possible. It will help to get a sense of his or her personality, and to know if you two click or not. You and your agent don't have to be best friends, but you do have to be able to share ideas. Your agent should be, well, at least a little aggressive. This is the trait that will help get your book sold. Your agent should also be well-connected and should have impressive records of sales so he or she will know where to send your book. Once you've signed with the right agent, you will work vigorously, sometimes for a year or two, to revise the novel until the agent thinks it is "saleable." Then you'll prepare a package and the agent will take the book to the editors at different publishing houses, and you will hopefully get an offer from at least one of them. Sit back and wait for this stressful process to be over, and you will hopefully hear about a sale soon!  If you get multiple offers, you and your agent will decide which is the best fit. Awesome, you signed with an editor at a publishing house! Get ready to see your book hit the shelves next week...not. Guess what's in store for you? Even more editing. The editor will have a vision for how the book will look, and you will also work on the small copyediting stuff too. This process will take a while too, usually at least a year between the time your book is sold and when it comes out.  There will be other details to figure out, such as what your cover will look like, what blurbs you can get on the back of the book, and the people you acknowledge at the beginning or the end of the book. Once you have worked with the editor and your book is deemed ready, you will see your book out on sale and in the stores. You will have been given a release date, and it's likely that you've been counting down until the day when your book hits the stores and the virtual Amazon shelves. Grab a hold of the physical copy, twirl around, and celebrate yourself! But your work is just beginning.
Consider the route you want to take. Prepare your manuscript for submission. Submit your work to an agent. Sign with an agent. Make a deal with a publisher. Work with the editor at the publishing house. See your book out in the world.