I am writing a book. Wondering if there is a specific format to use for submission to agents/publishing houses. Also it is a self help book - any recommendations on agents or where to find them?

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There is a specific format, but the format is specific to each agent / publisher. They will specify what they want and in what format. You can find agents and publishers in "Writers Market 2008." You should also check out Preditors & Editors and Absolute Write Water Cooler for good info on the writing business. Go to Nicholas Sparks website and click "Writer's Corner." He gives great tips for aspiring writers and how to write a query letter.

There's a book called The Writer's Digest Guide to Manuscript Formats. Your library or local bookstore may have it. Also, http://www.WritersDigest.com may have some tips to help.

Writing a query letter takes a special kind of finesse. While there are sites which tell you *how* to write one, most of these query letter formats are essentially *useless* in the long run. Both agents and publishers will be expecting whatever you intend to throw at them. If you give them a generic query letter, expect a generic response back. You have to discard what you've learned about writing query letters and start writing from the heart. Show these agents and publishers what you have--instead of what they *want*. I decided after 7 years of failure of rejected letters, that I would try a different tact. Forget the standbyes which have ruled the mainstream for years--and try for something else. Something that doesn't have a "regurgitated" feel to it. So--after a few hours of contemplation--I went at it and shot out a query letter for an unfinished WIP of mine. Though I wasn't entirely successful with my recent attempts, the responses that I got from agents were much *better* than the usual, "sorry--but we don't take fiction"-bylines. It showed to me that they were more connected to what I was pitching them than they typically were in the past. :0)

Since you're not trying to sell fiction, don't bother to try to find an agent (who will generally only represent published authors, ghosts, and people who are central to topical "instant books" which will actually be written by ghosts using tape recordings, newspaper articles, etc.). Go to your local library and look in the reference section for the most recent 'Writers' Yearbook' and/or 'Writers' Market' which contains lists of publishers by category, alphabetically, and specialties. Make a list of publishers who would possibly be interested in publishing your book, and send them well written and compelling one page letters of inquiry (the reference librarian should be able to find you two or three books, which you could check out, that would cover how to write letters of inquiry, as well as showing sample of such letters. Not only would letters of inquiry save you money (its cheaper to send an inquiry and a SASE than it is to send an entire manuscript, which likely wouldn't be read anyway). Succinctly, explain what you have to offer, why you think it would sell, and why you are capable of writing a book on whatever the subject is better than anyone else (and list any publication credits you might have, which sometimes carry some weight). Offer to send a sample chapter, and make sure to send a Self Addressed Stamped Envelope. If you get a nibble, follow it up. Get used to being turned down, that's part of the business, and don't take rejections personally. If you absolutely exhaust every publisher you can find who should be or could be interested in your manuscript, but you still believe in it then you could consider vanity publishing, which is paying to have the book published yourself (be aware that means you'll have to sell it yourself, which is undoubtedly a slow, repetative, and frustrating process. If you can sell out a press run of 500 or 1000 copies, you just might be able to interest one of the publishers who rejected your inquiry letters in publishing a second (and substantially larger) second printing under their imprint. Don't worry about style sheet, manuscript formats, and so on until you get a nibble; by then you should have a much better handle on the business, provided you keep doing a bit of research at the library between rejections. Good luck.