Stepping stones, ladders and bridges.
Start small work your way up. Take care of the little things and the big things will take care of themselves. Climb the ladder one rung at a time. Get your foot in the door and the rest will follow. Well worn platitudes all. But what does it have to do with writing?
Dee
I would start by saying that there is no typical day.
That is the fun of it!
I never know if a phone call, an email or a letter will change someone's life for the better forever, make me able to dazzle by realizing a dream, or if the day will hold nothing but complaints and almost-offers that fizzle to nothing when an eager editor takes the project "to the board..."
I never know when I open a manuscript box and start reading if this manuscript holds infinite promise or will send me to sleep a few pages in. When a colleague steps into my office, I never know if I will have to help problem-solve or share in a triumph.
When I go to a meeting or a lunch date with a publisher or an editor, I never know if our conversation will offer me the link I have been wanting for a hard-to-place manuscript, or reveal a hobby that immediately speaks to a manuscript sitting on my desk to await resubmission.
Sometimes I make a new friend and hurry back to the office, energized and ridiculously optimistic.
Sometimes a difficult lunch meeting resembles nothing so much as playing tennis with a dud tennis ball. I patiently keep lobbing out the shots and the ball keeps falling flat at my feet. So I keep lobbing and smiling and munch on my lunch and heave a sigh of relief as I make my way back to the office.
I guess my typical day consists of answering emails, listening to my colleagues, proffering advice when asked, responding to correspondence and phone calls, soothing troubled spirits and castigating the tardy, running through the office to show off a wonderful jacket design that has just come in and making persistent and unwelcome phone calls about the jacket that the author and I hate and that the editor and the sales force love.
Yes, negotiating comes into it and offers its own challenges and rewards, as does the painstaking review of new contracts, as does the day-to-day runningof the business.
Manuscripts are strictly read in home time, evenings or weekends, and rarely encroach on the busy work of the day and the constant effort to wrestle the persistent avalanche of input into something resembling order.
Bored? Never!
Glamour? Rarely.
Multi tasking? The name of the game!
Disappointment and exhaustion? Par for the course.
But nothing beats the wild pleasure and satisfaction of being able to call an author with a good deal that I know will surprise and delight. (And they have usually gone away for a couple of weeks and forgotten to leave a forwarding address...)
In the end, that is what it is all about.
In the end, that is the joy that lies hidden in the relentless demands of every day, none of which is ever typical!
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Dee Power is the author of The Making of a Bestseller: Success Stories from Authors and the Editors, Agents and Booksellers Behind Them and the novel, Over Time, A letter travels thousands of miles and through 20 years to reunite four friends and throw the game
In non-fiction he specializes in narrative non-fiction, popular science, spirituality, history, biography, pop culture, business and technology, parenting, health, self help, music, and food. He is a "sucker" for outstanding writing. In fiction he represents literate thrillers, crime fiction, science fiction and fantasy, military fiction and literary fiction.
Well the joke has it as: make phone call, open check. Actually, one of the things I love about my job is that no day is exactly the same. It is a job that involves constant reinvention in order to stay abreast of the needs and demands of the times which are ever changing. Currently we're dealing with editors who take longer than ever to respond, companies who take longer than ever to pay, and faint rumblings from various quarters that the publishing industry is in its latter days -- something I don't believe. However, the approaching shadow of the electronic revolution is looming. and the role of an agent and the industry itself is undergoing -- or soon will undergo -- a profound change.
I start my day about 9:30 am by going over telephone and email messages from overnight. A lot of publishing, perhaps as much as 50% now is conducted electronically. I do some book-keeping, go over contracts, transact foreign business because of the time difference (the end of their day is usually the beginning of mine), attend a weekly staff meeting and chat with my assistants about ongoing projects, like developing sub rights leads for likely agency titles and so forth. Often there is a lunch date with an editor that lasts from 12:30 to 2:30pm where we get a feel for how and whether our tastes match. A good lunch can be defined by the editor wanting to see some of our current projects, and a sense that maybe a client will find a good home with this person. Agenting, more than anything, is about matchmaking and deal-making material that you care strongly about.
In the afternoon I catch up with lunchtime messages, make submissions and get them ready to be mailed. (Most submissions are still made on hard copy.) Make calls to editors to boost them along in their reading tardiness, and then I call Hollywood agents, and clients towards the end of the day.
Sometimes there are drinks meetings after work, though in my case I have a wife working in the theatre and a 3 1/2 year old, so I don't do a lot of after work events these days. Once my kid and I have had supper together and read some stories it's time for him to go to sleep. I unwind for an hour or so and at about 11 pm I start reading manuscripts and proposals for a while.
One day soon I hope to start work on a new novel. Wouldn't that be a kick . . .
The agent said yes to the query letter!
The agent will let you know what they want to see. Even with an affirmative response, they don’t always ask for a full manuscript. A nonfiction book hasn’t been written yet in most cases, so there isn’t a manuscript to send. What publishers and agents will ask for is a proposal for your nonfiction book.
A Nonfiction Book Proposal.
Concept:
A brief, no more than one page description about why your book is unique.
Market:
Who will buy your book and why. Include the demographics of your potential readers and how many of them there are. If you can, quote statistics, such as baseball is the most often viewed sport on TV with x million people watching. Or x number of people attend arts and crafts shows a year. Or $xxx dollars of revenues are generated by customers buying garden tools. Whatever is relevant to your book’s topic.
Competition:
Similar books that have been published in the last year or that will be coming out soon. You can get an idea of soon-to-be published books by going to amazon.com, and searching under key words. When you get a listing of books that you think are similar to yours, then rank by publication date.
Include the title, author, ISBN, and a brief description. Then state why your book is better or what your book addresses that the competition doesn’t.
Go to the library and read currently available books you feel are competitive to yours. Again include the title, author, ISBN, and a brief description. Then state why your book is better or what your book addresses that the competition doesn’t.
All books have competitors.
Promotion:
What you will do for promotion. How will you market your book? Be specific. If you are willing to give seminars or speak at events, try to line up a few. Publishers want authors that actively market their own books. This doesn’t mean that you have to spend money, but it does mean you have to expend effort.
About The Author:
Pretty self explanatory. What makes you the best author to write this book. This is not a resume; include what is relevant to the topic of the book. If you have previous books published list them, with a short description.
Media Placement:
Any newspaper or magazine articles you’ve been featured in. Include articles that you’ve written and have published. Offline, hard copy publications are better than online. Online is better than nothing. Plan ahead and in the months while you’re working on your book proposal see if you can get a few articles placed. If you have just a few, include clippings. If you have more than a few, list the publication, date, title of the article. Writing a book makes you an expert in the eyes of the media, but you have to let them know you’re available.
Endorsements:
If you can get a well known authority figure, expert, celebrity or author to give you an endorsement, or to commit to an endorsement, it puts you ahead in the game.
Chapter Outline or Synopsis:
Two to four pages. Each chapter is listed and the subheadings with a brief description, a paragraph or two explaining what will be included in the chapter.
Sample Chapter:
It doesn’t have to be the first chapter. Pick the chapter you’re most excited to write, or that you are the most knowledgeable about. The editor will judge the quality of your writing by this chapter.
The proposal not including the sample chapter can run from 10 to 20 pages.
Resources:
Write the Perfect Book Proposal: 10 That Sold and Why, 2nd Edition, Jeff Herman, Deborah Levine Herman.
Nonfiction Book Proposals Anybody Can Write: How to Get a Contract and Advance Before Writing Your Book, Elizabeth Lyon, Natasha Kern
Thinking Like Your Editor: How to Write Great Serious Nonfiction--and Get It Published, Susan Rabiner, Alfred Fortunato
Dee Power is the author of The Making of a Bestseller: Success Stories From Authors, and the Editors, Agents and Booksellers Behind Them, Attracting Capital From Angels, Inside Secrets To Venture Capital and the novel, Over Time. You can reach her through her website, http://www.BrianHillAndDeePower.com
A conversation with W. Terry Whalin
W. Terry Whalin understands both sides of the editorial desk--as an editor and a writer. He worked as an editor for Decision and In Other Words. His magazine articles have appeared in more than 50 publications including Writer's Digest, The Writer and Christianity Today. He is the creator and webmaster for Right-Writing.com.
Terry has written more than 60 nonfiction books and his latest is Book Proposals That Sell, 21 Secrets To Speed Your Success (Write Now Publications). Another recent book is Running On Ice: The Overcoming Faith of Vonetta Flowers (New Hope Publishers). See more about his writing at: www.terrywhalin.com. For more than 12 years Terry was an ECPA Gold Medallion judge in the fiction category. He has written extensively about Christian fiction and reviewed numerous fiction books in publications such as Faithful Reader.com and BookPage. He is the Fiction Acquisitions Editor for Howard Books. On a regular basis, he writes about the Writing Life. Terry and his wife, Christine, live in
Terry, thank you so much for taking time to share with us today. Getting published can be a challenge.
How important is an author’s platform?
To the editor, an author’s platform or visibility in the market can be the critical deciding factor whether they will publish your book or reject it. It’s not the only factor because the editor will also consider your writing (nonfiction or fiction) but it can be the critical element in the consideration process—whether you get a rejection letter or a book contract. Another essential step for the author is to understand how publishing executives make these decisions. In Book Proposals That Sell, I give authors a window of insight into how these discussions take place and how editors consider book ideas.
While writing is a creative endeavor, publishing is a business and the executives at a traditional publishing house are looking at your submission and judging what will make your book sell to readers. What level of expertise do you have about the topic of your book (fiction or nonfiction)? Have you written magazine articles? Do you speak on the topic? Do you have a following? Do you have a newsletter list? An author’s platform is the sum total of these types of elements and the estimation whether there is a big enough market for your book.
Now if you don’t have these elements, don’t be discouraged. Instead, figure out how you can build them. I suggest you Google the words “author’s platform” and begin reading different articles about how to build your presence in the marketplace. It will help you in the process of submitting to publishing houses. Beyond proving with your prose that your book should be published, you have to prove to the publisher that you will be a partner with them in selling the book and getting it into the marketplace. Your answer to these concerns should be your platform. One of the best articles that I’ve read recently about this matter was in The New York Observer from June 2006: http://tinyurl.com/fbvu4 and as a second resource, study this article from Annie Jennings PR with a Powerful Platform Checklist: http://tinyurl.com/j3wgl and finally, Annie Jennings PR will send you a free CD on the topic called Create A Powerful Platform. You have to fill out a request form at: http://tinyurl.com/zqgfg.
Your Secret #10 Get High Profile Endorsements, how can an author do that when the book hasn’t been written yet?
I know it sounds backward from your expected path. You would expect to write the book then get the endorsements. As an acquisitions editor, I’ve presented book ideas to a room full of skeptical publishing executives and sometimes what turns the discussion from a no to a yes are the endorsements for the author. Who is in your personal network of friends and business relationships? Is there anyone who is well-known or high profile? If so, can you get a few words from this person about you? Or can you draft some “possible words” for this high profile person to change or OK?
Every single one of these high profile authors or celebrities or business people are regularly asked for these words of endorsement. Your task as the author is to do everything possible to make it easy for them to say “yes.” Often the author will “draft” something for the person. You’ve made it easy for the other person to handle and say yes. One of the best examples in this area comes from self-published author Jacqueline Marcell. If you google her name, you will learn this author has been on the Today Show, CNN and many other venues to promote her book, Elder Rage. Read this article but don’t just read it—study it: http://snipurl.com/Elder and here are some of her endorsements for the self-published book: http://www.elderrage.com/Review.asp Marcell’s persistence and hard work paid off and you can do it too. If you get such lines of endorsement, it may tip the balance so your book gets published and someone else’s idea gets rejected. If you gather such endorsements, it will distinguish your proposal from the others in the editor’s consideration stack.
Should authors query literary agents first or just send the entire proposal?
I’ve heard this question many times—and it implies something that I’d like to answer first. Writers are always looking for a single answer or one way to approach agents or editors. There isn’t one single path. The business is a mixture between of creative and craft. Now if you want to get rejected, the most certain way to accomplish a pile of rejections is to fire the same material to each agent. Instead you want to target the preferences (likes and dislikes) of an agent. Do your homework and study the agent’s website and know what kinds of clients they prefer. A little research will go a long way to assuring your connection with the right agent for your work. Also make sure you are working with a legitimate agent—anyone can hang out an agent shingle and there are plenty of crooks who represent themselves as literary agents. Follow the advice in this article about the
One of the best ways to get an agent is to make a great first impression—whether you query or send your proposal or meet with them in person at a writers’ conference. Your opening paragraph or first few minutes of a face to face meeting are your best shot so make sure you take it. Too many authors don’t spend enough time on their query or their book proposal. To learn more about crafting a great query, here’s an article from literary agent Noah Lukeman loaded with wise advice: http://snipurl.com/greatquery One of the best ways to get a top agent’s attention is with a well-crafted book proposal: http://snipurl.com/bkprosell
What is the most critical mistake authors make in nonfiction book proposals?
After reading hundreds of proposals, my answer may sound a bit simplistic yet true. In their eagerness and enthusiasm to get published, writers fire off to the editor a half-baked, incomplete book proposal which is missing a critical element and incomplete. For every element of publishing, whether it’s a magazine article or a press release or book proposal or you fill in the blank __________, one of the most difficult things to find is the missing element. How do you proofread something which isn’t there? It’s hard to think about the complete package and make sure it is really complete.
As an editor, some times I’ve called authors when they are missing some element—for example their word count. Excited to talk with a real editor, the author will answer my question with a question, “How long do you want the book? I’ll write whatever you need.” That’s the wrong answer because you are “the expert” in your subject. How long do you need for this book and what’s your vision for it? If you don’t have a big picture vision, then you do the necessary work to get one—before submitting your proposal. Use a checklist to make sure you’ve covered all of the expected elements. I include a checklist in Appendix A of Book Proposals That Sell.
If you need an extra day or two or week to complete your proposal, take it and send a complete package. You will not regret that extra polish and the editor will take your submission with increased interest.
By the time a book is published, it has been in the works for 12 to 18 months, how can an author know what trends are hot when there is such a long lead time?
What type of book are you writing and what is your goal for the book? Do you want to be “trendy” and a flash in the pan or do you want to write a book which stands the test of time? My goal as an author is not to catch the latest wave or trend but to write a book which will steadily sell for years to come and be a bright star on my publisher’s backlist. As an editor, I also look at books in the same way. I’m eager for the book to be relevant for the reader in five years as well as during the months the book is first released.
If you are trying to catch a hot trend with your book, then you will be frustrated. Yes, you need a hook for your book with the media and when the book releases. This hook can be tied to the trend for your release. Also understand your book marketing plans aren’t cemented in stone but can be reworked and shifted as needed. The publisher has plans but those plans change and are fluid. As the author, you should have the same flexibility.
Nothing in publishing is guaranteed. I have a simple philosophy: All You Can Do Is All You Can Do. Yes, you have to use wisdom to work smart and not hard but your task as the author is to write the best possible book for your reader. Then as the book releases into the market—and long beyond that release—work with your publisher to reach your audience for the book. It’s not a one-time effort but an on-going effort. Some books take several years of effort before they show up on any bestseller list. Yes, they appear to be an overnight success—which was years in the making.
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Thanks Terry.
Tomorrow More about agents.
