Begin at the Beginning

You have a burning desire to write a book. Join the crowd. You might be surprised to learn how many people are writing a book. According to a survey from the Jenkins Group, Inc., a Michigan publishing service firm, 81 percent of Americans feel they should write a book. Jerrold Jenkins, CEO of this group, estimates that more than 6 million Americans have actually written a manuscript—just over 2 percent of the population. As Penny C. Sansevieri, CEO and founder of Author Marketing Experts told me, over 4,500 new books are published every day which amounts to a massive amount of new material entering the marketplace. If you have this desire, how do you begin?

The majority of inexperienced writers will sit down at their computer and pound out their entire manuscript—no matter if it is 40,000 words or 140,000 words. They will begin on the first page and write until the end. It’s a major mistake and wasted effort to follow this course of action. On one hand, these writers should be commended because they took the time, energy and discipline to complete their entire book. Many writers begin with good intentions but stop after completing several chapters, deciding that it’s too much work. If you fall into the category of a person who has completed a manuscript, you should be congratulated on that large amount of effort and energy.

I’ve taught at a number of writers’ conferences around the U.S. and Canada, and I’m often surprised at the number of people I meet who have invested the time and energy to produce an entire nonfiction manuscript—even some people who “should” know better. Several years ago, during a writers’ conference, I arranged a meeting with a leader in a large nonprofit organization (outside of the participants at the conference). We were discussing a possible book project and how we would work together. I explained to him about how the majority of nonfiction books are contracted from a book proposal, not a full-length manuscript.

After our hour-long meeting and just before we ended our session, he turned to me and said, “I have a book manuscript that I wrote last year. How do you suggest I get a publisher?” It was as though he didn’t listen to the previous conversation. Like many people he had found a subject and a need to address in a book. Not locating a book on this subject, this writer began to doggedly write the entire manuscript from first page to the final page. You have to admire his determination but this type of effort is mostly futile. A book manuscript doesn’t contain much of the information or the format for a publisher to make a decision and issue a book contract.

If you are one of those readers who has written a full-length manuscript, then don’t despair. You need Book Proposals That Sell more than ever. With your manuscript in hand, you can use the details in my book to create a book proposal. This proposal becomes the tool you will need to sell a publisher on your manuscript and convince them that they should publish your book.

W. Terry Whalin, a writer and acquisitions editor lives in Colorado. A former magazine editor and former literary agent, Terry is an acquisitions editor at Morgan James Publishing. He has written more than 60 nonfiction books including Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams and Billy Graham. To help writers catch the attention of editors and agents, Terry wrote his bestselling Book Proposals That $ell, 21 Secrets To Speed Your Success. Check out his free Ebook, Platform Building Ideas for Every Author. His website is located at: www.terrywhalin.com. Connect with Terry on Twitter, Facebook, his blog and LinkedIn.