Cast a vision of Your Book

As the writer of the proposal (and eventually the book), it is your responsibility—not the editor’s or publisher’s—to create the basic vision for the book. It’s much easier to change a suggested format or length than to create it in the first place.

Many people fail to include this specific information in their book proposals.

What does your book look like? Is it 40,000 words or 140,000 words? When I’ve called authors and asked for this information, they often reply, “Well, what size of book do you need?” As an editor, I hesitate to give this size or cast this vision. I’ve been a writer for too many years and know that whatever vision I would cast, the author would tell me, “That’s exactly what I was thinking,” whether they were thinking such a thing or not, because of their eagerness to sell the manuscript.

It is the responsibility of the author to cast the vision for the book and project a word count and finished length. To help you cast this vision, let me tell you that most standard 200-page paperback books are about 50,000 to 60,000 words. Many beginning writers are hesitant to give such a number because they’ve never written a long book. Others include a smaller number like 25,000 or 30,000 words. This size is not attractive to many publishers as it produces a small, thin book.

Why is thickness a factor? Walk into any bookstore and look specifically at the number of books displayed with the cover face out on the bookshelf. You’ll find only a few. It’s mostly a space issue with the bookstore owner. More books can be stocked if they are spine out from the bookshelf. A 25,000-word nonfiction book will not have much of a presence in the store with the spine out and it will easily be lost on the shelf.

Your proposed vision for the book should be something a large number of publishers could produce.

Many writers tell me, “I want the publisher to decide how big the book will be.” Then they say with pride, “I’m flexible.” To be “flexible” will not cut it with the editor. You are the expert on this particular topic and subject matter; it’s why the publisher is paying you an advance and investing a great deal of money to produce your book. You have a responsibility to envision the length of your book. How many words will you need to completely cover your selected topic?

This number is critical to a successful book proposal as the editor uses this proposed word count to project the number of pages in the published book. Then he works with the production personnel to run the production numbers. These numbers are put into the Performa or spreadsheet document that gives the complete financials on the book. The author never sees these numbers, but based on these figures, the editor has parameters for offering an advance on the royalties of the book and the percentage for royalties.

Without the author’s word count, the editor can’t accomplish this important function—or he takes a wild guess at the number which could be substantially wrong. These financial figures are used for much more than simply your project inside the publishing house. They are used for annual budget projections for the editorial area and other places. While seemingly a small issue, these financials figure into other areas inside the publishing house.

Beyond the word count or length of the manuscript, you also need to provide a delivery date.

It is important to remember the word count with nonfiction because the entire manuscript is not complete. You have written only the proposal and a chapter or two of the project. How long will it take you to write the remainder of the book?

When I have approached authors about this question, they ask me, “When do you need my manuscript?” It’s a trick question that your editor cannot answer for you. You are the only person who knows the demands on your time and energy during the coming months and how quickly you can write the book. This timeframe is different for every person because one person writes several thousand words in a day while others may only be able to write several hundred words a day.

Why is the completion date important?

Because whatever date you tell the editor for completion, will go into your book contract. This date sets off a chain of events throughout the publishing house (production, marketing, sales and editorial). A detailed schedule of events and benchmarks to produce the book is created and various people are held accountable for the scheduled events—events that are unknown to the authors. Authors are notoriously late; however, a late manuscript can cause delays that could hinder the success of your book.

If during the contract process, you agree to submit your manuscript in six months or eight months or twelve months, then your editor will be expecting your manuscript on time. If you deliver your manuscript a month late or two months late (it happens more often than you would know), you will throw off all the internal plans the publishing house is making for your book, plus the assigned freelance editor will have their schedule thrown off. You will set off a chain reaction that can and will influence the effectiveness of your book sales.

Also, the marketing will be affected regarding your manuscript delivery date. The publishing world has several trade magazines such as Publisher’s Weekly, Library Journal and Christian Retailing. Each of these publications has a slightly different audience, but they all select books to be reviewed and highlighted to booksellers (always an important market for authors). The submission deadlines are months in advance of the release date for a review of your book to appear in these key trade magazines. If your publisher doesn’t have your manuscript, then your book will not be one of those submitted to the trade magazines for review and you will miss a key marketing opportunity. Almost every magazine works four to six months in advance of the cover date printed on the magazine. The marketing department of your publisher is aware of these due dates and needs to have your book manuscript in order to make the greatest possible impact.

You don’t want to bear the responsibility of your book not being properly marketed or sold into the stores because you missed your book deadline by one or two or even three months. Be thoughtful about it and don’t give yourself a deadline for delivery that will be impossible to achieve. Set a reasonable due date which will work for you. It’s a key part of your responsibility with the vision casting for your book.

W. Terry Whalin, a writer and acquisitions editor lives in California. 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. Get a free copy of his proposal book (follow the link). 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.