Email Your Pitch Before Sending Your Proposal

Before you fire off your proposal to a literary agent or an editor, get permission to send them your book proposal. You will probably email the proposal as a Word document or PDF as an attachment. Publishing professionals are often reluctant to open unknown attachments because they can have computer viruses. Every writer needs to craft a one- page email, you pitch to the agent or editor about your proposal.

Don’t send a book proposal via email unless you first secure permission from the editor.

Send a short regular email first asking about submission before sending any attachment.

First, create an interesting subject for your email. Then begin your email with a compelling question or a statistic or an intriguing statement. Your first paragraph can be the opening paragraph to the overview of your proposal—but your first use is in the pitch to get permission to send the proposal. Editors receive a great deal of email from their authors and publishing colleagues and other people inside and outside of their company. One publishing executive told me that he receives over 300 emails a day. Because this executive occasionally travels and doesn’t check his email for several days, you can imagine the backlog of information he must wade through upon his return. The same situation is true for editors and agents. Many publishers have stopped accepting unsolicited proposals and manuscripts due to the overwhelming flood of poor proposals.

If you do mail your submission, here’s another no-no: do not use colored paper or fancy fonts. No one wants to read material in Bookman Old Style or Lucinda Sans Typewriter—even if your computer has these fonts. You would be surprised at the lengths some people go to get attention with their mailed manuscript. These writers get attention but it’s the negative type. Stick to something standard such as 12 point New Times Roman font.

Also, there is no need to put your proposal in a three-ring binder or use any extra folders or presentation materials. I once received a large manuscript in a notebook binder. The author had punched three holes into every single page of the manuscript, then placed it into the binder and shipped it overnight to my address.

There is no need to include your graduation certificates or your PowerPoint presentations (yes, people send these items to publishers. I’ve seen it firsthand). Also you don’t have to send your proposal by priority mail, Federal Express or overnight delivery. Some people send proposals using this method so they can track it and know that it has arrived on the editor’s desk. This is an unnecessary expense.

While it is completely obvious to me, I need to tell you that your manuscript must be typed.

I had always heard about handwritten manuscripts but despite the hundreds I have reviewed, I had never seen one—until recently. I received an entirely handwritten manuscript (fiction). I found it almost frightening to be holding the single copy of another person’s work—especially in this electronic world. I read it and returned it promptly to the author, so it did not stay long in my possession. Most of my recent book contracts will say that the manuscript is to be delivered to the publisher in an electronic format to save keyboard time. The overall key point is for your submission to be professional and normal—not to stand out because of something unusual. It is your concept, your writing and your storytelling that will make the greatest difference to the editor.

The editor has many other tasks and will not read your material any faster if it is sent overnight. This may gain you a negative reaction instead of a positive one. Only send something rapidly if you have been in touch with the editor in advance and they request it. Frequently email is the best way to submit to editors. If you use the regular mail, print your proposal on plain white paper. It is critical the writing be the focus and not some strange, attention-gathering method which could easily backfire and lead to rejection.

Before you hit send for your one-page pitch, pause and re-read it.

Make sure every word and story is targeted to the right editor or agent. You only get one chance to make a good first impression and it will happen with this pitch letter. I wish you great success to find the right agent or editor.

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.