Tag: proposals

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Book Proposals

Don’t Trust Your Spellchecker

            As writers, many people choose the course of least resistance. It’s easy to leave the spelling and grammar in your manuscript to your computer. Then the machine can mark any of these errors, you can go through each one, save it and be finished with that process. In this article, I want to give you some additional actions to make sure you submit the best version of your material before hitting the send button to that editor or literary agent.

            Book proposals require a lot of work, and anything you send to a publisher should be completely error- and typo-free. Here’s some additional steps every professional writer will take to make sure your submission is in the best possible shape. First, set it aside for a period of time—a day or even a few hours before returning to it and then read every line carefully and aloud to yourself. Why take this step to read it aloud? Because the ear is less forgiving than the eye.

            I will print my manuscript, grab a pencil or pen and read through it aloud. As I see something that needs to be changed, correct the paper version of my manuscript. Take the time to read every page of your proposal aloud. I encourage you to review it multiple times, rewrite and make sure every area is complete and your proposal is error free of typos. Also don’t completely trust the spelling checker and grammar features of your word processor. Yes, these feature help but you should not completely trust them.

Recently an author sent a manuscript that I read. When I informed her that it had numerous typographical or spelling errors, she instantly became defensive and said she had spellchecked it numerous times. The English language has many similar words, which your word processor program will not catch. You will have to read and reread your proposal aloud, in order to catch these types of errors.

Here is an example of two sentences that only a person can fix:

The red book was read.

The read book was red.

Each sentence is technically correct, but which one did the author intend to use? Only a person can make this decision and not a machine.

Throughout the publishing industry, there is all this talk about artificial intelligence. In my view you can use it for some things like research and possibly some initial drafts but at the end of the day, the words have to be done in your writing voice. I encourage you to drastically revise and rewrite anything generated from artificial intelligence to avoid any potential conflict.

Consider also taking your proposal to a critique group of other writers. (If you want to learn more about this topic, read my detailed article at terrylinks.com/critique.

Be careful who you let read your proposal, and always take the feedback of family members with a grain of salt.

Ultimately, you are the only person whose opinion on the proposal counts before you send it to a publisher and get their feedback. Some people tend to absorb every positive and negative word from other people. They need to evaluate the comments, take the good ones, and discard the poor ones (purely a subjective call on your part).

After receiving this feedback, make sure you’ve corrected and rewritten every sentence of your proposal and sample chapter to the best of your ability. This type of detailed approach to your proposal will aid in the reception of your materials at the publishing house. Too many proposals and cover letters arrive with missing and misspelled words. Your proposal will rise above the others if you have handled this concern with care and professionalism.

Terry Whalin

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.

Book Proposals That $ell, 21 Secrets To Speed Your Success

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Book Proposals

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.

Terry Whalin

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.

Book Proposals That $ell, 21 Secrets To Speed Your Success
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Book Proposals

Make an Irresistible Proposal

Every author has a challenge with their submission to an agent or editor. How can your proposal become irresistible? Other proposals can be passed over but yours must be presented and kept. One of the magic keys is to include special sales in your marketing plans. I guarantee it will separate your book from others because almost no one talks about this important area of the book market.

Can you come up with a special market for your book that will sell 10,000 to 100,000 copies from the first printing? Does this sound impossible? It’s not. According to Jerrold Jenkins, president of the Jenkins Group in Traverse City, Michigan, the majority of special sales (a special sale is anything outside of the traditional bookstore setting) for books originate from the author who turns up these leads and creative ideas to sell thousands of books. Could your book contain a special back cover with the symbol of the organization and be used as a membership renewal gift? Could it contain a special letter from the president on the first page of the book? These books with a special cover or special inserted letter are called “special sales.”

Book sales have a fundamental problem that has been around since the Great Depression.

Retailers can order your book into the stores (good news for that to happen). But it doesn’t remain on their bookshelves forever. If your book doesn’t sell after a period of time, they can return the book to the publisher (not good news). These returns are charged against the earnings of your royalties. Special sales are never returned! They are guaranteed sales for the publisher and the author. I would encourage you to take some time at the Jenkins Group website and study the various examples of special sales. While these examples might not be exactly like your idea, be creative in your plan and potential for sales and include this plan into your proposal under the category of promotion.

As an editor, I love to locate an author who understands it takes more than excellent writing to sell large volumes of their book. I’ve discovered a book that is a valuable resource for writers in this area called How to Make Real Money Selling Books (Without Worrying About Returns): A Complete Guide to the Book Publisher’s World of Special Sales by Brian Jud (One Square Pub). This book documents that more than half of the books sold are sold through non-traditional channels such as mail order, warehouse clubs and other means.

Have you ever read the sales numbers of a particular book and wondered how that particular book ever sold in the bookstore? Some of those big sales numbers have been outside the bookstore.

How to Make Real Money Selling Books is a valuable resource for any writer to think outside the box.

Jud covers many specific strategies for generating special sales. As you read these strategies, determine which ideas are appropriate for your book, then incorporate them into your nonfiction or fiction book proposal. Including this type of information at the beginning of the publishing process will show your publisher your intention to be proactive in the sales process. Proactive authors who understand how to sell books are attractive authors to any publisher.

Jud’s earlier book, Beyond the Bookstore and his newer title are loaded with current statistics and contact information such as, “Today, the worldwide book market approximates $90 billion. Almost one third of those sales occur in the United States. Over the past ten years, the amount of sales through traditional outlets is decreased by 11 per cent (down 19 per cent without factoring Internet sales), and sales through non-bookstore outlets have increased by 8 per cent.” Three major advantages of special sales include control over your destiny, customization potential and nontraditional market segmentation. If you utilize the information in this book to generate a detailed marketing plan for your book proposal, it will help your proposal stand out from all the others on the acquisitions editor’s desk. Only the author has the passion and intense interest in their book. Use this book to increase your sales and strengthen your book proposals.

If you include even the beginnings of an effective marketing plan in your proposal, you send the following messages to the publisher.

Publishers are looking for authors who have connections to their readers—either through an email list or an active social media platform. In a few seconds, any editor or agent can check your social media on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook or any number of other platforms. If you blog, have you added recent entries? If you podcast, do you have recent programs? Your active involvement in these platforms will be an important part of your proposal. Make sure you include the links and numbers in your proposal. Those numbers with the right publisher could translate into book sales and readers.

Never forget that there are thousands of proposals circulating at a publisher. Your goal is to make your proposal irresistible—and something they have to publish—before a competitor snaps it up.

Terry Whalin

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 below the image). 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.

Morgan James Publishing
Categories
Book Proposals

Create a Fascinating Marketing Plan

Many would-be authors are surprised to see this element in the component of an excellent book proposal. They think to themselves (and some of them verbalize), “I’m not self-publishing my book. Isn’t the publisher supposed to be putting together a market plan with a specific commitment of dollars?”

Here’s the problem

Every publisher has limited marketing and publicity dollars to promote their list of books. The bulk of the money will go to the top authors, and if you are a new author, you can expect that your book will receive minimal treatment—unless you show the publisher that you deserve something different.

I met Jacqueline Deval, publisher at Hearst Books, who has also been a director of publicity at several publishing houses. One of the best resources for authors is Deval’s book called Publicize Your Book!, An Insider’s Guide to Getting Your Book the Attention It Deserves (Perigee Books). From the opening paragraph in the introduction, Deval provides authors with the following realistic expectation:

The reality of book publishing is that there are too few resources to support every book.

This means that some books will get publicity campaigns and budgets while others will go without. Additionally, most publishing houses are not staffed with enough publicists to mount a full-fledged campaign for every book. Because of this, editors must compete with one another to lobby the publisher, and the marketing and publicity departments, for the funds and staff attention to promote their books.

What type of marketing ammunition can you include in your book proposal so your editor can champion your cause? Because of the expense of publishing a book, a publisher will expect you to actively work at marketing your book to your connections. Many writers are stumped about what to include in this section of their proposals, so they write, “I’m willing to do radio, television and print interviews to promote my book.” Of course, you will be willing to do these interviews. If not, you have no business even taking the steps of creating a book proposal and writing a book. Publicizing your book comes with the territory after the book is published.

Other authors will write, “My book should be featured on The Today Show.” Every publisher long for their books to be featured on The Today Show because these appearances help drive books to the bestseller list. The reality is few authors get this opportunity—even though their publisher may try. The producers at The Today Show (or Good Morning America or any other talk show) are bombarded with literally thousands of new books. It’s not realistic to include such plans in your proposal.

To achieve success in your marketing plan, you need to get into a different mind-set.

As Deval says in the first chapter, “An author who thinks like a marketer, and who starts thinking about marketing before the book is even completed, will help the book toward a successful publication. The author is in the best position to offer suggestions for marketing that the house might have overlooked and sometimes to help bridge any difficult internal relationships among the publishing team that might impede the book’s success. (In-house squabbles do happen in business, and while in a just world they shouldn’t interfere with a book’s progress, sometimes they do.) Most important, the author can be the catalyst to motivate a house’s enthusiasm about a book (page 4).”

Deval’s perspective in her book is valuable to anyone writing a book proposal or with a book to be published. As an insider, she understands the stresses and limitations within a publisher. She helps the author come alongside the publisher with creative and cost-effective ideas without being a pushy, high maintenance author (yes, they exist).

Take some time to creatively think about the topic and the book that you propose.

Which specialty groups are potential targets for this book? Do you have a connection to these markets through an organization or network to reach them with your book? If you don’t presently have a connection with the target group, how can you acquire one? You have the passion and drive for your particular topic, and you need to pass this passion on to the publisher. Through the marketing section of your proposal, show the publisher that you understand the marketing for your book and your willingness to be involved.

Terry Whalin

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.

Book Proposals That $ell, 21 Secrets To Speed Your Success
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Book Proposals

Why Publishers Prefer Proposals

When you submit your materials, editors, agents and publishing executives prefer to read a well-crafted proposal instead of a full-length manuscript. For several years, I’ve been an acquisitions editor or the first person to read the proposal or manuscript that comes into the publishing house. I’ve interfaced with the publisher’s existing authors and talked with them about new projects. I’ve also championed many first-time authors’ proposals inside the publishing house, presented them to the publication board (the decision-making body in most houses), worked up the financial figures (an internal document which no one sees outside the publishing house), then negotiated with the author or their agent on the final contract. I have firsthand, insider knowledge about the consideration process and can give you a glimpse at how your proposal will be processed and handled.

As you think about approaching a traditional publisher, keep these points in mind:

If the publisher has been in business for some time, a key and regular part of their acquisition’s strategy is to return to their existing authors (provided these books are selling well) and ask these authors for additional projects.

If a publisher has a book with an author who has been consistently selling in the market, they have less risk of publishing another book from this same author and sell it to the audience. Like many other businesses, publishing is about managing risk. To take a completed 60,000-word manuscript and produce it into a book will cost the publisher anywhere between $25,000 and $50,000. This number isn’t a typographical error. Recently I attended the annual conference of the American Society of Journalists and Authors in New York City. One of the participants on a panel about book proposals was Brian DiForio, a New York literary agent who is a former editorial director for some major publishers. He presented to the conference some even higher production numbers, saying,

“Even with a modest advance of $20,000 to $30,000, the overall costs for the publisher are between $75,000 and $100,000. You are proposing a business decision like any proposal to a bank.”

Brian DiForio

These numbers do not include marketing or advertising expenses nor do they account for a large advance for the author (which increases the risk for the publisher). The number is pure production costs, editorial expenses and design costs for the cover and interior pages of the book.

Publishers make this type of financial investment in an author with care, forethought and wisdom—especially if they want to stay in the book business for many years.

If you are writing nonfiction children’s books, the above figure doubles. When I mention this information at a writers’ conference, I can hear the visible gasps in the room. Many parents have read stacks of 24- or 32-page full-color books to their children. They’ve seen few words on the page and probably believed they could have easily written a better book. They don’t realize, however, that the production numbers for these books can vary from $150,000 to $200,000. The reason for these costs is because when it comes to children’s books, the publisher normally purchases full rights from the artist to whoever owns the artwork in these books. In general, these artists/illustrators do not receive a royalty for their work, only a flat fee, and that price adds to the production expense.

Before I began working inside a book publishing house, I had written more than 50 nonfiction books, ranging from children to adult books. I had always worked through traditional publishers. However, I was unaware of the financial production numbers for book production, and I found it shocking—and something critical for potential authors to understand. The author never sees these figures for their books as the publisher doesn’t reveal them throughout the contract negotiation process. A publisher will produce these financial calculations as simply a part of good business practices. As an author, understanding this helped me see publishing as a business. Authors have huge amounts of time and emotional investment in their words. When I saw these production numbers, I understood that the publisher, not the author, has the largest out-of-pocket cash investment in a book.

Inside the publisher, the editor will gather a sales projection about how many copies the sales department believes they can sell of your title the first year.

That sales figure will be used to calculate the production costs of ink, paper and binding for various amounts of printing (5,000, 10,000 or 15,000 copies). As the initial print number is raised, the cost per book decreases. You may ask, so why not print a large volume each time? The answer is, if the publisher prints a large number of copies, then he has to store those copies in their warehouse (read cost and expense), plus make sure they actually sell those copies within a year’s timeframe. The cost of tying up financial resources in storing and warehousing books can become expensive. Also, the federal government taxes publishers on each copy in storage. These tax rules have forced publishers to think long and hard about how many copies of each book to print.

Inside my former publisher, we calculated the overall printing details of the book (paperback with general publishing look or hardcover with jacket) and the number of books to print before offering a book contract. In short, publishers pour a great deal of work into their books and financial projections before they call you and offer a book contract. Understanding this process helps you see some of the reasons it takes such a long time for an author to receive a publishing contract.

I know I took a brief aside to explain about the inner workings inside a publishing house. Now let’s return to my original point about book acquisition. Often the publisher returns to an author with whom they have already published a book. If the publisher takes a second or third book from the same author, they are investing in that author’s career and trying to build that author’s audience and market. If the author’s books are selling well, then the publisher will be eager for another project. Each week, publishers monitor sales numbers on their books to see if particular authors merit another book contract.

Many writers focus only on the creative aspects of writing a book and getting it published, but the executives inside a publishing house are businesspeople who want to sell books and turn a profit at the end of the day. It’s a delicate balance between creating the best possible product and assuring that each product has the best opportunity to sell into the market and reach the target audience. Book proposals are a critical tool in the decision making process and every writer needs to create one.

Terry Whalin

WW. 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.

Book Proposals That $ell, 21 Secrets To Speed Your Success
Categories
Kids Lit

Somebody Wrote My Story!

Kids Lit

That is my fear each time I search for comparative titles (comp titles) for a book proposal or query letter. Having written and rewritten and critiqued and labored over these precious words, someone out there has had the same idea and already published it!

Most of the time my fears are unfounded, but it is disheartening to hear an editor say, “Oh I love your story, but we just did a book on dressing dinosaurs last year!” At the very least I could have sent it to another publisher. It pays to look at comp titles!

The point of comp titles is to answer for yourself and the potential publisher: if my book sits next to this one on the bookstore shelf (or comes up in a similar online search), why would the potential buyer choose mine?

And even a teeny 181-word book needs comp titles! 

Preparing the proposal for How to Dress a Dinosaur required 10 comp titles. A glance at Amazon told me nobody else had written a board book about dinosaurs getting dressed! So where do you get the comp title if you have such an original idea no one has written it before?

Search online

I did an Amazon search for “dinosaurs” and “board books” there are pages and pages of them! How do I know which are comp titles for How to Dress a Dinosaur?

Publication date 

Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs by Byron Barton, 1994. Rejected: relevant titles must be published in the last five years, better the last two years, or forthcoming.

How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night? Board Book. Blue Sky Press, 2020. Rejected: This is a reprint of a picture book originally published in 2000.

The Hugasaurus. Orchard, 2022. Accepted: note it is about colorful pretend dinos.

Dinosaur, Dinosaur, It’s Christmas. Tiger Tales, 2023. Accepted: note this is a seasonal book.

 Author/Publisher

I’m a Hungry Dinosaur: Rhyming, picture book about Dinosaurs/bedtime reading/dressing up / early readers. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2018. Rejected: relevant title must be published by a traditional publisher (or an imprint of one). 

ABCs of Dinosaur: A Powerfully Prehistoric Alphabet. Cottage Door Press, 2022. Rejected: written by staff writers at a publisher rather than authored.

Triceratops (Hello Dinosaur) Board book – Campbell Books, 2023. Accepted: I did not recognize this publisher but found Campbell Books is a division of Pan Macmillan, the UK base of Macmillan.

Alternative subject: Getting dressed

Let’s Get Dressed. White Star Kids, 2022. Accepted: White Star is a new imprint of National Geographic.

 Squirrel’s Sweater. Beaming Books, 2021. Accepted: noted this is hardback rather than a board book.

Alternative subject: Mother/child relationships

Elmo’s Mommy Day. Sesame Street Board Books, 2023. Rejected: books based on TV shows or cartoons draw their own audience and are not in competition.

 God Sent You With Love: A Story of Unconditional Love. Cottage Door Press, 2022. Accepted: noted it was a quiet bedtime book

Final Comps

Once I had a list of books that may appear on the same shelf, I provide the editor with every reason to see how mine was unique. That means full details on the comp title and how my book is different.

Hello, Dino! Kevin’s Big Book of Dinosaurs by Liesbet Slegers.

Clavis Press, 2023. ISBN: 978-1605378350 Kevin loves dinosaurs. Today, he’s going to visit the dinosaur museum with Mommy and Daddy. Soon, Kevin is even dreaming about these creatures!

Similarities: Both are about toddlers fascinated with dinosaurs.

Differences: How to Dress a Dinosaur shows a mother taking advantage of this dino fascination to dress her child.

For a query letter, the three very best titles are enough and for a full proposal, eight to ten are needed. It is a lot of work, but in the end, you and the publisher will see how unique your book is!

Multi-award-winning author Robin Currie learned story sharing by sitting on the floor, during library story times. She has sold 1.7 M copies of her 40 storybooks and writes stories to read and read again! Robin is happy to note How to Dress a Dinosaur found its unique spot on the publisher’s list!

Categories
Book Proposals

Get Connected to Publishing People

Within the publishing community, who you know is almost as important as what you know. Yes, it is important to pitch an excellent book proposal or manuscript to the right publisher. As an editor and an author, I also understand people buy (books or manuscripts) from people they know, like and trust. How can you know more publishing people? From my years in publishing, one of the challenges is keeping track of the moving people.

            As a writer, I’ve written two proposals which earned a six-figure advance. Years ago, one of my six-figure book deals was cancelled because my New York editor had changed companies. When your editor leaves the publishing house, then your book becomes an “orphan” and as an author you lose your internal champion for your book. Through this hard-earned personal experience, I learned how each book needs an editor who is your champion for the book.

            How does a new author with no connections, begin to get connected to publishing people? Everyone can use a social network which has over 66.8 million active monthly users: LinkedIN. This network is primarily business related and publishing is a business.

To get connected, you need to take several actions:

  1. If you aren’t on LinkedIN then join today and fill out your profile including with your photo.
  2. Rework your LinkedIN profile to show your activity in publishing. Do you write for magazines? Have you published books? Or possibly you have some other explicit publishing role such as leading a local writer’s group. If you have these types of qualifications, then add them to your LinkedIN profile.
  3. Begin to send connection requests to different people in publishing. These people could be book editors, literary agents, magazine editors, authors and many other roles. In some cases, you will want to send them a little personalized message with your connection invitation. In other cases, you simply send out the generic invitation that you want to connect with the person.

For many years, I received LinkedIN invitations and ignored them. I had very few connections on LinkedIN and was not connected. Then I began to look at the background of the person and for most people, I accepted their invitation to connect. My number of connections increased and my public profile says the common “over 500 connections.” The real number of my LinkedIN connections, as of this writing, is over 19,400. I understand the upper limit is 30,000. These connections are varied with many different roles (mostly within publishing) Here’s the critical reason you want to be connected: when I need to reach someone that I’ve not emailed or called in a long-time, I check their LinkedIN contact information.

While there is a lot of movement within the publishing community, when they change positions or companies or physical location, everyone takes their LinkedIN account with them. This account belongs to the individual and is a way to consistently keep up and reach them. I’ve gone decades and not connected with some people, then I use their LinkedIN contact information to reconnect with them for a specific purpose such as I have a new book and would like to have their endorsement. I’ve found I can often reach these publishing leaders through LinkedIN.

LinkedIN has a lot of other functions as well but being connected and maintaining those connections is one of the basics and best reasons to consistently use this network. 

Terry Whalin

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.

Book Proposals That $ell, 21 Secrets To Speed Your Success.

Categories
Writers Chat

Writers Chat Recap for July Part 2

Writers Chat Recap

Writers Chat, hosted by Jean Wise, Johnnie Alexander, and Brandy Brow, is the show where we talk about all things writing, by writers and for writers!

“Because talking about writing is more fun than actually doing it.”

Bullet Journaling: A Map for Your Writing Life with Patricia Tiffany Morris

In this episode of Writers Chat, author, poet, and artist, Patricia Tiffany Morris, demonstrates how to map ideas for traditional (or digital) bullet journals to organize various assets, lists, and projects related to writing. She shares ideas for your schedules and how to make templates from simple pencil and paper to streamline the process. Let’s wrangle those writing tasks one by one and add mindfulness and flair to the management of all things writerly.

Watch the July 19th Replay

Patricia Tiffany Morris sketches ideas while she sleeps, that is, when she sleeps. She encourages others to hope in Christ. An eclectic creative with a geeky-tech affinity and a poet with three names, Patricia adores Pinterest and hashtags but finds Twitter quirky. She owns Tiffany Inks Studio LLC, publisher of Journaling Scribbles. TISLLC provides troubleshooting and artwork services for writers.

Queries and Proposals From the Agent’s Side of the Desk

After several years as an author and marketing consultant for writers, Bethany Jett has joined the Cyle Young Literary Elite agency as an agent specializing in nonfiction for both the inspirational and general markets. In this episode, Bethany discusses expectations of agents of their clients and clients of their agents. Since she is already receiving submissions, she also talks about what she looks for in queries and proposals. Find out what excites her about a proposal and what might cause her interest to wane.

Watch the July 26th replay.

Bethany Jett is a literary agent, author, and marketing strategist who earned top honors in her master’s program, where she earned her MFA in Communications focusing on Marketing and PR. Her motto is “Teach as you go,” which she lives out as the co-owner of Serious Writer, a company that teaches and empowers writers and authors.

Bethany is married to her college sweetheart, and together they’re raising 2 teen and 1-pre-teen! boys. She loves to post on Instagram about #MarketingAndMomLife, and her two fluffy Pomeranians. Connect with her at BethanyJett.com

Writers Chat is hosted live each Tuesday for an hour starting at 10 AM CT / 11 AM ET
on Zoom. The permanent Zoom room link is: http://zoom.us/j/4074198133

Categories
Writers Chat

Writers Chat Recap for May Part 2

Writers Chat Recap

Writers Chat, hosted by Jean Wise, Johnnie Alexander, and Brandy Brow, is the show where we talk about all things writing, by writers and for writers!

“Because talking about writing is more fun than actually doing it.”

The All-in-one Proposal Marketing Machine with Bethany Jett

In this episode, Bethany uses her proposal the 52-week devotional, They Call Me Mom, as an example, which includes social media marketing campaign graphics and resources. We also talk about comparative/competitive titles, the ease of creating graphics with Canva, and discuss revitalizing a back list with social media marketing.

Watch the May 17th Replay

Bethany Jett, a multi-award-winning traditionally-published author, ghostwriter, and marketing strategist who earned top honors in her master’s program, where she earned her MFA in Communications focusing on Marketing and PR. Her motto is “Teach as you go,” which she lives out as the co-owner of Serious Writer. Bethany is married to her college sweetheart, and together they’re raising boys, 2 teen and 1-pre-teen! She loves to post on Instagram about #MarketingAndMomLife, and her two fluffy Pomeranians. Connect with her at BethanyJett.com.

Come Write with Us

In this episode of Writers Chat, co-host Brandy Brow leads an open mic discussion on feeling stiff about writing. She also shares why it is good to stretch ourselves as writers, and then leads two fun writing exercises. For more information, be sure to check out this week’s replay.

Watch the May 24th replay.

Writers Chat is hosted live each Tuesday for an hour starting at 10 AM CT / 11 AM ET
on Zoom. The permanent Zoom room link is: http://zoom.us/j/4074198133

Categories
Book Proposals

Every Book Proposal Needs A Target Audience

For decades, I’ve been an editor meeting with authors and reading their book submissions. Many of these submissions are missing a foundational element: a specific target audience. I’ve read numerous book proposals which proclaim, “My book is for everyone.”

While I’ve written and published many books for traditional publishers, I’d love to write a book for “everyone.” Yet that has never happened. If I am honest, no book is for everyone. Yes, some books reach a broad segment of the reading public, yet every successful writer has a specific target audience. There is an old saying,

“If you aim at nothing, you will be sure to hit it.”

Recently I received an excellent, well-crafted proposal from a business writer. She knew her target reader and was reaching this reader through her on-going marketing efforts (online and in print). While her concept and presentation was fresh and interesting, this author also knew how to test her audience and get feedback. From this testing data, she knew the concepts and stories in her book would meet a reader need. A

proposal where the writer has identified a primary, secondary and tertiary audience is including this foundational material that will attract attention from literary agents and publishers.

In contrast, I’ve also read a proposal from a children’s book author who picked a large age group for their target audience (3 to 12). From the target, I knew this writer had no concept of a particular reader and it showed throughout the pitch.

In particular, children’s books are a segmented market with the words and illustrations targeted to a specific audience. Just walk into any brick-and-mortar bookstore and take the time to study the children’s section. The sections and divisions are clearly marked and are segments every bookstore and library use to divide these books.

While your book may eventually reach more than one target, the proposal needs to be aimed and written to one audience. While literary agents and editors are looking for writers with a target, they also are looking for authors with the ability to reach their target audience. You can reach your target through social media but also an email list, magazine articles, regular speaking, and many other methods.

This audience connection is often called a platform and every writer (fiction or nonfiction) needs to be actively building their audience. I have a free ebook, Platform-Building Ideas for Every Author at: http://terrylinks.com/pb The identification of your audience is the foundation of every book proposal.

know your target

Imagine an archery target. You will have a primary audience (the bullseye) but you will have secondary readers as well (the other circles). The aim and focus of your proposal need to be your target reader. Follow this foundational proposal principle to make your submission standout.

Terry Whalin

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. Get Terry’s newest book, 10 Publishing Myths for only $10, free shipping and bonuses worth over $200. To help writers catch the attention of editors and agents, Terry wrote his bestselling Book Proposals That $ell, 21 Secrets To Speed Your Success. The revised and updated edition will release October 5th. 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 and LinkedIn.

Categories
Book Proposals

Use Social Pressure to Finish Your Proposal

Do you procrastinate when it comes to creating a book proposal? You aren’t alone and it is common among writers. I’ve written a number of proposals and know the hard work which goes into each one. Two of my proposals received traditional publishing contracts with six-figure advances. The potential rewards from creating a book proposal are great—provided you finish it and locate the right editor or literary agent.

            Many writers dream of writing a book. They have partial proposals and sample chapters but have never completed the proposal—much less shown it to an editor or agent. If you are one of these writers, I suggest you use social pressure to complete your book proposal. If you have 300 Facebook friends and write, “This year (or this month or this week), I’m going to finish my book proposal.” You’ve not given many specifics but you have been public about your goal. This social pressure will motivate you to take the next step—finish the proposal. Some of your friends will even call or email you and ask about your progress.

social pressure

            Break the task into small pieces and create a list of steps, as you write each one, then cross them off. Create an achievable goal such as 500 words a day (two pages). Your consistent effort to get the proposal written and in top form will pay off.  Keep moving forward on the project and bit by bit it will get finished.

Years ago I interviewed bestselling novelist Bodie Thoene who has won multiple ECPA Gold Medallion Awards in the Christian fiction category. Bodie sits at her computer hitting the keys with two fingers. She may work until 10 p.m. to reach her goal–at least five finished pages. “No little elves come out of my closet to write 650 manuscript pages,” Bodie says. “Some mornings I don’t feel like writing, but I do it out of obedience to God.”

            “The opening scenes are always the hardest and can take as long as 10 or 20 pages,” Bodie explains. With the opening pages behind her, the writing accelerates until she often completes 20 or more pages a day. While you and I may not be able to write as many pages a day, we can write 500 words or two pages a day. If you do this day after day (consistency again), then you will get it done.

            Also tell your writing goal to an accountability partner of a friend or your spouse. If you miss a day or two or even a week, don’t beat yourself up. Instead return to writing and keep making progress. This year can be your year when you complete your book proposal and your book. With consistent and steady action, you can do it.

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 10 Publishing Myths, 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. He answers to your proposal questions at: www.AskAboutProposals.com. 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 and LinkedIn.

Categories
Book Proposals

Why Do They Torture Us With Homework?

We’ve written the book, isn’t that enough? Now they want us to write a query, a pitch, a proposal, a synopsis! What next?

Every agent and editor understands that the dreaded synopsis or query or full proposal is anything but fun. And yet, it gives them a real look into the author’s actual skills. A quickly thrown together synopsis reveals the inability to follow through. A poorly addressed pitch tells them that the author isn’t really sure what the theme of their novel is at the core. And a badly written proposal indicates a lack of ability to organize or follow directions.

So is the purpose of writing these a test? Not at all. Everything is needed for the agent to convince someone else that the author’s work is worthwhile. If you can’t convince the agent, how will she convince the editor?

So let’s break this down. First, a great pitch will intrigue the agent or editor enough that they will want to read more. It’s like a twenty word hook that simply mesmerizes the individual, lures them to read on. The synopsis is a more detailed look at the entire novel’s outcome, telling the agent that the writer can write an introduction, middle, and ending well. And finally, the proposal gives the agent all of the details that he needs to take this brilliant story to an editor and hopefully have it be picked up.

Yes, it’s homework in a sense. It’s the final chapter to the novel that is needed to sell a work. It’s tedious, but necessary. Torture? Maybe a little bit, but all of us as writers have been there, and we all made it to the other side.

Blessings to you and your writing from one who survived.

Linda S. Glaz is an agent with Hartline Literary Agency, and also the author of eight novels and two novellas, so she “gets” writers. She represents authors in both the Christian and secular communities. She speaks at numerous conferences and workshops around the country each year. Married with three grown children and four grands, she lives in a small town where everyone is family.

Categories
Book Proposals

Use the Holidays to Beat the Catch-22 of Publishing

      From my experience in publishing, editors and agents are often slow to respond to submissions. This time lag grows even worse during the final months of the year because often these professionals are focused on outside activities like sending holiday greetings and special events.

     Yet time is marching on during the holidays. How can you make the best use of this slow publishing season when you feel like your correspondence goes into a black hole? Take this time to be writing and refining your book proposal. Use my book proposal checklist to make sure you are creating what is expected and needed.

     Also use this holiday season to increase your publishing credits and credibility with the editors and agents. As a New York acquisitions editor, I’ve read thousands of submissions. One of the key elements publishing professionals will notice is your publishing experience. But maybe you’ve never published anything or only self-published and your credits are limited. If you are in this situation, it is like when you get your first job. How do you create a job resume when you don’t have any experience? You are stuck and unsure how to do it—which I call a catch-22 type of situation. It’s the same in publishing but you can get around this catch-22 if you publish in magazines. If you have published other books and in magazines, your proposal gains a more careful reading and consideration.

          The best place to gain publishing experience is in print magazines. Magazines are shorter than books and quicker to accomplish than books. Yet in print magazines you learn how to write for a target audience, for a specific deadline and word count—all valuable skills for your book writing. First select some target publications. Use a Writer’s Market Guide (even from your library). Which publications do you read? Study them and see how much freelance material they are using? Craft a query letter or if they allow it, the full article, then submit this material. Then you will be published and your proposals will gain much more attention.

Use the holidays to improve your publishing potential.

W. Terry Whalin is an acquisitions editor at Morgan James Publishing. Get his free Book Proposal Checklist at: http://terrylinks.com/bookcheck Terry is the author of Book Proposals That Sell, 21 Secrets To Speed Your Success  and he has written over 60 books and for more than 50 magazines. He has over 200,000 followers on twitter. http://twitter.com/terrywhalin

Categories
Book Proposals

Book Proposals for Different Genres

“What’s the difference between a fiction book proposal and non-fiction?”

“Do I need the illustrations when I submit my children’s book proposal?”

Join Cherrilynn Bisbano and Caleb Walton for an informative chat. As they answer these and other proposal questions.

 

Cherrilynn Bisbano is an award-winning writer.  She founded The Write Proposal after reading hundreds of book proposals with avoidable errors. These errors cost the author a contract or representation. As a submission reader and junior literary agent, Cherrilynn wants you to succeed.  Her desire is to help you present a professional and memorable proposal.  She has written proposals for Paws for Effect, a Hollywood movie company, and helped edit many proposals.  As the managing editor of Almost an Author, she helped the website earn the #6 spot on the Top 100 best writing websites for 2018 by The Write Life and Top 101 Websites for writers with Writers Digest.

Cherrilynn hosts Genre Chat where she’s privileged to interview expert writers like Jerry B. Jenkins, Cecil Murphy, Michelle Adams and Steven James.

She earned her associate’s degree in communications and continues to study business management.

She is a two-time winner of Flash Fiction Weekly. She’s published in many online magazines and blogs. Cherrilynn contributed to Chicken Soup for the Soul- Miracles, Breaking the Chains, and Heart Reno books.

Cherrilynn proudly served in the military for twenty years, earning the John Levitow Military leadership award.

HOLLAND WEBB

Holland Webb is a full-time freelance copywriter and digital marketing strategist living near Greenville, SC.

His clients are leaders in the online retail, higher education, and faith-based sectors. Holland has written for brands such as U.S. News & World Report, iLendX, Radisson, Country Inn & Suites, MediaFusion, Modkat, Great Bay Home, IMPACT Water, and BioNetwork.

He is a featured writer on Compose.ly, and his copywriting column appears on Almost An Author.

You can reach him at www.hollandwebb.com

CRISTEL PHELPS

Cristel is “Saving the world from bad writing, one project at a time, all while drinking copious amounts of coffee.”

Cristel is part of the Serious Writer team, lending her editing expertise to writers at conferences and online. Mentoring and coaching authors through the editing and proposal process is what makes her shine. She is also a member of The Christian Pen and owner of The Editing House, where she edits manuscripts and other projects for the Christian industry.

Managing editor for Decapolis Publishing in Lansing, Michigan for 7 years.

Editing reviewer for CBA for 5 years.

Editing for Elk Lake Publishing for 4 years.

Deep POV edit is her specialty.

 

 

Categories
Book Proposals

The Why Behind a Book Proposal

No, agents and editors are not sadists. We do not ask you to write an extensive book proposal to torture you; although many say writing a book proposal is harder than writing their book. We ask you for a proposal to help us evaluate three things.

Continue reading “The Why Behind a Book Proposal”
Categories
Child's Craft

Get in Here!

My husband and I recently spent a few days in Napa Valley. We stayed in a quaint Bed and Breakfast on the edge of downtown Napa. I was excited to don my running attire and explore the town that morning and what a beautiful town it was!

The town was built along the river, so naturally restaurants, Inns and condos lined the River Brick walk. I loved the unique restaurants and shops beckoning one to enter. I loved the signs and the dance lessons on the sidewalk. That’s right. A permanent etching in stone demonstrated how to do the Cha-Cha. Loved that. It kind of made me want to do the Cha- Cha.

As I kept running, I noticed a sign pointing into an establishment that read, “Get in Here!” with an arrow pointing the way. By golly, I felt like I needed to get in there.  I believe it was a coffee shop. What was it about those words that summoned me in over all the other inviting signs and establishments? After all, those are the words that an angry parent uses to a child that has done something wrong. That instance may evoke terror. I didn’t feel that at all.

Those words seemed to signify more that something exciting was happening inside that I wouldn’t want to miss. That there was an occasion, an event and I had received an invitation. It seemed to demonstrate that my presence was requested. Whatever I was looking for could be found inside.

Do your books do that? If you write for children, is there something about your book that beckons a child to enter or beckons a parent to want their child to enter into the world your book creates? Is there anything about your book that would cause it to be picked up over another one? If a parent is browsing a book store, would your book stand out to them?

What about your proposals? Is there anything within your proposal that would jump out at an editor or editorial board? They look at gazillions of proposals. What is it about yours that says, “Get in here! You don’t want to miss this!”

Beyond your hook, the ‘specifics’ section of your proposal is where you mention this. Point out what makes your book different. Is there a character that children may relate to? Is there rhyme that catches a child’s ear? A pull-out that children may post on their walls? A lesson hidden within the text that parents may love? Does it evoke an emotion? Cause children to think of others in new lights? Does it highlight a holiday in a new way? Spark an interest in scripture? Does it conjure up parent and child interactions? Perhaps it may cause children to ask more questions?

If you don’t have a hook to draw people in, work on it a little bit more. Look through books that lure you in. What made you pick certain books for your children? What books do they already enjoy and why do you think that is so?

Once your proposal has piqued an editor’s interest, will the story hold her attention? Is your story written well? And by well, I mean perfectly. Editors don’t have time for multiple fixes and rewrites. Send them the already fixed and rewritten manuscript.

Does this manuscript elicit emotions, laughter, spark pleasant memories? Is it creative? Different from other stories out there? How so? This goes in the ‘comparison’ section of your proposal. Note what is already published and why yours still needs to be out there. Do your homework and discover what is already published similar to yours. What does yours offer that the others don’t?

Your proposal and manuscript should both work together to appeal to first the editors and publishing houses and then to the buyers and readers. Both should be written as if to say, “Get in here! You don’t want to miss this!”