- Who do you know in the industry who’ll vouch for you?
- What are you doing on social media to reach out to existing and potential fans?
- What is your publishing history, if applicable? Please provide sales figures. This includes indie published works.
- Where will your book fit in with the rest of the books on the market today?
Search Results for: rejection
Enjoying the Journey of Publishing
The issue of competition requires regular reminders to everyone who is currently working or desires to be part of the book industry, so I am walking in the same footsteps of previous posts. An element of competition is involved in every aspect of publishing, down to the smallest detail. One need not be obsessed or discouraged by the competitive environment, rather the opposite, with eyes wide …
Is Book Publishing Fair?
Anyone who has been around young children has heard their cry of protest, “That’s not fair,” when some sort of consequence is meted out for misbehavior. In reality, what is being objected to is fairness, as consequences were spelled out ahead of time and known to all. Parent: “One more word about this and you will go to bed without dinner.” Child: “Word.” Parent: “OK, to your room you go…no …
The Credibility Gap
This was a tough post to write. I felt at times that I was arguing with myself on these issues, but maybe in today’s “journey” through the topic of author credibility you will sense the struggle that Christian authors confront and maybe some truth with be revealed in the process. If you were a mathematics professor at a junior college and had a revolutionary insight related to something about …
Mistakes Writers Make in their Queries
The pile of unsolicited proposal, queries, and manuscripts (both email and physical mail) is an unending source of delight and frustration. Delight when an amazing idea from an amazing writer arrives like a special holiday gift. Unfortunately that doesn’t happen as often as I would like. Instead there is a litany of things authors do time and again. If writers would treat their query or book …
Publishing Acronyms
After being in an industry for a while there is a natural tendency to speak in code. Acronyms flow freely and can be a foreign language to those new to the conversation. Below is an attempt to spell out some of the more common acronyms in the publishing industry and some specific to the Christian publishing industry. They are grouped by topic in a rudimentary way but in no particular order. If …
Tossed by the Ocean of Emotion
It is hard to be a writer or to work in the publishing industry. Everyone defines success differently and we strive to meet those expectations at every turn. Often we let “success” define us, especially when a writer is told “You are only as good as the sales of your last book.” Or an agent is told, “You are only worth the value of your last contract.” Henri Nouwen, in his book The Return of the …
Actually, It Is Whether You Win or Lose
If you set out to discover how people feel about the issue of competition, you will find yourself walking knee-deep in philosophical, psychological, neo-political and even religious opinion. You will find it a rather polarizing issue. On one extreme are people who feel like competition is bad because there are winners and losers and no one should ever be made to feel like a loser. Ever. On the …
Bad Reviews
This post isn’t about what you think. I am not going to address how to handle the emotional sting of a bad review. Instead, I am going to talk about those closest to you, showing how your friends and family can hinder your writing career. If you cannot stand the thought those you love may be undermining your career, stop reading now and go make yourself a smoothie and relax. For those of you who …
The Great Slot Mystery
Every traditional publishing company has a personality or focus that defines them and their product. Usually that personality or focus is determined by past success. They also know how many books they can effectively publish during a year. Combining focus and capacity, you have the beginnings of a publishing strategy. No publisher (or for that matter any company) will succeed for long unless they …