Brain tumor Deliverance from demons Struggles of being a single parent Death of a child (multiple proposals) Domestic violence Husband announces he is gay Terminal cancer (Multiple proposals) Murder of a family member Marriage book inspired by death of wife with whom writer had been married 60 years Sexual addiction of husband (more than one book proposal) Medical malpractice Chronic illness (multiple proposals) Sexual assault Divorce Coming out of a lesbian lifestyle
Each one represents a person or a family affected in a significant way. When I spend the better part of a day reading these kind of proposals I become numb, not from lack of feeling but from too much feeling. And the hardest part? Saying “no thank you” to these amazing people. “Sorry we cannot offer representation to you.” (The why of this answer is found below.) But the question for today is to everyone who is writing either fiction or non-fiction and drawing from their own experience. What do you do when the book becomes personal? It is your story. Your life. And often it tells how God, in His infinite mercy, has sustained you. So much so that you want to tell others that they are not alone and that God will do the same for them. Write the Book Seems like simple advice, but if you have a story, write it. Getting the words on paper is a way to give substance to the experience. It can be a journey fraught with reliving past pain, but it can also be therapeutic. At the very least it helps to memorialize the events. We often run into people at a conference or in our daily connections who simply need to know how to write a book. Fortunately a writers conference is full of practical instruction, not just about how to publish and sell a book, but how to put one together in the first place. Communicating the story or the experience is the ultimate goal and to do so with excellence and clarity. A task that takes a lot of work and intentionality. Determine Commercial Viability Commercial viability is a fancy way of asking “will it sell if published in the general marketplace?” One must become tough minded when seeking the answer. I wrote a blog a couple years ago asking “Would you buy your own book?” It boils down to the question that publishers have to ask about every project: “Can this book elbow its way into the hearts and minds of readers…and sell enough copies to justify the expense of production and marketing?” To quote the famous sign-off line from an old TV show, “There are eight million stories in the naked city; this has been one of them.” And if that is true, what makes yours the one that will cause a reader to spend $20? There is no shame with the answer being a “no thank you.” It is an answer based on economics not on the validity or worthiness of the story. Are there Alternatives? One of the greatest developments for writers in the past fifteen years has been the reduction in cost to pursue publication independently. A couple decades ago you had to spend $10,000 and have a garage full of books to publish on your own. No longer. With technology like print-on-demand and ebooks, everything has changed. It isn’t “free” to do it right, but the cost can be considerably less. That is one alternative. Create enough copies for family and friends and to fill the back table if you are asked to speak on the topic somewhere. But there is another possibility. Consider re-writing the book. But instead of making it biographical, make it topical. Become an expert on the subject (beyond personal experience) and research/talk with others with similar experiences. Then write a book on the way many people have dealt with this issue. That way the book is not about you. It is about everyone. Your story is one of the ones included. I’ve seen this approach work over and over again with great success. It doesn’t invalidate your experience, in fact yours is enhanced by others to prove the necessity for material on the topic. Another idea is to write the book the way you want…and then put it aside. I know of one author who has created at least four books based on materials found in their first unpublished manuscript. It became a well from which the author could draw. But I Don’t Want to Do it That Way There is much to be said for passion on a topic. And when the story is yours it can also be a calling to tell it to as many people as possible. We understand and say “go for it.” But that may not change whether or not a major publisher or a literary agent will embrace it as something that will be economically feasible. Never forget however, commercial viability is only one reason to write and publish a book, not the only reason. However it is likely the strongest reason a major traditional publisher and a literary agent will get involved.Search Results for: proposals
Your Publishing History: Tell Me Everything
When I review proposals, one element often missing is publishing history. How do I know this? I own a computer. With a Keyboard. And a Search Engine. Guess What? So do All The Editors. Granted, not every proposal piques my interest enough for me to do a search. But when I get that far, I must search your name to see your publishing history whether you have offered it or not. Because believe me, if …
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 …
How Do You Know What Will (or Will Not) Sell?
There is a mysterious magic embedded in the mythos of the publishing industry…the ability to pick successful books. I was recently asked “You say ‘no’ so often, how do you know when to say ‘yes?’” I wish I could claim that every agent and publisher have a secret formula that we consult to know what will sell. Ask any group of us for that secret and we will all laugh because there is no “secret.” …
The Anatomy of the Publishing Cycle
If you ask an editor or an agent “What’s hot right now?” you are too late with the question. The nature of the publishing business is that what you see selling today are books that were conceived, written, published, and marketed over the past couple years or more. That is why we, on this side of the table, avoid making pronouncements on current trends. In some ways the agent and the acquisitions …
Your Conflicted Characters
I am blessed to work with many talented authors with great ideas. Recently one of my clients, Renee Andrews, submitted a wonderful chart outlining her characters’ conflicts. You may have seen similar charts before, but I especially like the way Renee laid hers out: [Character Name] INTERNAL EXTERNAL Goal — What? Motivation — Why? Conflict — Why not? Renee is a very successful author at the …
The Power of a Referral
It was recently pointed out that a number of agencies will not accept unsolicited proposals. Instead they state, in their guidelines, that they only take proposals via referrals or from meeting someone at a writers conference. Our agency continues to keep the doors open to any and all who send material following our guidelines. It can be a challenge to read all the incoming proposals but I …
Why Does it Take Editors and Agents So Long to Read my Proposal?
Recently a writer posted this question: “I submitted a proposal to a publisher 6 months ago. The guidelines said that a response would be provided at the end of 4 months. At the end of 5 months I sent an email query to confirm that they had actually received the submission- still no response. Now I am at the end of 6 months…Do I give up?” I wish I had a magic wand to solve this problem for …
Interviews Made Easy
Writers had a lot of things going for them, but, generally speaking, there is one thing that can work against them when it comes to doing interviews… Writers tend to be introverts. So why does that work against you? Well, most interviewers will tell you that the #1 thing they avoid is dead space. You know, those painful moments of utter silence when nobody can think of anything to say. Or when …
Healthy Brain Food
In this social media-saturated world where everyone seems to have an opinion about everything, it is very important to quickly determine those voices you pay attention to and those you tune out. When it comes to the book publishing business, I narrow down who I pay attention to simply because I am convinced my head would explode if I listened to everyone. Probably because the end-product of book …