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Home » book proposals

book proposals

Who Decides to Publish Your Book?

By Steve Laubeon May 1, 2023
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The editor you met with at a writers conference liked your proposal and asked you to send it to her after the conference. She was already talking about format and promotional ideas. Or you submitted a proposal and received an enthusiastic response from the acquisitions editor. Four (or maybe six to eight) months later, a rejection letter showed up in your inbox.

What happened?

No matter how much editors like potential books, they don’t have the final say in sending contracts. A lot of other people are involved in the decision of whether to issue a contract or a rejection letter.

Before becoming an agent, I worked 11 years as an acquisitions editor and later as an editorial director for Bethany House Publishers. Most publishers have two physical board meetings to help make the decision of whether or not to publish a book. This process varies from publisher to publisher; each company has its own name for its board meetings. Thus, many authors get confused when hearing different labels.

Some rejections state that “the book did not get past the committee.” This statement can mean a lot of things. It could even mean it didn’t get past stage one below. So take a comment like that with a grain of salt, or at least get clarification if you wish to know how far your book actually went in the process.

Let’s look at the usual stages your proposal goes through in this process (presupposing that you already have a literary agent who has helped you craft your proposal so it will get reviewed by the right person at the right publisher):

Stage One: Editor

The first stage is with the editor one-on-one (usually via email). This editor must decide which book projects he or she wants to sponsor to colleagues. Most rejections happen at this desk. Rarely does anyone else in the company see the rejected proposal at this stage. Some junior editors may show it to a senior editor, but not in a formal presentation meeting.

Stage Two: Editorial Board

The second stage is the editorial board. Editors gather together and pitch their discoveries to one another and to their editorial director. The editors create consensus for the project and occasionally brainstorm a different direction for it. If you get approval at this stage, many editors will call the agent or you and tell you the good news. But this is only a midlevel step.

Stage Three: Publishing Board

The third stage is the publishing board meeting (aka pub board). This is the biggie. Again, each company operates differently, so consider this description as a generalization. In this meeting are the company executives, presidents, vice presidents, sales and marketing teams, and editorial representatives. I’ve heard of these meetings having as many as 20 people in attendance. It is likely closer to 10 at the most.

Most editors have worked hard prior to this meeting. They have put together official documents that show the projected sales and profitability of the project. Likely they have already gone to the sales department and received a sales projection. Some go as far as gathering printing bids for the book prior to the meeting. Each member of the committee receives the proforma (profit/loss projections) and a copy of the book proposal. (I can’t emphasize enough the power of a top-notch proposal.) The executives receive this information before the meeting, but not all of them are able to read it in advance.

It is at this meeting where every objection possible is thrown at the book. Participants come up with reasons why this idea is a failure and why it should never be published. The discussion can be brutal. The editor is the advocate who defends the book against objections. If it survives this gauntlet, it will likely survive the general marketplace. In my time at Bethany House, each project took a minimum of 15 minutes to present and receive rejection or approval. But some discussions lasted an hour.

There were times I went into the meeting expecting smooth and easy acceptance and, instead, got rejected. Other times I thought, This one may not succeed; but it ended with approval. An editor considers it a good day when 80 percent of what he or she presents in the pub board meeting gets approved.

Reasons for approval can be everything from pure economics to personal agendas by an executive. If that executive loves the topic, he can push the rest of the meeting toward approval. If everyone is tired and cranky, then the proposal may be doomed for publishing success. This is a subjective business; nowhere is that more apparent than in the pub board meeting.

At this stage, the editor has company approval for the book. Some publishers authorize the contractual parameters in this meeting. Others have to have a separate meeting with the finance department.

But now is usually when the editor calls you or your agent with the good news. Negotiations begin on the contract, and you are on your way to your next published book.

Originally published in Advanced Christian Writer, September/October 2005. Revised 2009, 2015, and 2023.

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Category: Agents, Book Proposals, Career, Get Published, Pitching, The Publishing Life, The Writing LifeTag: book proposals, Get Published, Publishing Decision

Book Proposals I’d Love to See (What Tamela Hancock Murray Is Looking For)

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon January 19, 2023
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(Updated 1/19/2023) I’m thankful to the Lord that I’m a literary agent working for Him in Christian publishing. I’m grateful to the readers of this blog for being part of our writing community. As for approaching me with your work, let’s see if our passions match: Christian Romantic Suspense and Suspense Readers of Christian romantic suspense and suspense are a large and devoted …

Read moreBook Proposals I’d Love to See (What Tamela Hancock Murray Is Looking For)
Category: Agency, Book Business, Book Proposals, Career, Craft, Creativity, Romance, Trends, Writing CraftTag: Agency, book proposals

What I Am Looking For (Dan Balow)

By Dan Balowon January 18, 2023
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(Updated 1/18/2023) One of the great challenges for any agent is to figure out what publishers might be looking to publish. But it gets even more complicated when you consider they are looking for books to publish a year or more into the future. Add on the time it takes to write a book and get it ready to publish, and we are all in the guessing game of what people might want to read in 2024 and …

Read moreWhat I Am Looking For (Dan Balow)
Category: Agency, Book ProposalsTag: Agency, book proposals

Bring the Books (What Steve Laube Is Looking For)

By Steve Laubeon January 16, 2023
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Read moreBring the Books (What Steve Laube Is Looking For)
Category: Agency, Book Proposals, Creativity, TrendsTag: Agency, book proposals

4 Questions a Fiction Proposal Must Answer

By Steve Laubeon August 1, 2022
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Last week we dealt with five questions a nonfiction proposal must answer. As promised, we now turn to those who are putting together a novel proposal. If you compare these two posts, you’ll see why a one-size-fits-all proposal template isn’t always helpful. There are differences between the two types of proposals. Please try not to shoehorn a novel proposal into a nonfiction presentation. What Is …

Read more4 Questions a Fiction Proposal Must Answer
Category: Book Proposals, Get PublishedTag: book proposals, fiction, Get Published

5 Questions a NonFiction Proposal Must Answer

By Steve Laubeon July 25, 2022
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All novelists will have to wait until next week’s blog which will address fiction proposals. Today’s topic is nonfiction. What is the Big Idea? Trying to find something unique and never before addressed in book form is nearly impossible. But each proposal needs to be clear what the book is about. You’d be amazed how many proposals I’ve seen where they try to hide the “pay-off.” If the book is …

Read more5 Questions a NonFiction Proposal Must Answer
Category: Book Proposals, Get PublishedTag: book proposals, Get Published, Non-Fiction

Hints for a Great Cover Letter

By Steve Laubeon June 13, 2022
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Here are a few suggestions for you to consider when approaching an agent. Remember to use these as hints…do not follow them slavishly as if a literary agent is going to spend their time critiquing your cover letter.

By the way, we make a distinction between a cover letter and a query letter. A cover letter is what goes on top of a longer proposal and sample chapters. The query letter is a …

Read moreHints for a Great Cover Letter
Category: Book Proposals, Get Published, Publishing A-Z, Writing CraftTag: book proposals, Cover Letter, Pitching

Two Mistakes Made in Some Book Proposals

By Steve Laubeon May 2, 2022
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by Steve Laube

Putting together a great book proposal takes a lot of work. I suggest writers look at them as if they were a job application, and they are. You are trying to get someone to pay you to write your book via a stellar "job application" or book proposal.

But every once in a while we get something that is not going to work, for obvious reason. Here are two mistakes:

1. Divine …

Read moreTwo Mistakes Made in Some Book Proposals
Category: Book Proposals, Get Published, PlatformTag: book proposals, Get Published, Platform

When Your Proposal Doesn’t Sell

By Steve Laubeon May 10, 2021
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by Steve Laube

It happens. Despite all efforts and good intentions not every proposal we shop will end up being contracted by a major publisher. Of course our agency tries our best to keep that from happening. We carefully choose which projects and authors we represent. And our success rate is extremely high.

But that success rate is not 100%.

Here are a few examples of projects that …

Read moreWhen Your Proposal Doesn’t Sell
Category: Agency, Book Business, Book Proposals, Get Published, Self-Publishing, The Writing LifeTag: book proposals, Get Published

What Is the Best Way to Submit My Self-Published Book?

By Steve Laubeon May 18, 2020
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Since it has become so easy to self-publish, many authors are creating their own books, both in ebook and print form. Later those authors are not quite sure what to do if/when they want to approach an agent. Or pitch to an editor at a conference. Should they just send a copy of the book with a letter? Or should they create a proposal? Or do both? Is there truly a right way and a wrong way? And if …

Read moreWhat Is the Best Way to Submit My Self-Published Book?
Category: Book Proposals, Indie, Self-PublishingTag: book proposals, Get Published, Self-Publishing
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