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Sankofa Literary Society Posting Home
Author: Robin Van Auken
So you're one of 20 million Americans who want to write a book. If
you've already written a manuscript, chances are you're looking for
agent representation. In the past few years, as an editor and literary
consultant for www.TheOmnibus.org, I've had the opportunity to read
more than 1,000 book proposals. Most, I'm sad to report, were
inadequate because the author did not follow a few, very simple
guidelines.
Before you complete your manuscript and send it on its way to
prospective literary agents or publishers, take the time to make sure
you have a professional query letter and (short) synopsis, and that
you have edited your manuscript. If you can not do these chores, then
find someone who can.
Also, make sure you're able to distinguish your manuscript from other
books on the same subject, that you can identify the audience for
which you are writing, and determine the marketability of your
finished book. These are the most important questions agents and
publishers will ask, and it will impress them that you've done your
homework.
You should already have researched the market to determine how many
books on the same subject are currently available. A handy tool is to
use the Internet and search the large booksellers online. These
services not only provide a list of books on the same topic, but often
a synopsis and the book's audience as well. Your book needs to stand
out, not duplicate what's already available.
Agents and publishers also want to know your ideas for publicity and
promotion of your book, including how you intend to reach your target
market, and any helpful contacts you may have.
Another common mistake is to assume agents and publishers will respond
at their own expense. You need to include a self-addressed, stamped
envelope so companies can acknowledge receipt of your proposal. If you
would like to have your material returned, be sure to send an envelope
that is large enough and has enough postage for them to mail your
proposal back to you. Proposals that do not include an envelope and
postage generally will not be acknowledged or returned.
Some companies will accept e-mail submissions. Because of the threat
of viruses, they usually won't open e-mails with documents attached.
Many will read e-mail queries that include a short resume, a synopsis
and sample chapters that have been copied and pasted into the body of
the e-mail.
As mentioned, for security reasons companies do not like to open
attachments without prior contact with the writer, and prefer you
follow regular submission procedure. If prior contact has been made by
e-mail, response and acknowledgments often will be made by e-mail.
If you are submitting book proposals by e-mail, it is wise to advise
the companies in your cover letter the type of word processing program
and version of that program that you used. Text is best transmitted
through e-mail by converting it to Plain Text Format, ASCII (with no
hard returns).
Take the opportunity to edit the work, correct misspellings, improper
word usage, etc., before submitting it. It's not a good idea to send
complete manuscripts by e-mail unless they are requested.
Let's break it down:
How Your Book Differs from Others
* What is your book is about?
* What is the reason that prompted you to write your book?
* Why is your book needed by others?
* What are its unique features?
Identify Your Audience
* Describe the audience you are targeting with your book.
* What is your level of expertise (no experience, beginner,
intermediate, advanced)?
* What are some specific applications or uses for your book (e.g.,
sports, education)?
* Who would be the most likely candidates for purchasing your book?
* Why should they buy it and share it with their friends?
Beat Your Competition to Market
* List three to four books that compete with the project you are
proposing.
* How do they compare to your book in length, spectrum, format, and
visual appeal?
* Are there any that seem remotely comparable?
* What are the differences among your approaches?
Publicity
* Gather a local, regional, state and national media contact list.
* Consider contracting a company to make a website for your book.
* Do you have access to any authors who may provide a "blurb" for your
book?
Don't Forget the Postage
* Include a SASE with all queries.
* If you want your manuscript back, include enough postage for its
safe return.
Electronic Submissions
* Check if the company accepts electronic (e-mail) queries and
proposals.
* Make sure you're not spamming hundreds of agents/publishers at a
time.
* Only include a short query, a bio, a synopsis, and the first three
chapters in your e-mail.
* Don't send attachments.
* If you are asked to submit an attachment, let them know the software
program.
* Consider sending the file as Text only.
Robin Van Auken is the owner of www.TheOmnibus.org and is an author
with four published books, two eBooks, and several books in the
planning stages. She acts as her own literary agent and works directly
with all of her publishers.
Sankofa Literary Society Posting Home
Author: Jill Nagle
Around eighty percent of nonfiction books today are written by
"experts," that is people who have a) earned credentials in the field
they're writing about, b) germinated information via articles, live
presentations or other media, or c) had extraordinary, unique or
memorably told life experiences relevant to their topic.
For an autobiographical work, such as a memoir, an author needn't have
any special expertise-she is the foremost authority on her own life.
For a how-to or self-help book, however, the first thing mainstream
publishers want to know is, "Does the author have a platform?"
Among the multiple definitions of "platform" in Merriam Webster's 10th
edition are 1) a place from which to speak, 2) a set of principles,
and 3) a vehicle for carrying things. All these are important to an
author's platform. The good news is, in the six to eighteen months it
will take most authors to write either their book proposal or their
entire book, they can develop a platform.
Here are some things editors look for in a platform:
- publications in the field demonstrating your expertise
- a mailing list
- pamphlets, tapes or other media carrying messages related to those
in your book
- teaching or leading experience on the topic of your book
- a column
- a unique point of view with demonstrable appeal
- regular speaking engagements
- courses taught at a local venue
- a well-designed website
The section of the nonfiction proposal entitled Author's Bio or
Author's Credentials details the information about the author's
platform. Many aspiring authors I work with, at least initially,
grossly underrepresent themselves in this section.
SOLUTION 1: WORK WITH WHAT YOU HAVE-THEN SWITCH HATS!Assume that you
probably already have more of a platform than you know. Instead of
beginning by writing your bio in paragraph form, put on your Scribe
hat and make a list-yes, that's right, a long, tedious, unsexy list-of
everything you've done that seems even remotely related to your book.
Once you've made your boring list, switch hats. You're now a
Publishing Consultant looking over your client's resume. How are you
going to make her shine? Simple-you're going to take everything even
remotely relevant to the book and change into a language that will
make publishers perk up their ears. How do you know what will make
publishers perk up their ears?
Switch hats again. You're an Acquisitions Editor at a major publishing
house sitting behind a desk, asking yourself, which of these 163
proposals that arrived this week is worth risking my reputation, bank
account and job to publish? Then put your Publishing Consultant hat
back on, and do your translation-but don't forget about that anxious
editor.
Here's an example:
Bob Jones, who's writing a book on personal accounting and finance for
the masses, picks a phrase from his Scribe list, "Instructor at
Coleridge Community College for twelve years." With his Publishing
Consultant hat on, he rewrites this phrase to read "translated high-
level accounting concepts into laypeople's language to over 3,000
adults of various backgrounds over twelve years."
Moving right along, Bob changes "facilitated students home accounting
practices, enabling them to pay bills and prepare taxes with greater
efficiency" to "Over these twelve years, the author developed a series
of steps, called the Number Crunch Shuffle. Students consistently
report that the Number Crunch Shuffle helps them overcome their fear
of numbers, streamlines their home accounting process and cuts their
bill and tax preparation time in half.
guerilla tip: Bob didn't really call these steps the "Number Crunch
Shuffle" at the time he taught them at Coleridge Community College. He
got help developing this tag for the technique around which his book
is built. However, he did develop the method itself while teaching
those 3,000 students.
guerilla insight: There's plenty of reality to work with. Take what's
there and describe it in new and exciting ways. Find a gem that makes
your book special and give it an attention-grabbing name.
You are welcome to reprint this article any time, anywhere with no
further permission, and no payment, provided the following is included
at the end or beginning:
Author Jill Nagle is founder and principal of GetPublished,http://
www.GetPublished.com, which provides coaching, consulting,
ghostwriting, classes and do-it-yourself products to emerging and
published authors. Her most recent book is How to Find An Agent Who
Can Sell Your Book for Top Dollar http://www.FindTheRightAgent.com.
Sankofa Literary Society Posting Home
Author: Elizabeth Kirwin
If you are an aspiring writer, or you simply want to augment your
professional qualifications by publishing material related to your
field of expertise, listen up. Here are a few tips that will help
ingratiate you in the hearts and minds of editors. Once you've
established a positive rapport with an editor, you may find the
publication to be an excellent outlet for your work - and if you're
good enough - you may be invited to submit more work.
1. Editors prefer e-mail correspondence above all else - especially
when submitting query letters and final articles. If you e-mail a
story, make sure to paste it into the body of the e-mail, just in case
the conversion of an attached file does not go smoothly. E-mailing
correspondence and articles means the editor can cut and paste it into
the publication, without having to retype. Digital delivery saves the
editor lots of time.
2. If you promise an editor something - an article, a short bio, or a
high resolution photo - make sure you deliver it. Always follow
through with your promises, and that editor will remember you as
reliable.
3. Before submitting a story, remember to fact check accuracy of dates
and the spelling of places, names, and geographic locations. Most
editors will revise your work even further, because that's their job -
to make the work even better. But few editors will continue to work
with a writer who submits sloppy material that needs to be fact
checked or heavily rewritten each time. Worse yet, you don't want to
submit something with factual errors in it.
4. Have a short, three to five sentence bio on yourself ready to
submit to editors. Not all publications provide information on authors
with published articles, but when they do, you want to take advantage
of the free publicity. Don't EVER submit a one page or one paragraph
bio to an editor, unless they specifically request this much material.
They're being gracious by providing some space and most editors will
not want to take the time to carve a bio down.
5. Have a publicity photo of yourself ready for publication and in
digital format. For print media publications the dots per inch (dpi)
should be a minimum of 300. For newspapers 150-200 dpi will suffice,
though you should ask the editor or graphics department which they
prefer. DO NOT send print media editors 72 dpi, or low resolution
photos. This resolution is usually the standard setting for a digital
camera, and is acceptable for publication on the world wide web, but
is not appropriate for print media. Once a photo is shot, chances are
very good that not much can be done to improve the dots per inch,
except shrink it to 3 times its former size.
6. If you choose to telephone an editor to pitch them a story,
remember - their time is valuable. First, ask them if it's a good time
to speak for 10 minutes. If it's not, then ask them for a convenient
time to call back. If they can speak, limit your pitch to 5-7 minutes.
No editor wants to be on the telephone with someone for an unendurable
length of time. Do not start telling them about all of your
publication credits or credentials unless they ask. Stick to the pitch
for your story idea, and focus your conversation accordingly. If they
like it, you may continue the conversation for longer than 10 minutes.
If they're not interested, politely end the call.
7. Deadlines are important to editors, because they need written
material before they can make decisions about visual materials, ad
space, and layout and design. If you have promised an editor
something, do your absolute best to submit it by the agreed upon
deadline. If something has come up - in your personal or professional
life or in the process of writing and interviewing for the story,
communicate the need to slightly extend the deadline to the editor in
advance. Most editors will work with you on deadlines, provided they
are not under the gun themselves. Newspaper editors usually do fly by
the seat of their pants, so keep this in mind when asking for
extensions.
8. Engage the editor in a short e-mail about your story prior to
writing it and he/she may come up with a few guiding sentences to help
you. This is a chance to try to get a feel for how the editor would
like this written prior to writing it. An editor may help you frame a
story, give suggestions for potential interviews or subjects, or cause
you to look at the story in a totally different way. Don't despair if
you receive no response. The editor may be busy and not have enough
time to reply.
9. Do not write stories or articles that are just barely disguised
promotional pieces for your business associates, friends and family,
or your own business. It's OK to mine these contacts for story ideas,
but make certain the content you present is not OVERTLY promoting
anyone. Any seasoned editor can smell a promo piece a mile away and
will not publish it.
10. Try to write in subject areas you feel passionate about. For
example, if you are passionate about hiking, write for some outdoor
magazines. Editors are drawn to freelance writers who have a knowledge
base for the material they're submitting. This is an excellent 'in'
with any editor - a well-developed knowledge base is a good foundation
for any story. If you have a passion, pitch the right editor your
idea. GO For it.
About The Author
Elizabeth Kirwin has published work in national magazines and
newspapers. She is co-owner of Sidhe Communications http://www.sidhecommunications.com
in Asheville NC. She develops web sites, newsletters, brochures, and
other marketing materials for companies and health care ogranizations
nationally. For more information, e-mail eki...@bellsouth.net.