Your Book Is Your Business

Congratulations. If you are reading this, you either have a manuscript ready for publication or a well developed proposal that is ready for submission. Competition is fierce, so it’s a good idea to learn as much as you can about the publishing process before you start submitting your manuscript. Here are a few tips to get you started.

Finding the Right Publisher

• Which publisher provides the best fit for your manuscript? It is a waste of your time and that of a publisher’s to send a manuscript to someone who doesn’t publish books in your category.
• If you are looking for a publisher in Canada, take a look at the Association of Canadian Publishers’ guide. Go to www.publishers.ca/membership-search.htm and punch in your book’s category.
• Read the submission guidelines on the publisher sites and note contact information. Send to a particular person if you can.
• Talk to fellow writers about their books and their publishers.
• Check out your local bookstore for a close look at which publishers publish books in your category. Pay particular attention to which books will be your competition and what makes your book different and better.
• Read book reviews. Which books in your category are getting attention and where are they being published?
• Read books on how to get published.
• Go to readings, launches, conferences, and anywhere you can where authors and publishers gather. Find out about the publishing companies involved in the event in advance. Approach the publishing company representative and ask if you can send your submission.
• If you have a contact – fellow writer, media personality, famous person in your field – you might ask them to contact their publisher on your behalf or write a blurb of praise about your manuscript that you can include in your submission.

The Pitch
Prepare a one line, one paragraph AND one page synopsis of your book. I recommend that you do this early in the process and revise as necessary. Often writers find it difficult to keep the big picture of the project clear when they are deep in the writing/editing process. This is particularly true for fiction. You will use these in conversation, in emails, as a basis for your submission to publishers and in your follow-up. Everyone is a potential contact who may be helpful in getting your book published, helping with promotion, and leading you to other potential contacts. Learn to respond to your audience’s level of interest with the appropriate amount of information. When you do land a publisher, these key synopses will likely be used as a basis for marketing materials and you will be able to use them skillfully with the media.

The Submission

• Do follow the submission guidelines on the publisher’s website. Read carefully and adhere – except perhaps if they state that they don’t accept unsolicited manuscripts and your book is perfect for their list.
• In your covering letter, answer the basic question “What is the book about, why should it be published, and why are you the best person to write it”. Tailor it to the company and the individual you are addressing as much as you can.
• In presenting a work of fiction, don’t tell the publisher part of the story and say that they will have to read the book to find out what happens in the end.
• You may also want to mention the market for the book and any opportunities that you have for marketing it.
• Do mention relevant publication experience, awards, credentials.
• Keep the letter as brief as you can without omitting important information. One page? Three at most.
• Don’t praise your own work or say that your friends and family love it.
• Don’t call the publisher to ask for advice on how to submit a manuscript.
• The manuscript should be submitted on 8.5 x 11 white paper on one side – poetry single spaced, otherwise double-spaced.
• Use footers or headers to paginate and identify your name and MS title.
• Use a basic, readily available in an appropriate size (11 or 12 point) Times or similarly familiar and readable font. Don’t get terribly creative unless you really possess the skills to do it. Even then, consider how appropriate it is to the task.
• You will often see a note on publisher websites stating “any unsolicited manuscripts will be discarded. We are unable to return any such unsolicited materials.” Speed up the process by saying in your cover letter to please respond with a decision at your email address and in the event the submission does not fit the publisher’s list at this time, the manuscript may be recycled once you are notified.
• Don’t send irreplaceable artwork with a first submission. Do send images (scans) of the artwork if it is important to the content of your submission.
• Present a news hook if you can – even if your work is fiction. For example, if you are submitting a young adult novel where the main character is suffering from depression you could include statistics on teenagers and depression and how the book could be used in high schools and the media.
• Do not lie or exaggerate in your submission, be confident in the submission itself. The publishing community and media contacts talk to each other and change jobs making untruths easy to detect. For example, authors have occasionally exaggerated the number of copies their last book sold and been found out because the sales rep had changed jobs.
• If your pitch has impressed the publisher or editor enough that you have been invited to a meeting to discuss further, treat everyone you encounter politely, professionally, and with respect. Dress and groom appropriately. Why? You will be judged for marketability and what you will be like to work with in the long term. Staff will talk to each other. Even if you are rude to the receptionist, it can count as points against you. Have your pitches ready. Think about it like a job interview or meeting with a potential business partner. If you are introduced to the marketing person or publicist it is unlikely a coincidence. Make a good impression.

Making the Direct Approach – Phone and Email
Staff at publishing companies are BUSY. Any time you choose to make a phone call, be sure you are well-prepared and concise. Time-wasters are noted right from the beginning. With very few spaces on a publishing list, you can be easily eliminated. If you don’t know about the company and their guidelines, you will generally be referred to the publisher’s website.
Don’t look up a publisher’s home phone number and call them at home. Even if someone gives you the publisher’s home phone number, consider this move carefully.
If you send an email, it is difficult to know that it has arrived at the appropriate person’s desk and been read. Here’s an example of an exceptional email approach that worked. First, the prospective author mentioned one of the books on the publisher’s list and indicated how his title would complement the list. He supplied links to a website where exceptional photographs were posted along with compelling text. He was so well-prepared and well informed, that he sent an email as backup to the marketing director saying that he had heard from one of the authors that her email accepted images better than the others in the company and he would just like confirmation that the email had been received by the publisher. Slam dunk.

Gimmicks
A well-designed presentation package of your submission will be well-received as long as readability is the guiding principle.
There are differing opinions about this, but I would suggest that you consider any unusual approaches carefully. Canadian publishers tend to be passionate about their business, but skeptical about the next big thing. Be sure that your gimmick is directly representative of the book and in good taste.

Multiple Submissions
There are two schools of thought on this 1. Do and 2. Don’t. Personally, I’d suggest that you send to a as many as three or four publishers – preferably ones who don’t talk to each other on a regular basis. The process takes a long time. Give it 6 weeks and then call to follow up – weekly. Be polite but persistent.

It is at least as difficult to get an agent as it is to get a publisher. Agents take a percentage but may get you a much better deal and be in a position to monitor your career and sell other rights. A list can be found at http://www.writersunion.ca/gp_literaryagents.asp

Getting the Edge - Marketing
While acceptance of fiction and poetry depends almost exclusively on talent (and available space on the publisher’s list), non-fiction has more criteria. Here’s where marketing can really make a difference to being accepted by a publishing house.

Marketing and publicity departments are short-staffed and less money is being spent on these initiatives as the costs of selling books increases, and studies on traditional advertising of books indicate limited effectiveness.

So give yourself an edge and develop your own profile and audience to present to a publisher. A book can become one more addition to your business. Yes, think about developing your own business in which a book is a key component.

Consider the following strategies and tactics to become a known, trusted expert in your field

• Develop an interactive website and/or blog.
• Develop a newsletter or email contact list and keep in touch with your subscribers by providing useful information on a regular basis.
• Become an expert on key on-line forums, provide helpful advice.
• Start public speaking or increase your speaking engagements. If you have a high profile, and you are a terrific public speaker with a marketable topic and limited time, consider getting an agent.
• Collect email addresses from people who come to your talks saying you’d like to keep in touch by sending them occasional newsletters or updates.
• Write articles and get them published
• Write a letter-to-the-editor in a strategic publication clarifying and correcting information that has been published  on  your topic.
• Respond to other experts in your field and build relationships
• Line up key interviews, but don’t exhaust your post-publication opportunities.
• Get affiliated – join organizations and be active and visible
• Get a column or regular media spot. (For example, if you are writing a book on wine, offer to give holiday suggestions on your local radio station as each holiday approaches)
• Podcast (you may even already own everything you need) and post everywhere you can on the web with bits of useful information
• Network on Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn. Find out where your target market is most active and get in the game
• Find co-sponsors for your book
• Set aside time for these activities. Set targets and deadlines. Run it like a business.

If you need help to get established, ask for it or hire it

Learn what you can from rejection. Decide if you need to refocus your work, develop your skills or get another opinion. Keep trying. If you are believe in your work and are committed to succeeding, you will. James Gray (Red Lights on the Prairies) as told in Brian Brennan’s book How the West Was Written wasn’t published until he was 65 and published a number of best-sellers in his lifetime, out-selling Pierre Berton.

The manuscript “The Diary of a Young Girl” by Anne Frank was rejected 15 times before it was published by Doubleday in 1952. According to the New York Times, more than 30 million copies are currently in print, making it one of the best-selling books in history.

The slush pile (as the stack of unsolicited manuscripts is affectionately called) is a deep one in many publishing companies. Even companies who state quite clearly that unsolicited manuscripts are not accepted, generally accept them – just in case. However they often take a long time to process and junior staff are often assigned to the first read. The first reader may be inexperienced, be in the wrong frame of mind, or may not be familiar with your topic or its target market. The process is not perfect – it’s an art.

Consider hiring the services you need and going ahead. If this is your decision, be sure to get expert advice and help. Put together a budget and a sales, marketing and distribution plan. Hire an editor, designer, publicist. See if you can find a sponsor to pay for printing or other services. Offer “advertising” in your book to companies you are keen to promote.

If you are unsure about the process or how to find the appropriate contacts, consider Kingsley Publishing Services, run by Charlene Dobmeier who has been an editor and publisher for 20 years. See http://www.kingsleypublishing.ca