Stage Three of Publishing a Book: Hooray–You Have a Book Deal! And How to Write a Book the Sane Way

July 21, 2015 by Maria

This month I’m running a series on how the publishing process works and how to successfully navigate each stage of the journey, with zero bewilderment and maximum fun.

You can catch up here if you want to learn more:

If you’ve been following along, you’ve already learned what The One Thing you should focus on is, and you’ve also figured out how to find a Literary Agent who can help you write a knock-your-socks-off book proposal.

Now your proposal is with editors, and the waiting game begins. But the truth is, if you have a spectacular author platform and a unique yet commercial book concept, this part of the process will be more fun than terrifying. Really—I promise! Any agent will tell you that the very best part of agenting is having a project that everyone wants. We live for these moments of having editors gush to us about how much they love an author (we’re like proud parents!). And if an editor is also able to convince the rest of his/her team that this is a must-have project, then one day you will receive The Call.

On that lucky, hard-won day, your agent will say the words we most love to say: “You have an offer on your book.” Cue the happy dancing, fist pumping, and champagne showers. Even your cat will be slightly impressed.

Once you’ve decided to accept the offer and signed the contract (your agent should spearhead the negotiations, and this process is too complex to get into here), you’ll officially be through the doors! That’s when the next adventure begins: actually writing and producing your book.

The 4 Questions You Should Be Able to Answer at This Stage:

Stage Two of Publishing a Book: Finding a Literary Agent and Writing a Knock-Your-Socks-Off Proposal

July 13, 2015 by Maria

How to publish a book

This month I’m running a series [update: Intro; Part 1; Part 3; Part 4] On how the publishing process works and how to successfully navigate each stage of the journey, with zero bewilderment and maximum fun. And while the platform-building stage can often be lonely work done over many years, this next stage is where things really get fun, especially if you’re working with a Literary Agent who’s excited about your work.

If you’ve done the work of building a large and engaged platform, finding an agent and convincing them to offer you representation will be a piece of cake. As I talked about last week, every agent is focused on solely One Thing: signing the authors who will launch bestsellers. So if you can show an agent that you have the readership in place to launch a bestseller, you’ll likely have your pick of agents.

If you’re searching for an agent, try researching different agencies on websites like Writer’s Digest and Publisher’s Marketplace. Look for agents and agencies who have a track record of selling to well-respected publishing houses and who have other authors on their client list whom you admire. If you can get a referral from someone else who’s worked with an agent, even better—most of our clients come from referrals from existing authors, and I personally always pull those queries to the top of my pile.

One thing that’s too often overlooked by authors who are eager to land representation is whether an agent is a personality match for them. Remember, this is a relationship that will last at least two years if you land a book deal, and hopefully much longer if you publish other books. So you want to work with an agent you actually like! It sounds obvious, but ask yourself if you admire your agent, if they treat you and others respectfully, and if you trust them to put your goals above their own. Your agent should be in service to you, not anyone else.

Once you’ve found that agent who gets you and your work, you’ll be able to get started on your book proposal. You may already have a concept in mind, or you and your agent may brainstorm a concept together, but the proposal is really where the magic happens. A great book proposal is part-resume, part-business-plan, part-preview-of-the-book. But a knock-your-socks-off proposal is all of those things, PLUS it captures an editor’s imagination and makes their pulse quicken. This may be weird, but think of editors as cats. They’re hard to impress, but if you figure out what’s catnip to them, they’ll be all over it.

When I was an editor I had to sift through dozens of proposals a month from literary agents, and the ones that I pursued were always the ones that left me with a feeling of delight, possibility, and infectious enthusiasm. With how competitive the book market is these days, you need an editor to be all-in when he or she takes your proposal to the acquisitions team or Publisher, because this excitement and passion for a book will spread throughout an imprint, and ultimately, throughout the publishing process. So make sure your book is pure catnip to editors—make sure it’s that one title that makes people light up when they talk about it.

The 4 Questions You Should Be Able to Answer at This Stage:

Stage One of Publishing a Book: The One Thing That Will Guarantee Your Success

July 6, 2015 by Maria

How to publish a book

This month I’m running a series [update: Intro; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4] on how the publishing process works and how you can successfully navigate each stage of the journey, with zero bewilderment and maximum fun.

And believe it or not, this first stage in the publishing process is the absolute most important. It’s really more like Step 0 than Step 1—if you don’t have this in place, chances are slim you’ll be able to embark on the rest of the stages.

Read, Eat, Drink: How Should Authors Tell Fans About Their Book?, Plus a Fourth of July Menu

July 2, 2015 by Maria

Read:

5 Real Reasons Agents Are So Darn Picky (Carly Watters): Agents are known for being “no” people. No, no, no, we say to query after query after query. But the funny thing is that we want to be “yes” people. But it needs to be a big enthusiastic “YES!” or no “yes” at all. As Carly Watters explains: “We’re picky because we have to be. We wouldn’t be able to stay in business unless we were choosy about everything we signed up.” Reason #1 on her list is especially important: We’re picky because every single person in the value chain–from the agent to the editor to the marketer to the bookstore buyer to the media producer to, ultimately, the reader–is also extremely picky.

5 Reasons Publishers LOVE Bloggers: Why Blogging Might Be Your Fastest Way to Secure a Book Deal (Chad R. Allen, Editorial Director for Baker Publishing Group, at MichaelHyatt.com): A big “amen!” to every single one of these reasons. As Allen writes: “Anyone who is serious about getting published should consider blogging. It’s a great way to build an audience, field-test ideas, cultivate social credibility, learn the publishing process, and hone your writing skills.”

When Reporters Write Books, Does The Times Win, Too? (Margaret Sullivan, Public Editor for The New York Times): Well, here’s an interesting one. The case at hand is David Brooks’s new bestseller The Road to Character and his use of outbound links in his column. The links lead to his book’s website, where he invites readers to participate in further discussion and, if they’d like, to purchase his book. Apparently, some readers of the Times are “appalled” by this. Is his column relevant to the topic of his book? Yes. Would his book further an interested reader’s understanding of the topic? Yes. Did he mention his book in a conversational, unpushy way? Yes. It’s hard to see how this is harming readers rather than helping them find ways to learn more about the topic.

It’s interesting because this is a completely acceptable (and encouraged!) practice in nearly every single other media outlet–after all, David Brooks’s platform as an author is the column itself, and his book is an opportunity for his column readership to engage with him in a deeper, longer format (making them more likely to increase their devotion to reading his column and subscribing to the paper). Yet, the Times called foul. As the editorial page editor, Andrew Rosenthal says, “It’s tricky. Books are inherently a commercial enterprise.” (And what are newspapers? Both books and newspapers are commercial enterprises, but they are also in service to the public discourse. And you cannot serve the public well by ignoring a new, important contribution to a topic.)

Eat & Drink:

Is it possible that the Fourth of July is becoming our country’s second most important food holiday? We can all agree that Thanksgiving is THE holiday for thinking of nothing but what we’ll cook, how much we’ll eat, in what order, and with how many extra helpings, but I think the Fourth of July is racing hot for the #2 spot. I determine this ranking by counting how many days I’ve spent daydreaming about the food.

And now it’s been about 4 days of visions of perfectly charred brauts, sauced up ribs, and juicy tomatoes dancing in my head. I think it’s safe to say my brain is more food matter than grey matter at this point.

Jarrett and I are off to the Leelanau Peninsula in northern Michigan for a long weekend, and we’ll be blissfully in the hands of superior cooks (and I’ll be blissfully facedown in a bowl of black bean salsa that I’ve been dreaming about for two years).

But if anyone else is still scrambling for menu ideas…

How about RIBS? Done 13 different ways on Bon Appétit.

Ribs recipe bon appetit

Category: Business