Your Book Proposal Must Have a Fresh Angle!

Lots of people have written lots of books about God's love, and shame, and neighbor love, and racial reconciliation, and social justice, and healing, and neighbor love, and redemption.

If you're preparing to write your own book on a popular topic, I don't say that to bum you out. I say it to let you know that you need to bring publishers a unique compelling angle. So your job is, in the words of editor and wordsmith Stephanie Smith, to offer "a fresh frame for a timeless truth."

You must craft a premise that makes plain the clear takeaway value for the reader.

To help you think about the fresh spin you're bringing to the topic, here's a little pitch template:

Your unique angle/concept/spin/premise is that "big idea"!

• How is your big idea different from what others have written on this topic?
• What are you saying that others aren't?
• How does your big idea offer value to the reader?

I want you to assume that the editor receiving your book proposal has already read 100 proposals on the very same subject. Today. How is yours offering something fresh and new?

Help a Publisher Say Yes By Doing These 2 Things!

There are all kinds of reasons we write books:

Some of us write a book because we want to see our names on the cover of a book.

Some of us write because we’re convinced that God has given us a message to share with the world.

Some of us write a book because someone told us, “You should write a book.”

 Others write because we’re creative or thinkers. We’re always noodling on the things, and we need to get the things out of our heads and onto a page.

None are horrible reasons to write a book, but also: none of these are particularly compelling to publishers. A publisher has one job: The publisher’s job is to serve the reader.

So when you’re writing the proposal for that book God planted in your heart, when you’re pitching that book your aunt insisted you write, the very best thing you can do is to convince a publisher that the book you’re suggesting meets a reader’s need.

(1) You help a publisher say yes when you solve a reader’s problem.

These popular titles do that:

• How to Get a Date Worth Keeping
• The Purpose Driven Life
• Discerning the Voice of God
• Habits of Highly Effective People

Readers buy and read these books because they meet a real need.

But there are lots of books about getting a date, living with purpose, hearing God, and becoming effective, right? Of course there are. So what makes these different?

(2) You help a publisher say yes when your idea has a fresh angle, edge, or slant.

You have to say it in a way they haven’t heard a hundred times before. Editor savant Stephanie Smith calls this unique angle “a fresh frame for a timeless truth.” She explains,

“An angle is simply this: it’s a fresh frame for timeless truth. It’s creative, unexpected, a pinch provocative, and able to power up vital conversations people are compelled to join. It’s the signature of great writing. And it makes all the difference in standing out beyond overdone, underdeveloped, dime-a-dozen concepts.” -Stephanie Smith

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What does this mean for you?

• It means that when an editor reads your book proposal:
• She recognizes that it meets a real need readers have.
• She notices a timeless truth that's being communicated in a new way.

So if you’re writing on dieting, or simple living, or studying Scripture, or loving your neighbor, you need to communicate it in a way that others have not.

• Maybe you embraced simple living by doing the same 3 things every day. Now readers are curious.
• Maybe you began living simply because you lost everything you owned in a house fire.
• Maybe your practice of designating only one day a week to make purchases radically changed your life.

The big win?

(1) The solution you’ve found is meeting a real need and (2) you’re communicating it in a way that readers haven’t heard before.

"Don't Hire Me": 2 Cautions

Before I try to dissuade you from hiring me, I'll tell you what I do for clients seeking to publish a book:

• If you're seeking a contract with a traditional publisher, I review your book proposal, and coach you on how to strengthen it.

• If you're planning to self-publish, I offer a developmental edit of your book, which is the first of several edits you'll need on the road to publication.

But I don't want you to hire me to do either of those things without counting the cost.

1. Traditional publishing

Authors are submitting proposals with compelling ideas and beautifully written prose, but if he/she doesn't have a "platform" to help a publisher sell that book, publishers often have to say "no."

What that means, practically, is that you need to be reaching readers right now, in any variety of ways: blogging, speaking, social media, publishing articles, etc. (Check out Michael Hyatt's book Platform for ideas about building yours.)

Sometimes a smaller publisher can take a chance on an author with a smaller platform, if they really believe in what you're writing, but those opps are few and far between.

2. Self-Publishing

Front end: I want you to know that self-publishing requires a sizeable investment of money for a developmental edit, line edit, proofreaders, cover design, interior design, printing, etc.

Back end: When you choose to self-publish, you become responsible for selling every single book. Don't choose this path without having a clear plan about how you'll sell those books.

If you have any questions, visit wordmelon.com to send me a message. I am FOR you.

Nailing the Author Marketing Section of Your Book Proposal

The author marketing section of a book proposal is where you demonstrate to an agent or publisher that you will hustle to sell books.

And it's really important.

Keep reading and you'll get to see an awesome example of an excellent author marketing section.

For starters, here are a few tips:

1. Demonstrate What You Will Do

Don't tell a publisher what you're willing to do to promote your book. Don't assure them that you'll go on the 20-city book tour that they'll plan and fund. Cuz that ain't happening. Publishers want to see what kinds of promotional strategies you will create and implement. Give them names of 10 bloggers who've already agreed to let you guest-blog when your book releases. Tell them the name of the TV anchorman from your church who's promised to interview you on air. List the names of the 5 women's conferences where you've already been invited to speak 18 months from now.

2. Demonstrate What You Are Doing

Even better than showing a publisher what you will do is showing them what you're already doing! Don't promise a publisher that you'll grow your mailing list or social media followers. Instead, show that publisher that your numbers have increased by 30% in the last month or that you've hired a publicist who's growing your list. 

3. Be Creative

You may not have access to Oprah to help you promote this book, but with some creativity, you can come up with some innovative strategies to prove to a publisher that you're going to partner with them to sell a lot of books. Do some research online. Buy a book like Michael Hyatt's Platform. Brainstorm with your tribe. What are the networks and resources to which you already have access that you can leverage to sell books?

A few years ago, an author with whom I work wrote a killer author marketing section of a book proposal, and he gave me permission to share it with you here. You're welcome. Even though he has access to some unique networks, I'm convinced that if you put in the effort, you can also craft an impressive author marketing section in your own proposal.

Find this killer author marketing section on my page of resources for authors!

Best of luck you as you write a winning proposal!

Q & A: "Do I need a literary agent to sell my book?"

Q: Do I need a literary agent to sell my book?

A:  In my experience, publishers take submissions from agents more seriously because they know the writer/project has already been vetted. Agents don't want to ruin their rep with publishers by sending them bad stuff. (That’s pretty sophisticated industry insider lingo: “bad stuff.” Now you know.)

Publishers and literary agents are looking for exactly the same thing: a project with a unique slant—that meets a readers’ felt need—from a talented author who’s reaching audiences and building her/his platform.

Possible exceptions—that might preclude you needing an agent in order to sell your book—include but are not limited to:

1.    A publisher has contacted you because they’re interested in you or your work. (They may have read your article at Christianity Today that went viral or seen you as a featured guest on Good Morning America.)

2.    A person of influence—possibly a best-selling author or CEO of an international organization—introduces you, enthusiastically, to the publisher, offering her/his unflagging support to promote your work.

3.    You are affiliated with a reputable organization or institution that commits to purchase 50,000 books as gifts for their donors.

4.    A smaller publisher is willing to represent you as a new author if an editor there connects with you and what you’re about. It never hurts to have the support of a reputable organization or institution.

Note: although these kinds of opps might lead to getting a book contract, it is always beneficial to have an agent as your advocate with a publisher.

Here are a few ways that agents serve publishers and benefit authors…

·      On the front end: Agents ensure that your contract is fair and they can advocate to increase the value of your contract: advance monies, royalties, deadlines, free books, etc. (They’re not magicians, but they will go to bat for you.)

·      During the writing of the book: Agents are your advocate if you run into any personal or professional bumps during the process of writing the book.

·      On the back end: Agents communicate with the publisher if there are ever any additional questions or issues pertaining to your book.

If you're a Christian writer who is interested in finding an agent, explore agency’s websites to find the one that will be the best fit for you. Questions to ask as you peruse their sites:

·      Does the agency seem to represent only bestselling authors, or do they represent some newbies like me?

·      Does the selection of books the agency represents indicate that they’d champion a book like mine? (subject matter, theological perspective, etc.)

·      What types of books is this agency looking for right now? (Dig around the site, and the agency will often post the kinds of projects they do and don’t want to receive—because that information benefits them and you.)

Note: If an agent doesn’t accept poetry or sci-fi, do the agent and yourself a favor by not sending them your poetry or sci-fi. (Do not, under any circumstance, promise that yours is amazing and different and sure to be a bestseller.)

The best listing of literary agents I know is available for download at: https://michaelhyatt.com/literary-agents-who-represent-christian-authors/

To write a killer cover letter to your dream agent, I highly recommend this little e-book: Writing Pitch, Query, and Cover Letters That Shine. It’s a gem not because I wrote it, but because It’s filled with tips from agents and publishers about what they do and do not want to see in pitch letters!

More questions? Leave them as comments below...

How Literary Agents and Publishers Think

This week I heard from a writer who's pitched to agents and publishers without success. And the query reminded me how important it is for writers to be able to get inside the head of these important gatekeepers. Here's what I want not-yet-published writers to know about how agents and publishers think...

1. HOW AGENTS/PUBLISHERS THINK

When they're reading your proposal, the agent is thinking about what the publisher wants, and the publisher is thinking about what the reader wants. And the reader is thinking about...the reader. The BIG question you have to answer for agents/publishers is, "What's in it for the reader?" Whatever book you are writing HAS TO meet the felt need of the reader. Reader's don't buy books they "should" read, they buy books they "have to" read. Why is the book you're pitching a must-read?

2. HOW AGENTS/PUBLISHERS SEE

Without knowing what book you've written, I will hazard a guess that an agent/publisher has seen this book before. Maybe 100 proposals for this book and 5 that made it to market--saying the exact thing you're saying, in a slightly different way. While that can sound jaded, that's their reality. So whatever message you want to communicate--ideally, in the words of Stephanie Smith, a "timeless truth"--must have a FRESH FRAME. Whether you're communicating that "God is gracious," or "You are loved," or "Kittens are God's gift to the world," the agent/publisher must read your proposal and say, "Hmmm...I haven't heard it quite that way before." Are you saying something in such a fresh way that the agent/publisher wants to know more?

3. HOW AGENTS/PUBLISHERS DECIDE

The #1 rule of good writing is "show, don't tell." Your proposal needs to prove to agents/publishers that your project has FOUR THINGS: (1) a unique and compelling project, (2) a market of people who can't wait to buy this book, (3) a growing platform, and (4) mad writing skills. While I'd love to say that if they love your fresh idea, or if they think you're a great writer, they will take a chance and contract your book, I can't say that. They may WANT to, but to convince a publishing board to publish a book, they really need to see strength in all four areas. If you need to develop one or more of those areas, it might make sense to do that before pitching again. Does your proposal demonstrate that you are offering all four things a publisher needs to see?

The job of your book proposal is to convince the agent/publisher that your project meets the reader's need in a fresh and compelling way, and that you can sell books. To help writers do that, I've got a few free resources online...

1. An Author Inventory helps you mine and mention every asset you're bringing to the table.

2. An Annotated Book Proposal Template offers tips for each section of the proposal. (Not necessary to use this particular template, but do read the tips.)

3. The Book Proposal Checklist helps you review the first draft of your proposal, to make sure it's as strong as it can be.

Help agents and publishers say YES by offering them the strongest proposal you can!