Questions on Proposals and the Industry

A host of questions came in over the 4th of July weekend (all those writers with nothing to do but watch fireworks and drink beer), so let me try and tackle several of them...

Dania wants to know, "What is the purpose of a market analysis in a proposal? What kind of information are you looking for? And how much info do you want? It seems like the agent is the one who knows the market, so I'm not sure why an author is asked to do this."

A market analysis serves as an advance organizer to a publisher. It helps reveal that there is a market is for the new book, helps describe the potential audience, and helps the publisher think through how they could market and sell the new title. A market analysis is a way of saying, "You once published this title, and my proposed book is similar." The author does the legwork to put this together because it's the author's job to create the best proposal possible. A good agent will work with you to tweak this section, perhaps recommending other titles or revising the descriptions to best fit each publishing house.

Often writers will come to me with a pitch that says, "Nobody has ever done anything like this before!" That fails to recognize the real world of publishing. Companies discover how to produce and sell certain types of books -- for example, Bethany House knows how to sell historical fiction, and the folks at Baker know how to sell books to pastors and church leaders. Imagine walking up to a nonfiction publisher and saying, "You've never done western novels before, so the market is wide open!" It's stupid -- that's not how publishers think. If you bring them a new project, you need to explain the market for the book, and help them to see how they are going to succeed with it.

Generally a market analysis lists three to eight published books that have had some success, explains each book briefly, and may subtly define how the new, proposed book is unique. But it doesn't bash any current books on the market, and it should not include any over-the-top comparisons (if I see one more spiritual memoir that says, "This book is exactly like Blue Like Jazz," I'm going to scream).

Jane asked, "What is the industry standard for citing sources in a proposal?"

The standard is pretty much the same as in a book -- you want to cite your sources adequately. Sure, a proposal isn't going to be published, so you don't have all the same legal requirements that you do in a book, but you still want to make sure you cite the words correctly, you identify the source, and you give enough information that a reasonable person could pursue the source and confirm your citation.

Angie wrote and noted, "I have a busy life, and I seem to spend much of it in front of my computer. How can I keep up with the industry? Can you tell me websites, blogs, lists, etc, that you feel are worth sacrificing my writing time to follow?"

My choices may be different from your own, of course, but I subscribe to Publisher's Weekly (the bible of our industry), and I get Publishers' Lunch and PW Daily on my screen every day. These keep me in touch with the industry. There are a number of blogs I like, but I'll admit that I tend to look at the blogs of the authors I represent, and I can't quite keep up with all the good blogs that have been created. So if I leave out the funny ones and the thoughtful ones, and simply focus on those from an industry standpoint, Novel Journey at blogspot is good because it keeps you on top of a lot of titles. Most of the publishers have their own company blogs, and some (like Mike Hyatt's excellent "From Where I Sit") have their own personal blogs as well. I do a lot of work in CBA, so I still look at CBA Retailer+Resources magazine, which is just okay, and Christian Retailing magazine, which offers a decent overview of the CBA side. I also belong to a couple discussion groups to talk about the business and marketing side of publishing.

Dennis said, "I have an opportunity to do a book with an on-demand publisher. There's no fee and no advance, but they pay 25% of profits to the author, and it seems like a way in the door. Do you think that's wise?"

The wisdom I'd share is probably tied up in your expectations, Dennis. What do you want to accomplish in publishing this book? If you're hoping to make some money, it most likely won't provide that for you. The fact is, I don't know of any on-demand publisher who is really selling many copies, so 25% of nothing isn't exactly a lot of money. If you're expecting publishers will look at a POD book you've done and treat you as "an author," you'll be disappointed. Publishers aren't stupid, and they've figured out that anyone can claim to be published these days. If you really want to make a living at this, or if you have a message you feel is important, you're going to want to stick with a regular print-based publishing house. But if you have some means of selling these yourself  (say you've got a big online presence, or you're speaking at seminars around the country) then this may be an option. However, if you just feel a need to tell people, "Hey -- I wrote a book," I can't really advise you. For the majority of POD authors, writing a book is nothing more than an ego stroke, and I really don't care one way or the other about most author egos. I realize I can sound like a crank on this subject, but I keep running into really lousy writers who will tell me they've done a dozen books -- then I discover they did all those books with some POD publisher nobody has ever heard of. So think about your expectations before deciding which way to go.

Lisa asked, "With the economy taking a downturn, would you recommend writers, especially new writers, wait for better times to approach agents and publishers?"

I am SO tempted to say, "No, I recommend they call another agent," but I won't because people keep accusing me of being snarky. Um... Lisa, for all the talk of oil prices and home mortgages ruining our economy, people still seem to be buying books. Yes, I think publishers are a bit scared (everybody seems to be retrenching a bit), but I can guarantee you they are all looking for a GREAT idea, expressed through GREAT writing, by an author with a GREAT platform. If you have all of those pieces in place, don't wait. If you don't have all those pieces... well, you probably aren't ready anyway.

And Tom wrote me and asked this question: "You've talked about how much you appreciate the people who came before you. Who are the people in publishing you most admire?'

Not writers, but people working in the industry? Yikes. There are a bunch. Rick Christian, President of Alive Communications, is the person who most helped me take a leap forward in my career. He knows great writing, is a fine agent, and is one of the handful of people responsible for pushing CBA into the modern age. Mike Hyatt is perhaps the smartest guy I know in publishing, and though we don't know each other well, he's always been very kind to me. I've loved watching him turn things around at Thomas Nelson. I've long appreciated that Dwight Baker of Baker Books can continually move  a big publishing company forward while at the same time remain a regular guy. (He hides his smarts by making you think he's Mr. Normal.) Two men I very much admire who have moved on are Don Stephenson, the longtime publisher at Baker who is one of the best guys on the planet, and Scott Bolinder, the former publisher at Zondervan -- the most reasonable and godly man I ever worked with. Others I admire would be Ron Beers of Tyndale, David Young at Hachette Book Group, Carolyn McCready at Harvest House. Dudley Delffs at Zondervan has the best eye for fiction of anyone I know, and Terry Glaspey has the best mind for publishing concepts. There are also some agent friends I very much admire: Steve Laube and Janet Grant and Deidre Knight and Natasha Kern.

The scary thing about putting together a list like this is that I have a bunch of friends who work in the industry I value greatly, and I don't want them to feel slighted -- Angela Scheff and Andy M and Shannon and LaRae and Andrea and Greg and Beth and Becky Nesbitt and Brian Hampton. Wow. The more I think about it, the more I realilze how blessed I've been to be able to spend my life with such good people. No kidding. Guess that causes me to lose the snark factor quickly -- there's nothing like being reminded of the important people in your life to give you some perspective on how good you've got it.

Well, there's your 4th of July sermon... Take a moment to say thanks to all the people who have helped you get where you are today.

Comments

[Brandt Dodson]

I've had the opportunity to work with some of the people you mentioned, Chip, and I have the greatest admiration for them.

I'm sure they'd add you to their list too, my friend, if asked the same question.

By the way ... snarky?

[Kristi Holl]

After Miss Snark's blog, I don't find you snarky at all. You just tend to call a spade a spade, which I appreciate. Thanks for continuing to be honest with new writers about how POD is perceived by print publishers. The proliferation of printers-called-publishers is unbelievable.

[Angie F.]

Thanks so much for the insight!

[Faithful Life Publishers]

Dennis isn't alone.

We had one author who approached us about publishing their book. YUCK. It was as if an eight year old had written the book. Three of our proof readers wouldn't even finish the book. Why three? She was nice, she reminded me of my grandmother, I wanted to give her a chance. Her book was deplorable. However, she got it published and had some "international best selling author" write an annotation for the back cover.

When I investigated the company she went with, "the largest Christian publisher in the world" (whom I had never heard of) I wasn't impressed. Yes, like Dennis there was no cost to the author going in. BUT, the retail price the publisher placed on the book would be enough to scare any potential buyer away. In short, this POD Christian publisher is just stroking the writers ego while in the same breath adding to their vast "wealth" of books that won't sell. What happened to TRUTH and INTEGRITY?

At least we told the author the truth about their text.

You should have seen the author when she came back in to gloat about her newly published book. At this point I was still a manager of the largest independent Christian bookstore in southern Florida. Her ego had been nicely stroked by the publisher. She walked away, disappointed, when we wouldn't put her 126 page (paperback) autobiography selling for $21.99 into our store. However, as "grandma" walked away the gleam in her eye was saying, "You blew it again sonny! I'll find someone who will put my book in their store! I will be back when I make my first million!" Needless to say, I wasn't in her Last Will and Testament!

There are publishers like us, though small, that still know the meaning of TRUTH and INTEGRITY. From this perspective I would rather be "small" than "the largest Christian publisher in the world."

Faithful Life Publishers
North Fort Myers, FL
(239) 652-0135
www.FLPublishers.com

[John Robinson]

Betcha ten bucks she went with a certain "traditional publisher" (har!)located in Maryland. With their reputation shot to perdition (thanks to the'Net) these days they're throwing their net wide, snagging sweet little Christian grannies like her who think "Google" is naughty word from the flapper era. Sad, but there you go.