Tag Archives: W. Terry Whalin

Lead With Your Strongest Info by W. Terry Whalin

It is something I learned early on as a journalist: your writing must begin with strength. What is the most intriguing question or strongest quotation or provocative sentence to start your query letter or your pitch to the editor or agent?

In pitches and proposals from unpublished writers, I often see critical information buried. As a reader, I know many agents and editors will never discover this information because they gave up after the opening paragraph.

Last Fall, I met an author with a strong gift book proposal. While Morgan James Publishing doesn’t produce this type of book, there are many well-respected publishers who make gift books. This author had something unusual in her proposal: a strong endorsement from a well-known author. Yet it was buried on the last page of her proposal.

I reviewed her pitch letter or query and while she referred to the endorsement, it did not contain any of the actual words. I suggested she start with a small portion of the endorsement because it would catch positive attention.

Here’s the critical fact that many people forget: agents and editors receive a high volume of submissions. They have many factors tugging for their attention besides submissions which makes them skim through the submissions making quick decisions about reading it in depth or rejecting it.

It’s always surprising to me what a little reorganization can do to strengthen a pitch. The quotation from the well-known author catches attention and pulled the editor or agent to take a more detailed reading of this author’s work. Something simple like this can be the difference between acceptance and rejection.

The first step for any writer is to get their material into the marketplace and in front of the editors. Many writers are missing this critical step and not taking action to send out their work.

If you are taking this step and collecting a number of rejections, I suggest you take a fresh look at your pitch or query. Ask a few questions:

Do I have the strongest material in my pitch in the first paragraph or the first sentence?
Can I read my pitch with fresh eyes and see how the editor or agent is reacting to it?
Am I missing something critical that I’ve left out of the package? One of the most difficult things to see in your own work is something that is missing.
Can I add an endorsement or provocative quotation or something to get additional attention?

There are many other methods to gain the editor’s attention but these questions will give you some direction in this area. In our busy world, the writer has to take action and lead with their strongest information.

If you make these changes, write me and let me know how it worked out or helped you. I’m always eager to read your comments and feedback.

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W. Terry Whalin, a writer and acquisitions editor at Morgan James Publishing, lives in Irvine, California. He has written more than 60 nonfiction books including Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams. His website is located at: www.terrywhalin.com.

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Four Keys to Your Conference Preparation By W. Terry Whalin

In February, I’m traveling to the Florida Christian Writers Conference and I look forward to it. I’ve been revising and updating my workshop on book proposal creation, Editors Read Proposals Not Manuscripts. I’ve been sorting through my 20+ years in publishing and preparing which stories to tell during my class.

I love writers’ conferences. It’s a grand idea haven to talk shop and learn from other writers. If you want to succeed in the writing business, I’ve got four keys to enhance your conference experience:

1. Take daily time to pray about the various people you will meet and the ideas you will discuss. Ask the Lord to guide you through each detail of the conference such as who you will sit with at the opening meeting or where you will sit at each meal and what will be discussed. Ask for God to give you divine appointments. These encounters will be far beyond anything that you could have orchestrated or planned. Be looking for the Lord’s handiwork at the conference.

Some people call those divine appointments or “a pack your bags experience.” That means if you had to leave the conference early for some reason, then you would have had such a great experience with the greatest personal benefit. Through prayer you will come to the conference full of expectation and a spiritual sensitivity that God will work while you are on the conference grounds.

2. The second way is to come prepared to meet others and start new relationships. As a part of your preparation, create some business cards and be prepared to give them out to everyone you meet—but don’t make it a one way exchange. When you give a business card, make sure you receive a business card. Double check your business card to see if it contains your complete information: name, mailing address, phone number and email address. It’s surprising how many participants do not create a simple business card—even if you buy blank cards at an office supply place and print your own. Bring plenty of copies of your business card. It is frustrating to the other person when someone says they only brought a few cards and have given them out. Writing is a solitary occupation and we need each other. You will form new and lasting friendships at the conference if you come prepared for it.

3. The third key for your conference experience is to study the background for the various faculty members and get familiar with their different roles. Publishing is constantly changing. You want to know who you are meeting and their role. For example, I changed roles last year and became an acquisitions editor at a New York based publisher. Your familiarity with the different faculty will help you form deeper relationships during the conference. I believe your time in preparation will be rewarded.

4. The final key for your conference experience is to come with the right heart attitude. Many writers come to their first conference expecting to sell their book manuscript or magazine article. Yes, there will be some selling during the conference. A much more central part of every writer’s conference is where individuals learn new aspects of publishing and take great strides of personal growth. Come with expectations and a willingness to learn and grow. With the right heart attitude, I’m convinced that you will not be disappointed but your expectations will actually be exceeded.

How can I say that expectations will be exceeded? Because I know each member of the faculty is a Christian and a person who is filled with the Spirit of the Living God. I love the verse in Ephesians 3:20 which says, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.”

Today God is preparing for you the people and lives that will be touched during the time we are together. I will be coming with high expectations and anticipations. I’ve not ever been disappointed in the past.

See you soon at the conference!

W. Terry Whalin understands both sides of the editorial desk–as an editor and a writer. He worked as a magazine editor and his magazine work has appeared in more than 50 publications and he’s written more than 60 books for traditional publishers. A book acquisitions editor for several publishers and a former literary agent, Terry is an acquisitions editor at Morgan James Publishing. Whether you are unsure how to start on the path to publication or want to take your publishing career to the next level, Terry’s newest book, JUMPSTART YOUR PUBLISHING DREAMS, INSIDER SECRETS TO SKYROCKET YOUR SUCCESS is packed with insight. Also Terry is the author of the bestselling book, BOOK PROPOSALS THAT SELL, 21 SECRETS TO SPEED YOUR SUCCESS. Plus he’s recently launched a 12 lesson online course on proposal creation, Write A Book Proposal. At the Florida Christian Writers, he will be teaching a one hour workshop, Editors Read Proposals Not Manuscripts.

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Keep An Eye on the Trades by W. Terry Whalin

If you want to know the inside scoop about publishing and how it works, I encourage you to read trade publications.

The weekly magazine of the publishing world is Publishers Weekly. If you’ve thought about subscribing, it is not cheap. I’ve been taking it for years and read it cover to cover each week. I absorb a great deal of information because each week covers a different type of book as well as current news about books and authors.

For many years, I made a weekly trip to the library and read Publishers Weekly from the reference librarians. Smile and engage the librarians because they will not have PW in their magazine section. The librarians read this trade magazine to keep up on the publishing world but also to know in advance about books from bestselling authors. It’s how your library always has a copy on order before it releases.

The PW magazines are kept behind the counter and you may have to read it in their sight because the librarians don’t want you to walk off with their resource. For many years, I read this publication in my local library.

Also subscribe to the free newsletters from Publishers Weekly and read them when they arrive in your mailbox. I have read this information for years and it’s been a great education about the business of publishing.

Several years ago, PW started a feature for the back page called Soapbox. Often authors or publishers or publicists will write something inspirational and insightful on this page. It’s well worth reading online (if available some of their material is only for subscribers) or in the print version. The most recent PW (Sept. 24, 2012) has a Soapbox column from first-time novelist Rayme Waters called Promote, Promote, Promote. She includes 10 tips on guerilla marketing. Every novelist (or nonfiction writer for that matter) can gain from these tips. Whether you’ve never published or been published many times, I learned a great deal from this article.

Another trade resource is to subscribe to Publishers Lunch. They have a free version and a paid version of this publication. I get the paid version because of the additional information and publisher access. Yet for many years, I read the free version.

Shelf Awareness is another terrific resource which is targeted to booksellers and librarians—yet includes valuable insights for writers. It’s free and comes five days a week. Most of the writers on this publication are former PW writers.

Trade publications are an important resource. Each of us needs to continue to grow in our craft and using this resource is a solid path of education.

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Work At Your Titles By W. Terry Whalin

You can’t underestimate the value of a good title for a magazine article or a book manuscript. Many writers don’t put much energy into those few words since they figure it will be changed in the editorial process. That’s not true. If you choose a good title, I’ve found it will remain and appear in print for the magazine article or the book.

Those few words are the first thing an editor will see with your submission so don’t slap something on the top of your manuscript then never revisit the title before you send it to the editor.

For some writers, the title can be a stumbling block–since it’s the first thing on your manuscript. To get around this difficulty, often I will throw the first thing that comes to my mind into that spot on the page. BUT I always revisit it at the end of the process, create several titles, and then select the most appropriate one before I send it off to the editor.

Titles come from many different places. Sometimes they are a play on words and for other titles, they are buried in a phrase inside the actual article or book. When I was on the staff of Decision magazine, we spent hours in Title Meetings where we debated the merits of a particular title for an article. Why? Because at the time the magazine had a circulation of 1.8 million copies and we knew a good title would draw readers. Each of us would suggest possible titles, and then we selected what we determined as the best title for that article. If the writer proposed a good one, then it stuck.

Some of my personal favorites are: Two Words That Changed My Life, the title of my personal testimony, http://www.terrylinks.com/TWTCML A Strange Place To Sing, a children’s book I wrote about Paul and Silas in jail; Never Too Busy, another children’s book about Jesus and the children and finally Lessons From the Pit which I wrote about the Eurodollar Pit of the Chicago Mercantile.

Titles are definitely worth a bit of your creative thinking. The title might make the difference whether you get the editors’ attention or not.

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W. Terry Whalin is a former magazine editor, book editor and literary agent. He is the creator of an online course to teach writers how to create excellent book proposals, www.WriteABookProposal.com (http://bit.ly/wbkpro) and an Acquisitions Editor at Morgan James Publishing, a NY based publisher (http://terrylinks.com/mjp1s). Get his free Ebook, Platform Building Ideas for Every Author: (http://bit.ly/wtwsite) Terry has almost 40,000 followers on Twitter: www.twitter.com/terrywhalin

Build Your Presence with a Blog by W. Terry Whalin

Book editors and literary agents are looking for visible authors. I’m talking about authors who have an already established connection to their audience and communicate with that audience on a consistent basis. The buzzword that is commonly used in publishing is called “platform.” What is the author’s platform?

Many authors are chagrinned to hear this news. They thought the publisher was going to be the one to promote and market their book. These authors want to focus on storytelling and creating the best possible novel or nonfiction book. They don’t want anything to do with marketing. Because these authors resist being involved in marketing, their pitches are consistently rejected and they struggle to find an editor or agent to champion their project.

One of the simple yet effective ways to build your market presence is through blogging. On a consistent basis, I’ve been writing my blog since December 2004. The experience has been valuable in dozens of different ways and I’ve learned a great deal from it. Also I’ve increased my presence in the marketplace through blogging.

Whether you have a blog or not, as an author or would-be author, you have some questions about how to build your presence (platform) with a blog and also how to you make money with a blog? I want to provide you with some answers but first here’s

Five Ways Not To Blog

1. No focus. The word blog is short for a weblog and you start your blog with a literal use of this word. You write whatever comes into your head with no focus and no particular topic and audience in mind. In the process you crank a bunch of words into your computer. Yet are you drawing an audience?

2. No consistency. Sometimes you blog several times a day. Other times you go weeks or months without a single entry. You put information into the blog without any constant flow. And if you look at your viewing statistics, you see the results—lame.

3. Not picking a niche with passion. While this relates to focus, as a blogger, you need to select a particular niche that you will write about for a long time—with passion. Many bloggers fail to account for this element and they blog for a while then run out of steam. My blog has been going strong for years because I am passionate about the area I selected. Are you?

4. No email updates or RSS feed. Readers are different and you need to appeal to many types of readers. Some people like reading the entries on the site while others prefer to receive updates via email or their favorite blog reading tool which picks up on the RSS (really simple syndication) feed. You are missing out if you aren’t using these simple resources with your blog.

5. No links to other resources. No one contains all of the information about any particular topic. People who read and love blogs like to have other resources within a blog post. You need to include links to other people’s materials and resources as you write your entries. It will broaden your base and help you in countless ways.

I’ve just listed a few of the countless mistakes that people make in setting up and maintaining their blog. They do not attract readers nor make any money from their blog and quickly lose interest. They chalk it up to a wasted experience. You can avoid these mistakes with a little forethought and consistency.

I want to help you build your presence in the marketplace with a blog. Whether you are a blogger or not, I have some insights for you.

On Tuesday, August 7^th, I will be answering your questions in a FREE live teleseminar at www.askterrywhalin.com I encourage you to ask your questions. Hopefully your question will be one that I will answer during the 70–minute event. If you can’t make the exact event, go ahead and register because it will be recorded and everyone who signs up will receive an email to the recording after the event.

To encourage your blogging efforts, everyone who signs up for the event will receive a free copy of my Ebook, Bloggers Guide to Profits, Discover the Little Known Secrets to Making Money with our Blog. If you scroll down the right side of my blog, you will see that I sell this book for $9.95. During this event, I’m giving away this valuable resource to everyone who registers. Please feel free to pass this information along to others and have them come to this live event.

I look forward to answering your questions on August 7^th.

W. Terry Whalin

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Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for? Become A Successful Author will be used in the “How To Write That Novel” course at Chicago State because it covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author for only $4.99 (eBook) or $9.99 (print) from: Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Barnes & Noble

Keep Experimenting to Sell Books

I’ve never met a book author who didn’t want to sell more copies of their work. It doesn’t matter if they are published through one of the largest publishers or Podunk Press (I don’t believe there is such a small publisher named Podunk Press but maybe since there are many of them).

I’ve interviewed more than 150 bestselling authors and spoken with hundreds of other authors. If you bring up the topic of selling more books, almost every author has a story about something they tried yet failed to work. Often these stories are filled with the author blaming someone else for the lack of sales. They blame:

their publisher
their publicist
their agent
their editor
the wrong title
the wrong cover
the missing endorsements
_____ you name it

It’s rare that I hear the author blame the real culprit: themselves. Yes, it’s hard to admit but it is the first step toward selling more books and understanding who bears the true responsibility for selling books—the author.

In Jack Canfield’s bestselling title, The Success Principles, How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be, he begins the book with some fundamentals for success. The first principle is: Take 100% Responsibility for Your Life.

For book authors, you can easily take the word Life and substitute Book: Take 100% Responsibility for Your Book. It’s amazing how your attitude will shift if you take this simple step.

Many authors long to have their book appear on the bestseller list. For some authors they equate getting on the bestseller list as their benchmark of success for their book. Over ten years ago, I read Michael Korda’s Making the List, a Cultural History of the American Bestseller 1900–1999. Korda at the time was the Editor-in-Chief at Simon and Schuster, one of the largest publishers. If you haven’t read this book, I highly recommend it.

In the introduction, Korda writes, “The bestseller list is therefore neither as predictable nor as dominating as its critics make it out to be. Plenty of strange books get onto the list and stay there for a long time…at least half of the books on any given list are there to the immense surprise and puzzlement of their publishers. That’s why publishers find it so hard to repeat their success—half the time they can’t figure out how they happened in the first place.” (Page xv) I love his honesty. There is no magic bullet and it is different for every book. The author is key.

Some books start slow and steadily sell then catapult in sales. Other books begin strong then sales drop to nothing. There is no consistent pattern.

My encouragement is for you to keep experimenting with different methods to sell your book. Each author has a different experience.

Yesterday I spoke with an author who had sold 8,000 to 10,000 copies of his self-published books. He had held over 300 book signings for his book. For many authors book signings have yielded almost nothing but not for this author. He regularly speaks at schools and service clubs and even AARP meetings.

If you aren’t speaking much as an author, I encourage you to get a copy of Barbara Techel’s Class Act, Sell More Books Through School and Library Appearances. This book gives step-by-step help and is loaded with ideas where you can take action.

What proactive steps can you take to learn a new skill or try some new way to sell books? It doesn’t matter if your book is brand new or has been in print for a while. Keep the experimentation going until you hit the elements which work for your book.

W. Terry Whalin

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If You Build It & They Don’t Come

Years ago when I launched my first website, I worked hard at all of the details of this site—the functionality, the appearance and the contents. I was convinced this website would sell tons of books and generate terrific amounts of new writing business. I was stuck in fantasy and not reality because it did not happen.

I often meet unpublished authors who are convinced a website or lots of activity on Facebook is the single answer to sell many books. They have fallen into this trap of believing the line from the movie Field of Dreams, that if they build it, the people will come.

Today I’m wiser and have written more than 60 books for traditional publishers. As a book publisher, I’ve helped more than 150 authors launch their own book. From my years in publishing I want to give you five critical actions to take with your book marketing.

Decide to take 100% responsibility for your book marketing. Many authors have told me about their dismal book sales whether they have been published from a recognized publisher or a self-published. They always want to blame someone or some event. Anything and everything is responsible except their own actions. Your attitude is critical and yes others will help you but you have to lead the charge for telling others about your book.
Be willing to try a limited number of new things. You must focus your book marketing efforts to be successful. I encourage you to be reading books and online materials of others. As you learn about something new, try it and add it to your book marketing strategies. I understand you have to limit the new things or you will run in a million different directions and be completely ineffective at anything. It is important to be open to new opportunities.
Always be learning something new. It is a book marketing attitude killer to feel like you know everything there is to know about selling books. No one knows everything. Look for new ideas through blogs and online reading and reading books. With this open attitude, you will find new opportunities to sell your books to others.
Meet new people. Whether you go to a local Chamber of Commerce meeting or a conference, get out of your office and interact with others. Listen to their ideas and tell them about your own efforts. The cooperation and networking will increase potential for your own book sales. Many authors spend too much time at their keyboard or computer and not enough face to face time with others.
Decide to never give up on your book. Some books are slow starters in the market and take a while to begin selling. Persistence will be your friend when it comes to selling your book. I’ve read an individual has to hear about your book seven times before they actually make a buying decision. Whether it is five or seven times, these readers have to hear about the value of your book repeatedly to make a purchase decision. Your persistence in telling others and reaching new audiences will pay off for you. Never give up.

Finally I want to give you two free resources to help your book marketing efforts. First is a free traffic newsletter from my friend Jimmy D. Brown. His success in Internet Marketing is legendary. Pick up the first issue of his Traffic Jam Newsletter and 10 Ways to Get Other People to Send You Free Traffic. His newsletter will stir ideas.

The second resource is my free Ebook, Platform Building Ideas for Every Author. Get it free at: http://terrylinks.com/pb Next read this book and take action on the ideas.

You can build it and they will come but only if you continue to promote your book.

W. Terry Whalin

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W. Terry Whalin understands both sides of the editorial desk. A former acquisitions editor and a former literary agent, Terry is a Vice President and Publisher at Intermedia Publishing Group. He has written more than 60 books for traditional publishers including Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams and several of Terry’s books have sold over 100,000 copies. He has authored an innovative training for writers, Write A Book Proposal. Terry is an active member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors.

Upcoming Free Workshop: Character Cake (Character Development) Facilitator: Deatri King-Bey Date: May, 19 2012 Time: 4-5 p.m. Central Location: Become A Successful Author Website (link and password will be given the day before the event). Sign up for the newsletter to participate.

Be Active On Twitter & Automate It

When I meet with writers at a conference or on the phone, they will often tell me, “No one knows me or my writing.” Maybe they have written a few magazine articles but never published a book. Or maybe they haven’t published anything but want to get published. Other people have written for magazines or newspapers but never written a book (nonfiction or fiction).

First a reminder: I know of no overnight successes in the publishing business. If you have someone who appears to become an overnight success, then look closer at the journey of that person. I’ve often found they have been in the trenches for years before they achieved their dream of success. OK, with this reality check, now what can you do to begin building your visibility in the community? There is not a singular answer to this question. There are many answers.

One answer is to become active on Twitter. According to Twitter’s site, as of September 14, 2010, there are 175 million users who tweet 95 million times a day. Those numbers are right–a million. What are you waiting for? Let’s get started.

1. Who is your target audience? Who do you want to reach and with what message? It is important from the beginning to select one or two “themes” to your tweets because this consistency will attract your audience and help you.

2. Create your Twitter profile and add your photo and bio. Get more details in my free Ebook, Mastering Twitter in 10 Minutes or Less.

3. Add a distinctive twitter background to your twitter profile. Here’s a free tool to create it.

4. Use a free tool like Hootsuite to send out your tweets and also to schedule them.

5. Locate Twitter Leaders in your area at Twellow. Follow those leaders and learn from their tweets.

6. Use a tool like TweetAdder to automate your twitter process of gaining followers. It is excellent and adding about 100 to 150 followers a day to my Twitter account. You can get 20% off TweetAdder by using code JONB20.

If you don’t like to tweet, then automate your content on Twitter using Google Alerts. Select several key words and pull in content to your twitter account.

Follow these ten steps:

1. Do you have a Gmail account? If not create one. While you are signed on to that Gmail account…

2. Go to Google Alerts

3. Select several phrases that you want to turn on alerts

4. Leave the Type as “comprehensive” or from anywhere on the web

5. Change How Often to “as-it-happens” because you want it throughout the day and fresh

6. Change Deliver to: and select “feed.”

7. When you save it, you will see the feed in Google. Notice the orange icon or the word “feed.” Right click on that and copy out the feed URL because you will need it for the next step.

8. Go to Twitterfeed and log on to this free application using your twitter username and password.

9. After you log on to Twitterfeed, you are creating a new Feed. Give your feed a title and paste the RSS feed URL from Google alerts into the feed spot.

10. Click the Advanced Settings. Change “Update Frequency” to every 30 minutes and post up to “3” new updates at a time.

This ten step system will automatically pull content into your twitter account. I have this system set up for some twitter accounts that I do not monitor as closely as I do for my main twitter account.

It is critical to provide content, point to articles, give free resources and not to engage in hard selling (buy me, buy me). It’s a soft sell approach that works on Twitter. With millions of people on Twitter and using some (or all) of these techniques, every writer can increase their presence and activity on Twitter.

W. Terry Whalin

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W. Terry Whalin, a writer and editor, lives in Scottsdale, Arizona. He has written more than 60 nonfiction books including Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams. His website is located at: www.terrywhalin.com.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Deatri will be conducting a FREE Character Development workshop for people who are signed up for my monthly newsletter. Workshop: Character Cake Cost: Free Date: Apr, 28 2012 Time: 4-5 p.m. Central Location: Become A Successful Author Website (link and password will be given the day before the event)

Open Every Door of Opportunity

As an author, I want to knock on lots of different doors of opportunity then be prepared to march through any of them when they open. It takes courage to often knock in the face of rejection but the opportunities will never come if you don’t continue trying. I know those last statements are not real profound. You would be surprised how many would-be authors give up during the journey. They should continue growing in their craft and ability to write. Plus they need to continue knocking on the doors of opportunity.

As an illustration, I’m going to use my Book Proposals That Sell. This proven book continues to help various writers with their dreams of getting a traditional publisher for their book. Last week I heard from another author who had used the information in this book and received a book contract. I’d much rather have someone pay me to write a book through writing a book proposal than self-publish (or pay someone else) to get the book into print. There are many reasons to take this route yet many have not found the right keys to open that door.

If you’ve read some of my work in my blog called The Writing Life, you know I’ve worked hard (and continue to work hard) to get the word out about the results from Book Proposals That Sell. I continue to sell and promote the trade paperback through different channels. This promotion will continue as I speak at different conferences in the months ahead and other means. Many readers have encouraged their friends to purchase the book. A number of my editor and agent friends will hold up the book at other conferences and I use a number of other resources to spread the word about this product.

Some time ago I opened another door of opportunity for this book. Now anyone reading these words can promote Book Proposals That Sell to your own Ezine or your own audience—and profit from it financially. I hold the exclusive electronic rights for this book. I’ve created an electronic version of the book and created an affiliate program. You can see my promotional page for this book at this link. You can join my affiliate program here. The affiliate program is a simple registration form (three minutes or less to complete). You will have access to various promotional tools such as advertising you can use in an email or your Ezine or banner ads you can use in HTML newsletters or on your personal website. Why would you do it? I’m going to send you 50% of the profits for any sales from it (much higher than Amazon.com’s Associate program or almost any other means). My affiliate program has a number of products and promotional tools which are free for anyone who joins the program.

In the past, I’ve attempted to get publishers and literary agents to include the book as a recommended resource. A few people (not many) have taken this step and included the book on their websites. Now I’ve increased their motivation because they can actually earn money from the recommendation. I was trying to appeal to their noble nature and get better book proposals—which I know firsthand comes from someone reading and applying this information. If you have an Ezine or a website or an email list of people who dream of getting a book published, go over to this link and sign up for the Affiliate program, then apply the information wherever you can do it.

I want to knock on every door of opportunity and help as many people as possible to create an excellent book proposal. After reading thousands of proposals and even writing two proposals that earned a six-figure advance, I understand that you have seconds to grab the attention of an agent or editor. My goal is for you to be successful as a writer. Some people say that traditional publishing is over and it is impossible to get a royalty book deal. That’s not true. Every day agents and editors are actively looking for excellent projects. The truth is that many of the pitches need more work and refinement.

What can you do to produce an excellent proposal? The absolute best step in my view is to join my 12 lesson three month online Write A Book Proposal course. You will gain my current teaching about how to create an eye-catching proposal. My goal is for every writer to produce a better proposal because with a better proposal, you will have increased opportunities from literary agents and editors. I wish you every success.

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ANNOUNCEMENT: Hello All, Dee here. I’ll be conducting a FREE eBook formatting workshop for people who are signed up for my monthly newsletter.
Topic: eBook Formatting Basics for Fiction Titles Cost: Free Date: March, 24, 2012 Time: 3-4 p.m. Central Location: Become A Successful Author Website (link and password will be given the day before the event)

Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for? Become A Successful Author will be used in the “How To Write That Novel” course at Chicago State because it covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author (eBook) for only $4.99 from: Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Barnes & Noble or print copies for only $7.99 by using the Contact page of this website and tell Dee know how many copies you’d like and shipping address. She’ll email the ordering information. Or you can purchase the print version from any book store for $9.99.

Do Novelists Need A Book Proposal?

One of the great misconceptions in the publishing community is that novelists do not need to write book proposals. As a former fiction acquisitions editor, I know the storytelling skills for a novelist is central. The writing must be riveting from the opening sentence to prevent rejection. The craft of storytelling is not easy but it’s something that a skilled editor can easily spot.

Industry experts have said a million proposals, manuscripts and queries are in circulation at any given time period. For a moment, I want you to pretend that you are an acquisitions editor looking for the best material to bring to your publication board. You have a limited number of projects to present at the next meeting and you’ve found some great stories. It is natural that you are going to gravitate toward the writer who not only has a powerful story yet also has a complete book proposal. That proposal includes information which never appears in the manuscript yet is critical for the voting members to make a decision about offering you a contract. Don’t you want to give yourself the best opportunity for them to make that offer?

The skill to put together a book proposal is one that every writer needs to learn—whether they are writing a novel or a nonfiction book. I’ve sold numerous nonfiction books on the basis of a book proposal and a sample chapter. In fact, two of my proposals receive six-figure advances. Yes, it can happen and it can happen to you.

Some writers assume they can avoid the research and some of the skills that a nonfiction writer needs to possess by writing fiction. They believe since the story comes from their imagination that it is easier to write. It’s simply not true. As someone who has read tons of poorly crafted fiction, I know firsthand that writers need to learn the storytelling craft. You will have to create an excellent manuscript to write fiction yet you also need a book proposal with your manuscript.

When it comes to making a book proposal, I’ve read every book I can find about book proposal creation. Plus I’ve read thousands of book proposals. With that experience, I created a step-by-step series of lessons to guide you into making an excellent book proposal. My course is on autoresponders and comes to you like clockwork. If you sign up on a Tuesday, then seven days later you will receive the second lesson. You can learn more at Write A Book Proposal.com.

To experience some of my teaching on proposals, go to www.AskAboutProposals.com and you can get a free 24-page Ebook, Book Proposal Basics, and also catch an hour teleseminar where I answer writer questions about book proposal creation and marketing book proposals. This resource is completely free.

Another resource to learn more about book proposal creation is my blog on the Writing Life: www.thewritinglife.ws I have over 1,000 searchable entries and a search tool in the right-hand column. Scroll down and you can see the search tool. Use a word like “proposals” and you will see many entries on this topic.

Whether you take my course or not, invest in learning the skill of creating a book proposal. Novelists need to understand the competition to their idea. They need to write a practical marketing plan for their book and learn how to tout the value they bring to the book beyond their storytelling skills. It could make the difference whether your next pitch is accepted or rejected.

W. Terry Whalin

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W. Terry Whalin, a writer and publisher lives in Scottsdale, Arizona. A former acquisitions editor, former magazine editor and former literary agent, Terry has written more than 60 nonfiction books. To help writers, he has created 12-lesson online course called Write A Book Proposal. His website is located at: www.terrywhalin.com.

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What’s Your Book About?

I could feel the intensity increasing among the other editors involved in acquisitions. I felt it as well because we were facing a deadline to turn in our material for the next publication board meeting. We typically set deadlines several weeks in advance of the actual meeting, then the various participants could read our background materials before the meeting and come prepared with their questions and comments. Besides the author’s proposal, we had internal documents to get ready for the meeting. An editorial assistant prepared an agenda which gave the order for the editors to present their books for that particular month.

Tensions in our editorial group always tended to run high the day of the publication board meeting as no one could predict what would happen in these sessions. There is an old saying about editors that it depends on what they had for breakfast. Reality isn’t that subjective but the mood of the room can swing to different extremes. For some meetings, the questions were minimal and the reaction was positive about the authors that I championed for the publishing house.

On other occasions it was different. I walked into the room filled with publishing staff, armed with my stack of folders and paperwork. As an editor, I prepared a series of short presentations on the key details of each book. Another editor on our editorial team had worked at multiple publishing houses and appeared before different groups of these publication boards. This colleague told me, “Our publication board is different and a bit crankier than some of the others.”

Waiting for your turn in the room can be a nerve-racking feeling for an editor. Finally my turn came and I walked into the large board room. Key leaders from the publishing house—including sales, marketing and editorial personnel—sat around a conference table. It was almost certain that several of these leaders had only skimmed your paperwork or not read it at all or they read it during your presentation. Some days it was like sitting on the hot seat trying to defend your titles to a room full of skeptics. Other times they were supportive of your selections. As a book is accepted for publication in this meeting, the various groups such as sales and marketing are held responsible for their support of a particular title. Key business decisions for the life and future of the publisher are made in these meetings. You, as the author, aren’t present but your view is represented from your work on the book proposal and the voiced words of support from your acquisitions editor.

Your words on your proposal become elevated in importance. How will your book be represented through your words? What is the hook? This should come in the first sentence or two of your overview—the first section for any book proposal. This section defines the topic of your book in a few words. I’ve already explained the difficulty involved in getting an editor to read your material. Now you have a few seconds to grab the editor’s attention. What hook will you use to entice him to keep turning your pages? Your first responsibility is to reach the editor who is thinking about his readers and book buyers when he reads your initial words. He can then use your overview material to hook his publication board.

The overview should be a maximum of one to three pages in length and should clearly explain what the book is about, why it is necessary and what makes this book different than others on the same topic. Normally this material is written in the third person.

If you are looking for a way to concisely tell the idea of your book, I’d suggest that you first write it on paper, but also work with it in an oral format. It’s one of the reasons to read your writing aloud after you’ve finished it—because the ear is less forgiving than the eye. Using this process, you will pick up on all sorts of ways to improve your manuscript.

W. Terry Whalin
W. Terry Whalin, a writer and publisher lives in Scottsdale, Arizona. A former acquisitions editor, former magazine editor and former literary agent, Terry has written more than 60 nonfiction books including Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams. To help writers, he has created 12-lesson online course called Write A Book Proposal. His website is located at: http://www.terrywhalin.com/

Shocking News To Authors: The Book Business Is A Business First

Before I began working inside a book publishing house, I had written more than 50 nonfiction books, ranging from children’s to adult books. I have never self-published a book and always worked through traditional publishers. However, I was unaware of the financial production numbers for nonfiction books and I found it shocking—and something critical for potential authors to understand. The author never sees these figures for their books as the publisher doesn’t reveal them throughout the contract negotiation process. A publisher will produce these financial calculations as simply a part of good business practices. As an author, understanding this helped me see publishing as a business. Authors have huge amounts of time and emotional investment in their words. When I saw these production numbers, I understood that the publisher, not the author, has the largest out-of-pocket cash investment in a book.

Inside the publisher, the editor will gather a sales projection about how many copies the sales department believes they can sell of your title the first year. That sales figure will be used to calculate the production costs of ink, paper and binding for various amounts of printing (5,000, 10,000 or 15,000 copies). As the initial print number is raised, the cost per book decreases. You may ask, So why not print a large volume each time? The answer is, if the publisher prints a large number of copies, then he has to store those copies in their warehouse (read cost and expense), plus make sure they actually sell those copies within a year’s timeframe. The cost of tying up financial resources in storing and warehousing books that aren’t selling is large. Also the federal government taxes publishers on each copy in storage. These tax rules have forced publishers to think long and hard about how many copies of each book to print.

Inside my former publisher, we calculated the overall printing details of the book (paperback with general publishing look or hardcover with jacket) and the number of books to print before offering a book contract. In short, publishers pour a great deal of work into their books and financial projections before they call you and offer a nonfiction book contract. Understanding this process helps you see some of the reasons it takes such a long time for an author to receive a publishing contract…

Often the publisher returns to an author with whom they have already published a book. If the publisher takes a second or third book from the same author, they are investing in that author’s career and trying to build that author’s audience and market. If the author’s books are selling well, then the publisher will be eager for another project. Each week, publishers monitor sales numbers on their books to see if particular authors merit another book contract.

Many writers focus only on the creative aspects of writing a book and getting it published, but the executives inside a publishing house are business people who want to sell books and turn a profit at the end of the day. It’s a delicate balance between creating the best possible product and assuring that each product has the best opportunity to sell into the market and reach the target audience.

W. Terry Whalin

W. Terry Whalin, a writer and publisher lives in Scottsdale, Arizona. A former acquisitions editor, former magazine editor and former literary agent, Terry has written more than 60 nonfiction books including Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams. To help writers, he has created 12-lesson online course called Write A Book Proposal. His website is located at: http://www.terrywhalin.com/

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Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for? Become A Successful Author covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author (eBook) from: Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Barnes & Noble