Interview with an Acquiring Editor - Part 3

This week we’re wrapping up our conversation with acquiring editors and publishers by discussing their hurdles and what they wish authors knew. You can read their backgrounds in Part 1 here and what they specifically look for in proposals in Part 2 here.

What's your biggest hurdle in publishing the projects you love?

SMITH: Tastes are subjective, so while a particular book might be a passion project for me, it becomes my responsibility to spark the same passion in my publishing team and sales force. This is a creative challenge and a good one to have, but I am reminded often that everyone has their own unique tastes and they don’t always align. For the projects that instantly click with our team, we can accomplish great things together. For the projects that receive mixed reactions, it requires more work and creativity to gain necessary support.

ALLEN: Other publishers. We work in a stable industry amidst fine folk who are employed by other publishing houses. For the most part we all know a good book when we see it, and we’re willing to compete aggressively to get it.

WONG: Platform. It is increasingly important for authors to come with a somewhat developed personal platform that publishers can come alongside and amplify. Often when I’m feeling torn between my personal passion for a project and my responsibility to the company, platform is somewhere in there as a factor. That’s not to say that we don’t, every now and then, make exceptions, but they are, at the end of the day, exceptions to the rule.

What do you wish potential authors knew about your job?

SMITH: We are for you more than you know! At Zondervan, we have a fairly intensive review process comprised of three team meetings: editorial, marketing, and sales. It’s my job to tailor each presentation to each audience, so these three teams are essentially the first real customers of your book. I need their support to make a solid book offer! So I view my role as a champion for your project, even though you will never see most of this behind-the-scenes process. Before a potential author and I ever have a phone call or meeting, there is a significant amount of discussion, planning, editing, and presentations that happen on behalf of their book.

We are certainly selective and not every project is the right fit, and I know this can be discouraging to aspiring writers. We do not enjoy turning down projects and are quite familiar with being turned down by authors ourselves. But if you are word person, I am cheering you on. Every time I meet a prospective author, or open a new proposal attachment, this is not an imposition—I am hoping to be wowed by a voice, an idea, or a story that the world needs to hear.

ALLEN: I would want authors to know that my job is to publish books that have a real chance in the marketplace. If we as a publisher fail to do this, we will cease to exist. Generally publishing pros are not selective because they’re mean. (Some of us probably are mean, but I doubt that’s what drives our selectivity.) We’re selective because we need to be to survive in this industry, let alone thrive in it.

Publishing is two parts art and one part business, but the business part is definitely there. And so I want potential authors to know that effort and ingenuity really matter. Desire matters. And desire that goes to work—the work of developing a great concept, the work of building a substantial platform, the work of crafting compelling writing—matters even more.

WONG: As the acquiring editor, I am your frontline champion from acquisitions through publication. Whenever I point out an area that needs strengthening or clarifying, from concept to structure to positioning to title discussions and beyond, it’s because I want to give your book its best shot at success. Often, I am navigating the concerns of various parties on the publishing end of things—marketing, publicity, sales, retailers, etc.—so I’m not making suggestions or asking you to rethink things on a whim. There is much more behind what I ask you to consider than you might be aware of on the surface. So if I’m asking tough questions and making suggestions to you at proposal stage, I’m investing in you already.

Thank you so much, Stephanie, Chad, and Jessica, for sharing your expertise and heart with your authors and our readers!

Interview with an Acquiring Editor - Part 2

Last week, we introduced you to several acquiring editors and publishers who gave us their backgrounds on how they found themselves in the publishing field. This week we’re going to discuss what they specifically look for in proposals.

How many proposals do you review on average in a month? What percentage do you actually publish?

SMITH: Since the majority of proposals come my way via agents, I (intentionally!) don’t receive volumes of unsolicited proposals. Over a month I might review 15 or so proposals and I might take on 3-5 of those to shepherd through our review process. Our rule of thumb at Zondervan is that if you’re not passionate about it, if you have to think twice about it, it’s probably a pass. You hear so much about the nuts and bolts of concept, platform, marketing viability, etc., but the importance of a team’s passion for a book is not to be underestimated! So you can bet that the proposals we do take to pub board and the ones we are actively championing.

ALLEN: Counting only proposals I personally receive, I review at least 10 proposals per month, many more than that if you count those I review via my editorial colleagues. My personal goal is to acquire and publish 15 books per year. The division I head up is shooting for about 60 new books per year; altogether we review (I’m estimating) at least 400 proposals a year.

WONG: It varies depending on the time of year. In the busy seasons, I’m reviewing approximately 15 proposals each month. In the slower seasons, it’s closer to 10. We end up publishing just about 10 percent of those proposals on average.

What are the key things you look for in a proposal in order to keep reading?

SMITH:  One of my favorite questions to ask authors is: What is the boldest statement your book has to make? I call this the angle—it’s fresh, counter-intuitive, even a little provocative—and generates that double-take reaction which is of every importance to stand out among the many books on the shelves today. The more specific, the better. When I see a strong angle playing center stage in a proposal, when the author doesn’t make me go hunting for it, you have my full attention. And my day is made.

Like all readers, I’m looking to be moved. As immersed in content as I am, I’m not immune to it! A stellar story, a sentence I can’t help but underline, an idea from your proposal that shifts my perspective and I want to tell my husband about over dinner—that’s what makes me want to keep reading. It’s the fresh factor, which I’m convinced only comes about when a writer is willing to dig in and do the work.

Another thing I love to see is a writer who knows and owns their voice, which comes through practice and the decision to stop imitating even their favorite writers. Whether that voice is sassy and side-eyed or poignant and poetic or something else entirely, it’s a beautiful thing to behold when an author writes out of their uniqueness with confidence. 

ALLEN: Concept, platform, writing.

A great concept is fresh in some way and meets a real need readers have.

Platform is an author’s ability to help us get the word out about their book.

Good writing keeps me reading even when I have a thousand other things to do.

WONG: There are three main components: (1) a fresh, compelling concept that will make readers think, “Yes, I need this book!” (2) thoughtful writing with a distinctive voice that draws readers in, and (3) a platform the publisher can creatively leverage in collaboration with the author for a strong book launch.

What are some of the things you see in a proposal that immediately make you turn it down?

SMITH: Generalized and overblown statements that show an author hasn’t done their research. For example, “There’s never been a book on this topic before!” when I can point to several recent examples. A missing angle or a concept that feels underdeveloped. Too many “I” statements in the writing and a lacking effort to write inclusively and invitationally toward the reader. This is even more important for memoirs which we get so many proposals for: if you are writing for yourself, that’s important and not to be discounted, but it’s not ready for proposal status until you begin to write to serve your readers. It’s easy to spot a proposal that has not yet evolved out of that initial catharsis stage.

ALLEN: Unoriginality, fiction, and lack of platform.

WONG: Muddled thinking and lack of polish. I’m often looking for the proposal to demonstrate clarity of thought, because even if you have the most compelling concept, if you can’t communicate it clearly, it’s that much harder to reach readers who must understand and be drawn in enough to buy the book in the first place. In terms of polish, I would hope that the proposal would be clear of mistakes, would not demonstrate a lack of understanding of the market, or have too much missing standard material. All of this highlights to me that you have not done your homework to put your best foot forward.

Check back next week, as Stephanie, Chad, and Jessica answer a few final questions about what they wish authors knew about the publishing process.

Interview with an Acquiring Editor - Part 1

As literary agents, we demand a lot out of our authors as they’re putting together their proposals. Our job is to make sure we present all the information publishers need to make a decision to publish our clients’ books. Editors do a lot more than simply decide to publish a book and then edit the manuscript, so we decided to interview a few of the best in the industry so you can hear directly from them.

First, here are their quick bios.

Stephanie Smith is committed to partnering with authors to bring fresh, forward-thinking ideas to life to serve the church today through her role as acquisitions editor at Zondervan. She lives with her husband in Michigan, where she is pursuing her masters in theology at Western Theological Seminary in addition to editorial work. Find her on Twitter at @heystephsmith and join her monthly email newsletter for writers aiming to find their angle, write like they mean it, and do it in style at www.slantletter.com.

Chad Allen is editorial director for Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, where he has worked for over a decade. Chad is the author of Do Your Art and the creator of the Book Proposal Academy. Chad holds a B.A. in English from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and an M.A. in Theology from the University of Notre Dame. He and his wife, Alyssa, live with their two children in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Hear more from Chad on his blog or by following him on Facebook and Twitter at @chadrallen.

Jessica Wong is the senior acquisitions editor at Nelson Books. She has worked closely with a number of bestselling authors to sharpen and develop their content. She holds a B.A. in English linguistics and is also an alumnus of the Yale Publishing Course. Her passion is providing a guiding hand to authors with eternal and truly impactful messages in order to help them reach and touch as many lives as possible.

Second, here is how they found themselves in publishing. Whether always knowing you were made for it, falling into and deciding to never leave, or being attracted to it from the other side, the journey into this magnetic business is telling.

SMITH: I started out on the opposite side of the printer in book publicity. While I had always aspired to join editorial, I am so glad to have had the opportunity in PR to gain the skills needed to identify what media wants in a story and headline. I use these skills every day in a retroactive way, as I review proposals and mine book concepts for just the right hook to get people talking. The trick is to work in a strong angle from the very beginning of the book’s development, and a PR eye is helpful in this.

Transitioning from publicity, I joined the team at RELEVANT magazine as an editor and led efforts to revamp the web editorial strategy. The beauty of digital publishing is that it affords you the opportunity to tap into whatever conversation is trending right now (this doesn’t work so well in book publishing, which is a much longer process!). Success starts with listening—in real-time—to what readers are hungry for: what articles they’re responding to, what they’re sharing, what conversations they’re having, what questions they’re wrestling with. It’s a live experiment every day, and it’s rewarding to go out and create the content that they most need.

The beauty of book publishing, in a different way, is that you have the luxury of time to go long and deep with a concept. The journey is a long and rewarding one, and I am drawn to it because I have been so shaped and sustained by books in my own life. Most of all, I get to be in the journey with such great company! The best part about my job is working with authors and partnering with them to bring their ideas to life at the brightest they can be. It’s a privilege to pour so much into books that in turn pour so much life into readers.

ALLEN: I was exposed to the publishing process when back in the late nineties I worked with Douglas Gresham, general consultant to C. S. Pte Ltd, the company that owns the rights to C.S. Lewis’s work. All the new editions, compilations, and abridgments of Lewis’s work went by Gresham’s desk. So suddenly I was plunged into the world of galleys and proofs and all the guts of making a book. I remember Gresham asking for my input, and I was immediately hooked.

What I saw among other things is that publishers carry this enormous burden and honor of influencing the final shape and content of a book. It’s astonishing, isn’t it, that we get to have a hand in the making of a book—an idea bomb (general nonfiction), a life-changing story (memoir), a potential miracle in someone’s life (self-help)—that will go out to thousands, sometimes millions of readers? That mesmerized me. Still does.

WONG: I was the child simultaneously enrolled in multiple library summer reading programs who mastered the art of reading while walking during recess. I decided in fourth grade that I wanted to be an editor when I grew up and asked all my teachers along the way how to get there. After graduating from college, I attended the University of Denver Publishing Institute and, shortly thereafter, got my first job in publishing at Thomas Nelson. Since then, I’ve spent time at Howard Books, the Christian imprint of Simon & Schuster, graduated from the Yale Publishing Course, and returned to join the team at Nelson Books.

Check back next week, as Stephanie, Chad, and Jessica answer the questions you want to know as you’re crafting your book proposal.

How to Pitch an Agent/Editor in 15 Minutes or Less

Often times when you attend a writers conference, you have an opportunity to sit down, speed dating style, for 3-15 minutes with various editors and agents. A common question is, what do I have to do to convince someone in a short pitch to represent or publish my work?

The short answer is, you can't. Except for exceedingly rare circumstances, no editor or agent worth their salt is going to make a snap decision in that setting. You have to realize that the agents and editors are trying to provide a service more than they're expecting to actually find a diamond in the rough. They're going to give you pointers, what's working, what isn't, and talk to you about your big idea or try and help you figure out how to explain it if you even have one. They're not really expecting to meet new clients or authors. It happens, but again, that's not the expectation.

But before you get discouraged and decide to blow off the meetings, let me tell you why I think this actually opens the door for you to get serious attention.

If an author sits down in front of you, has actually done their homework, polished their pitch, and presents a compelling idea, that won't be the norm. You have a chance to stand out from the crowd by being prepared to do your very best. If you accomplish this, then the editor or agent may actually invite you to formally submit your material for consideration. So what do you need to do?

Whatever you do, do not bring a 50 page document with the expectation that the editor or agent is going to take this from you. They may be polite, but it will not make it out of the hotel room. You should have a 1-3 page, easy-to-read and cleanly styled document with your name, contact information, a short bio, the title of your work, a 2-3 sentence hook, and 5-6 paragraph description of your main thesis or idea. And that's it. If you do a good job in the pitch, they will take this document from you and it will have the information they need to follow up with you. If you cannot boil down your idea to a compelling presentation in this format, you're not ready to present your idea.

You should also prepare a ninety-second pitch that you are going to deliver verbally. When you first sit down, you'll introduce yourself, the agent or editor will do the same, and there may be some small talk. But the whole point is for you to make your pitch. Be prepared. Again, if you can't tell me in 90 seconds or less what your big idea is, why it's important, and why you're the right person to write it, you're not ready to present your idea. 

If you really want to stand out, research the editor(s) or agent(s) you're going to be meeting with. If your opening ice breaker is a statement about why you are excited to meet with this person because you know they work with a specific author or have published a specific book or set of books that are similar to you or what you're working on, you'll have their undivided attention. Again, be prepared. This isn't a must, but it will go a long way toward helping you stand out. If you begin this way, nail your 90-second pitch, and have a solid 1-3 page document you can leave behind that is equally compelling, you will get positive feedback, and just might land yourself an editor or agent. 

Finally, I'd practice your pitch and let a few friends read and respond to your document. Let them ask you questions, poke holes in your presentation, press you a little bit. An editor or agent asking you questions and engaging you with your idea can't rattle you. You need to be prepared to answer questions. Think through specific questions someone might have about your project. Some obvious questions you should be able to respond to: Are there other books similar to yours already in the market? If so, what is your unique contribution to the topic? What other writing have you done similar to this? Have you built an audience and is this the type of work they'd expect from you?

I've said it a few times now, but I can't over stress this: Be prepared. If you follow the above advice, you will be ready to make the most of your short window of time, and you will leave a good impression. That's the most you can hope for from these meetings. Most editors and agents will be happy to meet with one person that is worth following up with. This will help you be that person. 

Good luck! 

Have a question for our Ask An Agent series? Submit your question here.