How to Get Your Book On the Shelves
The first step in getting your book sold to a publisher is putting together a proposal so that potential publishers know why they should invest their resources in bringing your idea to the marketplace. Here’s what you need to communicate:
1. The Overview. This is where you give a general idea of what your book is about and why it’s ‘hook’ is unique from others on the same topic. Discuss the worldly environment that it will be born into and why the time is now for it to come forth. What’s more, why are you the person to do so? If you have a book idea about dog obedience, for example, and have personally tamed three crazy shelter dogs, make your case!
2. The Table of Contents and Chapter Outline. Often the most difficult part of the entire process, putting together the table of contents proves to yourself (and ultimately, publishers) that you have enough ‘meat’ to flesh out your topic. Can you cover ten different chapters? Are the headlines for each chapter engaging? Do they give the reader a good idea of what their reading experience will be like? Once you are happy with your chapters and titles, write a lead paragraph for each. This will be your only chance to demonstrate your writing style or ‘voice’ until the actual writing is done.
3. The Introduction. Take a little time to look over this section in existing non-fiction books to get a feel for the purpose of the Introduction. They vary, but in general this is where the author explains what he or she is setting out to do in the chapters that follow. This is also where you can announce any caveats that may exist. For example, “My advice here can’t replace medical attention from a vet, but my twenty years of training stray dogs has taught me that”
4. Target Markets. This is where the preliminary work on the book itself is done and where you prove to publishers that you understand your intended audience. Convince publishers that there are 2.5 million dog owners in the United States and that most of them wish that their pets behaved better. Tell them that pet owners spend about $1000 a year on caring for their pets and that 2% of them are avid readers. Dig around to build a case for the publication of your book!
5. Competitive Titles. Unless you’ve somehow reinvented the wheel with your subject, there are already several books on the shelves that are similar. Find three or four of them, read them, and offer a paragraph about their content. Then point out how your book differs and fills the need in a much better way.
6. Author Background. Once the publisher is convinced that your book is marketable, you need to prove that you have what it takes to write it. What is your background with regards to the title and your work ethic in general? Granted, you may never have published a book before, but you’ve worked in business for twenty years, meet deadlines and exceed expectations on a daily basis. You also should know that a publisher seeks to sell at least 10,000 books in order to consider a book from a first-time author a success. How will you as an author support this number? Do you teach dog obedience every Saturday? Have you written a related column in your local newspaper? In short, if you can prove that you have a built-in audience; this is where you do it.
7. Promotions. The days of book tours and marketing departments are all but gone for anyone but best sellers. As such, publishers want to know if the author has any ideas on how to get the word out about their book. Would you print up book marks for your cookbook and ask local supermarkets to put them in their shopping bags? Get creative here and let the publisher know that you will do your part to make the book a success after they publish it.