Category: Finding an Agent

What Do Your Social Media Stats Mean to an Agent or Publisher?

I recently saw this basic question asked in a LinkedIn discussion: What do all my social media stats—blog readers and social networking followers—mean to an agent or a publisher? My response: “They mean a lot.” They mean you have platform. And platform equates to you being someone with whom an agent or a publisher wants [...]

Monday January 30th, 2012 in Agents, Author Coaching, Blogging, Finding an Agent, Platform, Social Networking, Traditional Publishing | 4 Comments »

How to Craft a Pitch for Your Book

I’m in New York City today for the Writers Digest Conference. Next month I’ll be at San Francisco Writers Conference, and this spring I’ll be at several more such events. Most of these events have some sort of agent or acquisitions editor pitching event, so I thought today it would be appropriate to write a [...]

Friday January 20th, 2012 in Agents, Author Coaching, Finding an Agent, Traditional Publishing | No Comments »

How to Write a Query Letter for a Nonfiction Book

You’ve got a great idea for a nonfiction book. You’ve written a killer book proposal. Now you need a fabulous query letter to grab an agent or a publisher so they ask you to send your proposal for review. To write a killer query, you need a one-page letter with three basic sections or paragraphs. [...]

Monday December 19th, 2011 in Agents, Author Coaching, Finding an Agent, Query Letters, Writing Tips | No Comments »

13 Misteaks That Turn Your Book Proposal into Chopped Liver

If you are a traditional publishing holdout, a nonfiction writer who sees the benefits of having their work produced by a publishing house, who does not want to become a self-publisher (for any number of reasons) or who simply has always dreamed of receiving a contract and advance for your book, you will need a [...]

Tuesday November 15th, 2011 in Agents, Book Proposals, Finding an Agent, Proposals, Traditional Publishing | No Comments »

How to Sell a Book by Answering the Essential Questions

More often than not, aspiring authors who send me nonfiction book proposals for editing haven’t included all the information required. They think they know what should be in the document’s pages. They may have read books on how to write a book proposal or found helpful articles on the Internet, but they still don’t understand [...]

Monday November 14th, 2011 in Agents, Book Proposals, Finding an Agent | No Comments »

What Query Letter Errors Mean to an Agent

The adage says, “You only get one chance to make a first impression.” For writers, that first impression often gets made not in person but in writing with a query letter. In that document, which is sent to a literary agent (and sometimes to a small publisher) if you are looking for a traditional publisher [...]

Sunday November 13th, 2011 in Agents, Finding an Agent, Query Letters | No Comments »

13 Misteaks That Turn Your Book Proposal into Chopped Liver

If you are a traditional publishing holdout, a nonfiction writer who sees the benefits of having their work produced by a publishing house, who does not want to become a self-publisher (for any number of reasons) or who simply has always dreamed of receiving a contract and advance for your book, you will need a [...]

Saturday November 5th, 2011 in Agents, Book Proposals, Finding an Agent, Proposals | No Comments »

Demystifying the Nonfiction Book Proposal: The Outline

The second part of the nonfiction book proposal is called The Outline. If you recall, the first part of the proposal is called the Introduction, and included all the sections I’ve discussed in the previous 10 posts. (Find the first post in the series here.) The Outline includes three sections: List of Chapters, Chapter Summaries [...]

Monday August 29th, 2011 in Book Proposals, Finding an Agent, Proposals, Traditional Publishing | No Comments »

Demystifying the Nonfiction Book Proposal: Platform

The Platform section constitutes the final one in the Introduction of a nonfiction book proposal. Here you prove you have done what it takes to create a built-in readership for your book. The Platform section can make or break an aspiring author’s chances of getting a publishing deal. Thus, be sure you not only have [...]

Friday August 26th, 2011 in Book Proposals, Finding an Agent, Proposals, Traditional Publishing | No Comments »

Demystifying the Nonfiction Book Proposal: Mission Statement

These days many book proposals include a mission statement after the About the Author section. Here you answer the question: “Why do I feel compelled to write this book?” Or answer these questions: “What’s my purpose in writing this book?” “What’s my mission in writing this book (or how does writing this book fit into [...]

Wednesday August 24th, 2011 in Book Proposals, Finding an Agent, Proposals, Traditional Publishing | No Comments »