Obtaining agency
representation is your first step toward getting profitably published. Most
publishers won’t even look at unsolicited manuscripts.
But,
before approaching an agent to represent you, you should finalize the
presentation of your book.
Agents don’t have time to waste
dealing with publishing ‘wannabees’ who don’t have, and may
never have, a concrete project to represent. To busy agents, dreams don’t
make it.
If you approach an agent before you’re prepared, you may
never be able to contact them again. They’ll consider you a
‘dreamer’ and disregard you emails and phone calls.
Elevator Speech Before approaching an agent, prepare an
‘elevator speech’ describing your project in the less than
thirty-seconds it takes for an average elevator ride. If you can’t, your
project probably isn’t ready for prime time.
Your elevator speech
must answer four major questions:
• What is your book about?
• Who is going to buy it?
• How does it differ from
existing books on the subject?
• How are you going to promote it?
1. What is your book about? Finalize your book’s
title and contents before contacting an agent.
The title is crucial to
your book’s success. It must attract the attention of acquisition editors,
book reviewers, bookstore managers, web surfers and readers. The title is often
your one – and only – chance to make a sale.
Finalize your
book’s table of contents and prepare a brief description of the contents
of each chapter. You should also know how long your book is going to be and the
number of illustrations, graphics or worksheet
Prepare two –
three, if you’re a first-time author – sample chapters and hire a
professional editor to fine-tune them. It’s better to show three perfect
chapters than a finished manuscript filled with spelling errors.
You
don’t have to write your whole book before approaching agents. And your
sample chapters don’t have to begin with the first chapter, nor do they
have to be in sequence. But, they must represent your writing at its best.
2. Who’s going to buy your book? Next, show that there
is a reachable market for your book.
Strive for urgency. Describe the
market intrigued by, or frustrated by, your book’s topic. What symptoms
does your book help solve? How many people share the problem? What are the
consequences of the problem your book addresses?
Quantify your
book’s market in terms of buying power, willingness to buy books and
ability to be reached through associations or publications.
3. How
will your book be different? Next, position your book relative to
existing books on the topic. Existing books on the same topic are a plus, not a
minus. They prove there is a market for books on the subject.
•
What are the strengths and weaknesses of existing books?
• Why will
readers choose your book over existing books?
This section offers you
an opportunity to describe your background and how it contributes to your book.
4. How will you promote your book? Promotion is your
responsibility, not the publisher’s. Your ability to promote your book is
as important as your ability to write your book.
Start by identifying
book reviewers and editorial contacts who can help promote your book. List
publications that might run an extract from your book. Research producers who
book guests for radio and TV interviews.
Discuss your speaking
experience and willingness to travel to support your book. Describe how you
will promote your book on your web site.
List authorities in your
field who have offered to write a foreword or provide you with cover
testimonials.
Agents are busy. To the extent you can sell your book
idea as a realistic possibility in thirty seconds and can support your answers
with research and strong sample chapters, you are well on your way to success.
After you’ve been successfully published, you may be able to sell
a book on just the basis of an email. But for now, you must be fully prepared.
About the Author Roger C. Parker is the
$32,000,000 author with over 1.6 million copies in print. Do you make these
marketing and design mistakes? Find out at
www.gmarketing-design.com 
