Write Nonfiction in November

A writer wanting to obtain a literary agent most often has to send an agent a pitch or query letter before ever entering into a conversation about representation. Additionally, if aspiring authors decide to approach publishing houses without literary representation, they must take the same route: compose and send a pitch or query letter.

Sometimes, if you’re lucky, you might have the opportunity to pitch agents and acquisition editors in person, such as at a writer’s conference or some other writing event. Or you might get the chance to do so on the telephone. I once called an agent to ask a simple question. I assumed a secretary would answer, but the agent himself answered. Before I knew it, he was asking me questions about my projects, and I was pitching them. This past summer I had a chance to meet with the actual publisher of an independent publishing company. She wanted to hear about all my projects. (I have a lot of them, so I had actually typed up all the pitches before hand and was able to hand her the piece of paper!) At such times, it’s so important to have your pitch, sometimes called an “elevator speech,” ready. Always be prepared to pitch!

A few years ago I won the pitch contest at the San Francisco Writer’s Conference. I actually was pitching a novel I wrote during NaNoWriMo. I give a lot of credit for that success to writing-career-coach and manuscript consultant Teresa LeYung Ryan and her co presenter, Elisa Southard (look for her guest blog later this month). What I learned in their session about pitching I immediately put to use. And it worked! I’ve been helping people hone pitches ever since. (It’s easier to help someone else, I must admit, than to come up with one for your own book.)

I asked Teresa to offer her tips on pitching to agents and editors here during WNFiN so more people could benefit from her wisdom. Here’s what she had to say.

Make Every Word Count When Pitching to Agents or Acquisition Editors
By Teresa LeYung Ryan

You have spent months, perhaps years, writing and rewriting your project.  Now you’ve decided to pursue either an agent (who earns his/her commission when he/she sells a client’s work to a publishing house) or an acquisition editor (who buys authors’ works for the publishing house for which he/she works). Let’s say you’ve done your homework and have compiled a list of agents or acquisition editors who specialize in the kind of project (commodity) you wish to sell.

An agent or acquisition editor receives hundreds of pitches or query letters each week.  What can you do to catch these folks’ attention?  Use the right bait.  Make every word count.

Whether you’re pitching in person, over the telephone, through an E-Mail, or by old-fashion mail, keep this in mind that the pitch (bait) has three components:

• who needs your project
• the unique qualities about your commodity
• why you are the perfect author for this work

Here are three examples of nonfiction book pitches that put these three components to work and make every word count at the same time:

Genre: Self-Help/Metaphysical/Psychology

Most people over the age of 10 dream at least four to six times per night.

Through My Dreams: A Simple Guide to Dream Interpretation, I can help everyone interpret dreams by combining their feelings with personal symbolism, dream what they want to dream and improve their waking lives through their dreams.

I am Angie Choi, a certified hypnotherapist who has utilized radio, television, workshops, classes, articles, and a website to educate and inspire people to tap into their dreaming potential.  I’ve worked with school districts, youth groups and community-based organizations. http://www.alivehypnosis.com

Genre: Journal/Guide/Inspirational

More than 50 million people provide care for a chronically-ill, disabled or aged family member or friend during any given year.

You Want Me to Do What? Journaling for Caregivers allows these caregivers to process their stress and celebrate the good in life by giving them open-ended instructions on spilling their guts in the safety of a private journal and offering two hundred sentence starts to help them begin writing.

I am B. Lynn Goodwin, a teacher of workshops on care giving.  I write for numerous publications, and, I am the founder and managing editor of WriterAdvice, which has been helping writers for twelve years.  http://www.writeradvice.com/

Genre: Biography/Women’s Studies

The birth control pill is currently used by more than 100 million women worldwide and by almost 12 million women in the United States.

Margaret Sanger: Her Life in Her Words is a collection of compassionate writings, speeches, letters, and diary entries by the controversial fighter for legalized birth control and sex education and a key player in the development of Planned Parenthood.

I am Miriam Reed, Ph.D., creator of one-woman performances, who has revitalized appreciation for Sanger and her crusade to help women take charge of their bodies and their lives.   http://www.miriamreed.com

If you follow the above examples, not only will you have the perfect pitch, but also you’ll have core messages for all your writing endeavors.

Other Tips When E-Mailing Your Pitch:

• Use an appropriate subject line.  (i.e. We met at _____ Writers Conference;  I’m referred by _____;  Book proposal from {your full name})
• Use a proper salutation. (i.e.  Dear Ms./Mr. _______)
• Provide your telephone number(s), email address and URL in your signature block.
• Never write in all capital letters. If your email doesn’t give you the option to italicize (or bold) book titles, then it’s okay to use all capital letters with titles.
• Separate blocks of text with white space.
• Send the email to yourself first; check it, then send it to the agent/editor (cc or bcc yourself).

About the Author

Teresa LeYung Ryan’s motto:  “You can be happily published by being yourself.”  As a writing-career-coach and manuscript consultant, she helps her clients identify themes and archetypes, choose the right publishing route and map out their success.  She especially enjoys helping writers craft their pitches, query letters and synopses.  As a community spirit, Ryan speaks out for public libraries, honors immigrant-stories, advocates compassion for mental illness, and, helps survivors of family violence find their own voices through writing.

www.WritingCoachTeresa.com
www.LoveMadeOfHeart.com

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Don’t forget to sign into the WNFiN social networking and chat room and tell us what you are writing about or start a discussion. http://writenonfictioninnovember.ning.com/

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Nonfiction writers looking for traditional book publishing contracts—wanting to sell their manuscripts to small, medium or large traditional publishing houses, need to find themselves literary representation. While finding an agent may not be necessary for many small publishing houses that accept unagented work, most mid-sized and large publishing houses, indeed, only accept agented book proposals. Occasionally an unagented proposal is “discovered” in the “slush pile” and purchased, but this occurrence doesn’t happen often.

For this reason, serious nonfiction writers set on the traditional publishing route, rather than self-publishing, must find agents to represent their work. Agents seem like an illusive bunch, hard to reach and hard to know. That makes it hard for writers to know how to present themselves and their work to an agent in a way that will result in that coveted literary representation contract, which hopefully leads to a publishing contract. So, I asked my agent, Verna Dreisbach, to tell WNFiN readers what she looks for in a client. She not only mentions what she looks for in a nonfiction writing client but in a fiction client as well, thus offering some helpful insight for all writers.

What do Agents Look For?  Great Writers, Great Professionals
By Verna Dreisbach

My idea of a great client can be summed up in one sentence: Professionalism is just as important as good writing.  I choose authors that I connect with both professionally and personally. I believe we have to like each other and respect one another as with any type of friendship or personal acquaintance. Unfortunately, I’ve had prospective clients change my mind as to representation based upon incessant emails, telephone calls, unrealistic expectations, and just plain rudeness.  I prefer to represent true writers—those who will continue to write regardless of whether or not they ever see their book on a bookstore self.

I am looking for well written books with a distinctive voice.  I want books that a writer has poured their heart and soul into with each and every word—that they didn’t rush through when writing their manuscript, that they took the time to create and master with the art of storytelling.  Most manuscripts are rejected because they are beginning drafts.  They contain the idea, but the language to tell the story has not been developed.  Or, it is apparent that the author hurried through their story without stopping and getting to know their characters.  Fiction writing is an intimate experience and the more in touch the writer is with their characters, the more real they will become to the reader.  I want to feel what I read. Writing fiction is an art and should be treated as such.

Let’s talk specifically about nonfiction. I am open to representing just about any type of non-fiction for an author who has an expertise in their field and a solid platform.  To the non-fiction author, the idea of a book should be only a minor part of their work, not the end goal.  The book only will aid them in achieving whatever purpose they have in their profession, and book sales and promotion will follow naturally.  They write a book and promote it with, or without a publisher’s help, and there is no doubt as to its potential success.  Their only concern should be with which agent they want to represent them.

Non-fiction needs to be presented to agents with a detailed and professional book proposal.  This is no easy undertaking, and I don’t think I’ve signed on a client that has attempted this alone.  Nonfiction book publishing is a business, and the book proposal is a detailed and precise business plan.  Most proposals run at least a dozen pages, and that does not include the sample material from the book.  If I get a half-hearted attempt at a book proposal, then I figure I’m getting a half-hearted attempt at a book.

Remember…

1. This is a business; treat it as such.
2. You are a professional, and act accordingly.
3. Writing is an art, so take the time to develop your talent and learn the craft.
4. Agents don’t get paid until the work sells.  We have to really, really, really like what we sign on.  Really.
5. You are a writer and your first love is writing.  Enjoy it!

About the Author

Verna Dreisbach, of Dreisbach Literary Management, is an agent, author and educator. She is currently finishing her MA degree in creative writing and her Seal Press anthology, Why We Ride, is due for publication spring 2010.  Verna is the founder and president of Capitol City Young Writers, a national non-profit organization that supports and encourages creative writing in aspiring youth and co-founder of The Writers Police Academy, which will take place in North Carolina next September.   Verna represents both fiction and non-fiction authors with a particular interest in books with a political, economic or social context.  She represents a variety of fiction including commercial and literary.  With over 13 years as a police officer, Verna also has a genuine interest and expertise in the genres of mystery, thriller and true crime. No fantasy, sci-fi or children’s books.

www.dreisbachliterary.com
www.capitolcityyoungwriters.org

Please visit www.copywrightcommunications.com and sign up for the free newsletter to receive a gift at the end of the Write Nonfiction in November challenge!

Don’t forget to sign into the WNFiN social networking and chat room and tell us what you are writing about or start a discussion.

As mentioned in yesterdays WNFiN post, when a publisher or acquisition editor examines a prospective author’s nonfiction book proposal, he or she will look long and hard at a number of things that have little to do with that writer’s writing. In particular, purchase of a manuscript depends to a great extent upon a proposal section called the “Author’s Platform.” If  ”platform” represents new terminology to you, it’s time to become familiar with this word…very familiar, very fast.

A platform consists of:

• expert status
• numerous appearances on radio and Internet talk shows and television talk and news shows
• frequent quest blogs
• a well-known presence in on-line forums and social networks
• large numbers of followers on social networking sites
• popular videos or podcasts
• frequent interviews on other peoples’ podcasts
• your own Internet, radio or television show
• a multitude of published articles or books in both print and Internet publications
• an extremely large mailing list
• frequent talks and presentations given to small, medium and large groups

Now, you could argue that most of these things I’ve listed have little to do with being an author or writing. And to a certain extent would be right. (And most writers don’t want to spend any time or effort on any of these activities.) However, in today’s publishing world…in today’s nonfiction publishing world in particular, all of these things have everything to do with getting published, because they have everything to do with building an author’s platform. The more of these platform elements you include in your day-to-day activities, the more likely you will be to sell your nonfiction book. You must build a tall, wide and strong platform for a publisher to take you and your work seriously.

That said, ways exist to build a platform online. In fact, more ways pop up every day. So, if you really don’t want to spend your time away from the comfort of your home and speaking to audiences–traditionally the best way to build a platform–or you just hate getting up in front of  a group of people, you can build you platform in other ways.

Stephanie Chandler, author of The Author’s Guide to Building an Online Platform: Leverage the Internet to Sell More Books, From Entrepreneur to Infopreneur: Make Money with Books, eBooks and Information Products and LEAP! 101 Ways to Grow Your Business, initially built her platform online. For this reason, I thought she’d be a great expert guest blogger to tell WNFiN readers how to follow in her footsteps. She suggests 10 ways to build your author platform online.

10 Ways to Build Your Author Platform Online
By Stephanie Chandler

1. Launch and optimize your website: No matter where you are in the process, a website is  essential to build an audience, share samples of your work, showcase your accomplishments, attract media and impress publishing professionals.
2. Host a blog: A blog can be a wonderful creative outlet for a writer, not to mention a savvy promotion tool. Update it frequently (three times per week) and your audience will find you. To start yours, check out www.Typepad.com or www.WordPress.com.
3. Update online profiles: Many sites allow you to post a bio with your public profile. Make sure you have several versions of your bio readily available in short, medium and long formats. Showcase your expertise in your subject matter, mention your book(s) and always include a link to your site and/or blog.
4. Publish a newsletter: Build loyal fans for life by publishing an interesting electronic newsletter with content related to your book(s). Include a sign-up box on every page of your site. Get started with www.ConstantContact.com or www.iContact.com.
5. Form online partnerships: Find people who reach a similar target audience, and look for ways to team up and promote each other. You can publish articles on each other’s websites or newsletters, host an event or contest together or even share a blog. Be creative and pool your resources.
6. Promote with articles: Write for industry publications and related websites to build your credibility. Writing opportunities are abundant on the Internet! You can also make your articles available for reprint through sites like www.ezinearticles.com, www.ideamarketers.com and www.goarticles.com.
7. Contact Bloggers: Search blog directories such as www.Technorati.com to locate blogs that cover subjects related to yours. Contact bloggers to inquire about book reviews, guest posts, interviews and other ways you can work together.
8. Be a guest on Internet radio shows: Podcasts, teleseminars and Internet radio shows provide a fantastic opportunity for exposure. Unlike traditional radio where you might be interviewed for 10 minutes, online shows typically have guests on for up to an hour. An added bonus: listeners are often at their computers ready to buy. To find relevant shows, search Google for keywords and look at shows archived on iTunes. Also check out sites like www.blogtalkradio.com, www.alltalkradio.net, www.wsradio.com, www.womensradio.com, and www.planetteleclass.com.
9. Leverage social media: Sites like LinkedIn.com, Facebook.com and Twitter.com are ripe for finding and building an audience. Create an interesting profile and get active in social networking communities. Your biggest cost  will be in your time, so spend it wisely, and identify the best opportunities to expand your reach. Here are some helpful tools: www.tweetdeck.com, www.hootsuite.com and www.ping.fm.
10. Be seen and heard everywhere. Marketing is all about repeat exposure. Build your brand by getting known for your expertise. Participate in all of the above suggestions and more. Contact the media, go out and speak, write articles for trade publications, and find new ways to reach your target audience.

About the Author

Stephanie Chandler is an author of several business and marketing books, including The Author’s Guide to Building an Online Platform: Leverage the Internet to Sell More Books, From Entrepreneur to Infopreneur: Make Money with Books, eBooks and Information Products and LEAP! 101 Ways to Grow Your Business.

She is also founder and CEO of www.AuthorityPublishing.com, which provides custom book publishing and author marketing services for business, self-help and other non-fiction books. A frequent speaker at business events and on the radio, Stephanie has been featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, BusinessWeek, Inc.com and many other media outlets. Visit www.StephanieChandler.com for author and speaker information. Additional resources for entrepreneurs, authors and speakers are available at www.BusinessInfoGuide.com.

www.StephanieChandler.com
www.BusinessInfoGuide.com
www.AuthorityPublishing.com

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Also check out Nina’s ebook: Using the Internet to Build Your PLATFORM One Article at a Time,
8 Tips for Getting Publicity, Exposure andExpert Status by Providing Free Copy On Line

Are your hands posed over the keyboard ready to begin? Are you waiting, as if for the gun to go off so you can start writing your book, e-book, article, essay, query letter, proposal, or whatever work of nonfiction you’ve chosen to create during the Write Nonfiction in November (WNFiN) 2009 challenge? No need to wait. There’s no starter’s gun or whistle for this challenge. It’s well past 12:00 a.m. on November 1 anyway, so go ahead…write!

That’s right. When the hands of the clock moved past midnight on Halloween, it became not just November 1 but the first day of the third annual WNFiN challenge. Maybe you sat down in your costume and began working on your nonfiction project right then and there, playing a little trick on your fellow nonfiction writers by getting a head start on the day. Remember, though…In this challenge you compete against no one but yourself. No one looks over your shoulder or counts your words. You are accountable to yourself, and only one rule exists in this challenge: You “win” by starting and finishing a work of nonfiction in 30 days. However, only you will know if you met the challenge successfully—unless you choose to share that information (or your progress along the way) with fellow writers in the WNFiN Writer’s forum or in blog post comments.

With that said, let’s get on to the business of nonfiction writing for today, by which I mean the topic of today’s blog post. Let me preface today’s topic by saying that I will grace you with my blog posts just two or three times all month, because this year I managed to line up 27 or 28 great expert guest bloggers. I will, however, be introducing each of them and making some comments on their topics each day. Today, I’m going to write a bit about the actual “business” of nonfiction writing.

Over the course of the next 30 days you may find that this blog seems overly focused on business-related topics. You’ll find numerous experts discussing how to promote yourself, how to sell you books and articles, how to land a literary agent, and how to create e-books or self-publish a book. You’ll find some articles on writing and editing, but these will be farther and fewer between. This may leave you wondering if this blog actually is about writing or about business. And therein lies the rub.

For the nonfiction writer, the art of writing is superseded by the business of writing. In fact, to become successful as a nonfiction writer, you must spend about 85 percent of your time (if not more) on business, by which I mean marketing and promotion. Yes…that means less time writing and more time promoting yourself and your writing. This is not to say that you don’t need to write well, which is why this blog will still offer plenty of tips on writing and editing. The need to write well is a given.

Most writers balk at this ratio. “I’m a writer,” they say. “Writers write.” That’s true, but if they don’t focus on the business of writing, they don’t get published.

If you are writing essays or memoirs, the writing to business of writing ratio might be a bit lower. You will have to spend a good bit of your time sending out query letters to publications or agents, working on and sending out book proposals, etc. If you write journalistic articles, you must query magazine and newspaper editors on a regular basis.  If you are a nonfiction writer who would like to publish a book, however, you can write until you are blue in the face, and if you haven’t developed a “platform,” by which I mean a built-in market to which to sell your books (a huge mailing list, large numbers of followers in social networks, expert status, or a reputation as a speaker, podcaster, blogger, television or radio guest), no publisher will ever purchase your book. In fact, no agent will represent you either. You may need to increase your ratio so that the time spent on business-related activities actually goes up to 90 or 95 percent—at least until you build your platform to a presentable size.

For this reason, the WNFiN blog this year will contain lots of tips and information on the business side of nonfiction writing. You may not want to read about it…but read these posts anyway, and resign yourself to taking these experts’ advice. Do so if for no other reason than this: You’re going to have to take on the business side of nonfiction writing at some point or another.

While any writer who wants to sell their writing has to become a business person to some degree, the nonfiction writer who wants to become the author of a book will have to do this to become published. Unless you enjoy status as a well-know author with a great sales track record, whether you choose to self-publish your book or become traditionally published, you will have to devote your time to the business end of writing. You will have to promote yourself and your book. Even the larger publishing houses will not do all the promotion for you. Even if you hire a publicist, you will still have to do some work yourself to help sell and promote your book. To create a successful book, which means one with steady sales over time, you must constantly promote yourself and the book itself. And no one can do that as well as the author–you. Nor will any publishing company put as much time and money into making that happen as the author–you.

So, resign yourself to the fact that as a non-fiction author you must devote much of your time to the business of writing. Set aside several hours a day for writing and double that number of hours (at least) for business-related writing activities. Don’t be surprised when a publisher or agent asks you, “What are you willing to do every day to promote your book?” (I’ve had a publisher ask me this exact question.) Instead, be prepared. Be able to say, “I’m already doing these things every day, and I will continue to do them…and more.”

And don’t feel like devoting yourself to the business of writing represents wasted time. In fact, you are developing a readership for your work. Isn’t that what all writers want anyway? Readers?

I was lamenting to a friend the fact that I have yet to land a traditional publishing contract. I had just finished telling him that I have over 10,000 visitors to the website related to my book topics each month (www.purespiritcreations.com) and an average of 3,000 readers per month to the blog that covers topics also related to my books (www.purespiritcreations.com/wordpress). He found it interesting that I thought of myself as an unsuccessful “author,” despite my many published articles, essays and booklets. He pointed out that I have more readers—that I am reaching and helping more people—every day than I probably would with any traditionally published book. He was right. Why and how did I accomplish that? I knew I needed to develop a platform to secure a literary agent or a traditional publishing contract, and I devoted my time—almost eight years—to building that platform in any and every way I could. (By the way, I do have a literary agent, and she thinks my platform rocks…)

You can build a platform, too. It actually can be a lot of fun. It can feel spiritual and rewarding. Yes, it’s time consuming. I admit it, but it’s worth it—if you are serious about becoming a published nonfiction writer. The difference between serious nonfiction writers and those who just say they are serious lies in how much time and energy they spend on the business of nonfiction writing. How serious are you?

I became a writer simply because I love to write.  However, as a nonfiction writer with aspirations of becoming a published book author, I’m often asked to do something other than what I love to do.  I’m asked to speak.

You see, typically these days a nonfiction writer like myself needs more than just a good idea and good writing skills to get a book published by a medium or large publishing house. To achieve this goal, I have to posses what’s called a “platform.” (No, not a wooden box or a stage to stand upon, but a speaking platform from which I can sell and promote my book as an “expert” on my topic.) Now, I could build a platform by writing lots of articles for major mass-market magazines, and for a nonfiction writer like myself that would be infinitely easier than doing so by speaking. However, speaking engagements of all types represent the best and fastest way to build an expert platform.

So, instead of staying in the pleasant solitude of my office with a candle burning and a hot mug of tea steaming on my desk as I type a melody on my computer keyboard and watch as the words in my head appear magically on the screen in front of my eyes, I have to stop doing what I love – writing. Not only do I have to stop writing, I have to take off my sweat pants and sweat shirt (which I also love), shower, get dressed up, do my hair – even put on make up, travel somewhere, stand in front of God-knows-how-many people or in front of a camera or a microphone that will beam my image or the sound of my voice to God-knows-how-many people, and then I have to speak. I don’t get to do a reading of my writing, mind you. I have to talk about the subject I’m writing about when I could be writing about it instead.

While I do love to talk – and some say I do a lot of talking, I’d really rather write. You see, when I speak I sometimes stumble over my words or say something incorrectly or don’t say what I mean. I occasionally even regret what I’ve said. And herein lies the difference between writing and speaking.  No matter how I try to correct the situation, whoever hears my incorrect, awkward, stumbled-over, or offensive words may remember them despite my correction or apology.  When I write, that isn’t the case. When I write, I may make all those same mistakes. In fact, more often than not, as I write, I do, indeed, make those same mistakes. I might use the wrong words. My sentences might not say what I mean. My phrases might be awkward. I might even regret what I wrote. However, almost without exception I get to correct those mistakes before anyone else sees them or before they affect anyone in an unintentionally negative manner.

You see, when I write, even if at first I use the wrong word, I get to find just the right word. And if I don’t find the right word the first or second time I edit my piece, I might find it the third or fourth or even the 40th time. I get to move my words around, this one here and that one there, until they all work together in a tight, strong, efficient sentence with impact. I get to decide which words stay and which words go in every phrase and in every sentence until I have paragraphs and a complete written piece. I get to think about all those words before they go out into the world for others to see. I get to choose them carefully with lots of forethought and care and with long and hard consideration for how they will be received. And I, therefore, rarely regret the written words I use.

When I write, I may find that my first draft actually doesn’t even come close to meaning what I intended it to mean. I may get way off point. I may confuse the issue. I may simply not make sense. Then, I get to rewrite, revise and edit until the essay or article or book not only carries forth my desired meaning but offers broader perspectives as well. I get to write more and better, as well as longer or shorter or differently, until what I’ve written communicates exactly what I mean – and more. To my amazement, I may even discover that I mean something in addition to what I meant originally, and that something usually comes from deep within me, from a place of knowing that I’m not sure how I access. I only know that the writing process takes me there and unlocks the door, releasing my wisdom onto the written page. At those times, when I go back and read what I’ve written I’m not even sure the words are mine, and I feel a sense of awe for the writing process itself. It seems that as I pore over each sentence and each word to ensure that it speaks my truth as clearly as possible, a miraculous thing truly happens.

As for those awkward phrases, when I write, I get to smooth them over during my editing and rewriting. I get to craft them into wonderfully-flowing groups of words that know just how to dance together gracefully and in time with the music of whatever type of piece I’m writing. I can go back again and again to read what I’ve written and to perfect it, like a dance teacher working with a protégé before a big performance (again and again and again until the deadline arrives…). I can remove a word here, move a phrase there, change a passive verb to an active one, peruse the thesaurus for a better word, and add just the perfect missing sentence. I practice until the technique is perfect, the timing just so, the feeling imbedded in the very structure of the piece. Then, I confidently send my finished piece of writing onto the stage – out for publication – knowing that it will perform just as rehearsed, like an expert dancer that not only knows the dance but has become the dance.

Now, despite all this effort on my part, someone might still feel the need to point out that I could have used a comma after that one particular phrase or really should have thought about cutting that last sentence (the one that I added because it was the perfect missing one). And they might even be correct, but after 26+ years as a professional writer I’m used to those types of corrections, and I don’t often get too flustered, bothered or feel regret about what I’ve written after my work has been published. And honestly, I prefer wondering if I should have made those editorial changes or if anyone noticed the need for a comma in my last published piece over lying in bed at night after a speaking engagement and obsessively replaying the words I spoke in my head while thinking, “Oh, how I wish I hadn’t said that!”

If to accomplish my goal of getting a nonfiction book published I must leave the solitary craft I love to do something totally different than writing – to speak to large groups of people, why can’t I do it in a way that resembles what I love and what I do best? Why can’t I carefully and thoughtfully write my talks like I write my articles, essays and books? Then I could get up and read my words just as I’ve put them on paper, and I’d be a confident, well-spoken expert with that required platform. I’d remain a writer – not become a speaker, and I’d be happy to speak – well, read – whenever asked to do so. Well, maybe not whenever asked…unless, of course, they wouldn’t mind if I showed up in my sweat pants and sweat shirt with no make up.

Imagine yourself riding in the elevator at a hotel where you are attending a writer’s conference. The door opens and in steps the one agent you really, really think would serve as the perfect literary representative for you and your book. You open your mouth, introduce yourself and begin to speak.

What do you say? Do you tell the agent what your book is about in 25 word or less? Do you spit out the plot or the main idea in 30 seconds, or before the elevator doors open again and someone else steps in and begins their pitch? Do you offer your pitch in an interesting, dynamic way that makes the agent say, “Tell me more” or do you offer a long-winded, pointless speech that quickly loses the agents attention and your chance at representation – not to mention publication of your book?

Ah, the art of the book pitch.

Finding yourself in that elevator represents every writer’s dream…and nightmare…depending upon whether or not they have prepared a fabulous pitch or not.

What’s a pitch? It’s what people in other areas of business call an “elevator speech,” a short speech you have ready for that opportune moment – or less than a moment – when you can market yourself or your product to someone that might buy it. That speech, however, has to include all the pertinent information and be interesting, clever, thought provoking, or in some way leading so the person becomes inclined to ask you for more details.

I don’t know that I’m so great at composing pitches for my own nonfiction books. However, at the San Francisco Writer’s Conference two years ago, I won the pitch contest for a novel I had written. (I normally write only nonfiction.)  For that reason, this year I was asked to sit on a panel of much-more-distinguished judges-than-myself  at the conference’s yearly pitch contest.  I listened with interest to the pitches, as well as to the feedback from the other judges. I noticed that no one really had mastered the “art” of pitching, and many people were confused about how to pitch in person as opposed to how to pitch in a query letter. While my fellow judge, Katharine Sands, who wrote Making the Perfect Pitch, How to Catch a Literary Agent’s Eye, didn’t agree that a difference existed between these two pitching methods, Mike Larsen, another judge and the author of How to Get a Literary Agent, agreed with me.

In my experience, anyway, when you find yourself seated next to an agent or an acquisitions editor at a conference, or you find yourself in the elevator with them or getting a drink at the bar just as they are doing the same, you aren’t suddenly going to start painting a long, pretty picture that describes your book before you actually say, “Hi, my name is Nina Amir, and my book, Blah Blah, is about blah blah blah blah.”  More than likely, you are going to introduce yourself and say, “I’d love to tell you about my book, Blah Blah. It  about blah blah blah…” or “it teaches people how to blah blah blah.”

During the San Francisco Writers Conference, many writers participate in “Speed Dating for Agents.” This event gives them just three minutes with an agent. In that time, they must pitch their book and then, hopefully, get the agent to say, “Tell me more,” so they end up in a conversation that ends with a request to see a proposal. Again, I doubt they will feel comfortable – and I know they don’t have the time - to sit down and do a long pitch. If they do, they will not allow the agent time to ask questions. They want to leave time for feedback and for a discussion and, finally, for the agent to say, “Send me a proposal.”

So, how does a writer come up with a decent pitch? (You would think it would be easy; its just crafting words into a short, pithy sentence.)  As I said, despite my one “win,” I don’t find it so easy myself – at least with my own work. It’s easier to help other people with their ideas. And I do this by applying some of the things I learned that helped me win that contest.

Prior to winning, I attended a session at the very same conference led by Teresa LeYung Ryan, author of Love Made of Heart, and Elisa Southard, author of Break Through the Noise. They were teaching people how to pitch both fiction and nonfiction. The one thing I took away from that session was to make sure my pitch told the listener what my book would offer a reader. In other words, what was the benefit they would get out of reading my book? Would they gain something, lose something, learn something, improve something…You get the idea.

With nonfiction, this can be pretty easy. Take a book like Wayne Dyer’s book, Manifest Your Destiny. His subtitle is a great pitch. His book teaches you “nine spiritual principles for getting everything you want.”

Fiction can be a bit harder (which is why I was so surprised to win the contest for fiction). Here’s my pitch: Turtle’s Nest is about a woman who accidentally poisons her son and learns she doesn’t have to be a perfect parent to be a good mother.  A little more subtle, but it still tells you what you’ll learn by reading it – the same thing the main character learns.

Also, the pitch contest at the San Francisco Writers Conference requires that pitches be 25 words or less. While Mike Larsen says that is a “mindset,” the year I won it was an actual requirement. I suggest you stick close to that word count.

I remember someone once telling me that if I couldn’t say what my book was about in 10 words or less, I didn’t know what it was about. Someone else once said I had to be able to write what my book was about on the back of a business card.

In other words, don’t be wordy. If you have 30 seconds with an agent or three minutes, you don’t want to do all the talking. You want to get your message across and then hear what they have to say.

While working with writers at the conference, together we dug pitches out of their long descriptions of their manuscripts. As they talked and talked, we weeded out the best parts of what they said and then crafted those into the most perfect descriptive phrase possible. We had to work hard and long. And sometimes we went back to those pitches the next day and changed them again. We had to be stringent editors keeping to work count restrictions and creative writers turning a phrase and finding the perfect words to depict story, character, purpose, and meaning. And sometimes the writers asked other people for assistance; and sometimes that helped and sometimes it didn’t.

Once each writer had that pitch, they had to practice it. For a pitch to be really effective, it has to flow off your tongue as easily as words off a pen and onto your paper or off a keyboard onto your computer screen.  Have it memorized. Know it by rote, but deliver it with passion and conviction. And be prepared to offer at least three talking points when, indeed, you are asked for more information.

Writing pitches isn’t easy. Although sometimes they just come to you, like those magical words that arrive on your manuscript pages, and you wonder how they arrived. But the perfect pitch is miraculous in its own right. While it might not sell your book or land you that agent, it will at least get an agent or an acquisitions editor to listen long enough and become interested enough to say, “Tell me more.” And that’s your opening to offer your three more points…and then three more…And you never know where that might lead.

In this current economy, many writers may opt out of attending a writers’ conference. However, in any economy, a writers’ conference represents a treasure trove of information and opportunity for the serious writer wanting to become a published author.

I’ve attended the San Francisco Writers Conference three times in a row and served as a volunteer once, rounding out my attendance to four times. I plan to volunteer again this year. I also volunteered, which allowed me to attend many sessions, at the Writing for Change Conference, in San Francisco. It was at the SFWC that I landed myself an agent, and it was there that I learned of the importance of platform building. I have since met two other agents there that have considered or are considering my work. I had one publisher to whom I introduced myself at the SFWC look at my work, and I formed a Jewish writing group through contacts made at the conference. I also have made invaluable writing friends and contacts there – people who have helped me create my website, who have offered me advice, and who have written for Write Nonfiction in November! Additionally, I’ve had my work published in the conference’s anthology three year’s running.

I can’t even begin to tell you all the reasons to attend a conference if you can, which is why I asked Barbara Santos, who has been organizing writers’ conferences for many years, to do so instead. She’s done a great job of covering the main points and of offering some great pointers on how to take advantage of your time at a conference.

I’d add only two bits of personal advice: Don’t be overwhelmed! There’s so much information offered at a conference, and you may feel like you have so much you still have to do before you can interest an agent or publisher in your work, that it can stop you in your tracks. Instead, let it fuel you on your way to a published book. Also, don’t be afraid of agents. I agree with Barbara: They are just people – but they have the ability to help you get your book published, and that’s what they want to do if they feel they can. And that last part is, of course the caveat. So, seize every opportunity at a conference to pitch your book!

The Truth About Writers’ Conferences

By Barbara Santos

Author

Marketing Director, San Francisco Writers Conference

 

Writers’ conferences can be a waste of time and money.  A disciplined writer should spend that weekend writing at their kitchen table rather than hanging out with a ballroom full of wanna-be writers.   And for unpublished writers who dare to attend wearing their publishing naïveté like a red silk vest, well let’s face it, learning how to become a best-selling author in a weekend is impossible. 

Hello! That not the truth about writers’ conferences.  Yet, so many writers simply do not know how valuable an event packed with publishing professionals can be.

I have been creating, organizing and promoting writers’ conferences since 1993.  For years I’ve watched behind the scenes as thousands of writers came to the Maui Writers Conference and the San Francisco Writers Conference-undoubtedly two of the best writers conferences in the country.  Far too often the attendees were simply unprepared to present themselves as creative, talented, professionals. They were overwhelmed by the sheer number of people at the event, the ideas that bombarded them so fast they couldn’t write them all down, and the energy that should have inspired, not intimidated, them. I felt guilty. Wasn’t it my job to prepare them to grab the opportunities that dangled like ripe mangoes at the MWC or encircled them like the fog at the SFWC?

So I feel it is my duty to share some truths with you.   Know these truths and you will get the most out of a writers’ conference:

Truth #1   The literary agents, publishers and editors you’ll meet at a writers’ conference make their living off writers.  Think about that, and know that is why they come to these events. They are looking for talented writers with salable projects. They want you to succeed, because your writing ultimately can buy their groceries, sheets for their beds or their kids’ braces. 

Truth #2  Yes, pursuant to Truth #1, literary agents, publishers and editors actually do eat, sleep and some even have kids.  In short, they are people…all kinds of interesting types of people. Meeting them (or just listening to them) at a writers’ conference is crucial to your career. Take advantage of the opportunity to “interview” them and really listen to what they have to say. They know the publishing business, and you know your book, but you must “click” to meld into the perfect team.

Truth #3  Your work is worth more than you think.  Do NOT present your manuscript to an agent, throw yourself at his or her feet and babble something like “take it…please!”

Truth #4  Talented writers (like you?) will always rise to the surface in the sea of  conference attendees.  But first you must master the delicate blend of chutzpah, talent and fate. The magic of a writers’ conference happens when you meet the right agent on the way to the next session and deliver the 2-line/30-second elevator pitch of a lifetime. You simply can’t do that anywhere else.

So, start researching writers’ conferences if you intend to build your career as a published author.  Google the presenters so you know who they are and what they represent. Build your platform and polish your work. I know this truth from personal experience. Any writer who comes prepared will find a writers conference to be the absolute best investment they’ll ever make in their writing career.

About Barbara Santos

Barbara Santos is the marketing director for the San Francisco Writers Conference. She was also co-director of the Maui Writers Conference for many years.  She is the author of the Maui Tacos Cookbook and the Maui Onion Cookbook. Indeed, she met her editor/publisher at the conference!

If you are ready to be published and want to meet Barbara Santos, join her at the 2009 San Francisco Writers Conference this February 13-15 at the Mark Hopkins Hotel. (Writing-related workshops on craft, publishing and book marketing; inspiring keynotes by Pulitzer Prize winning author Jane Smiley (A Thousand Acres), Richard North Patterson (Balance of Power) and Lolly Winston (Good Grief); Speed Dating with Agents; Ask-A-Pro session; and much more.)

Go to www.SFWriters.orgfor all the details and easy online registration.

Eight days left to the Write Nonfiction in November challenge…Are you nearing completion of your project?

Now that you know where to find an agent, and you know the essentials of writing a book proposal – which you will submit to land a contract with an agent, it’s time to learn how not to blow your big chance to gain literary representation. Here today to tell us all about literary agents’ pet peeves, so we can avoid them (which you, of course, want to do at all costs if you desire to take the traditional publishing route), is Katharine Sands, an agent with the Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency and the author of Making the Perfect Pitch, How to Catch a Literary Agent’s Eye. I’ve heard her speak about pitching, and I’ve even pitched to her a few times. She knows her stuff, so read what she has to say and take good notes.

A Plethora of Pet Peeves

By Katharine Sands

Literary Agent and Author

 

When Miss Snark retired from the blogosphere, writers lost a great rosetta stone for interpreting agent peeves. (I think the name “Miss Snark,” should be passed from agent to agent, and handed down through the ages the way that the Dread Pirate Roberts is passed from pirate to pirate in The Princess Bride.) Perhaps, I could invent my own alter ego: Mistress Peeve…

Every wanna-be author who has dreams of being picked up and published by a traditional publishing house wants to know how to secure representation by a literary agent. Why? Because the large publishing houses won’t look at manuscripts or proposals from “unagented” writers. Some mid-sized, and most small, university, niche, and regional publishers will look at, and often welcome, unagented submissions, however.

If you dream  of having that publishing business partner called an agent, then the advice offered in this Write Nonfiction in November post by Michael Larsen, a literary agent himself and the author of How to Get a Literary Agent, will interest you. Read on and discover 11 great tips on how to find literary representation.

11 Ways to Find the Agent (or Editor) You Need

By Michael Larsen

Literary Agent and Author

Michael Larsen-Elizabeth Pomada Literary Agents

 

Finding an agent is easier than ever. Getting one to represent your book may not be. The more challenging the book business becomes, the more careful agents have to be about the books they handle. At the same time, the more challenging the book business becomes, the more eager agents are to find writers whose books they think they can sell.

One of the many reasons why now is the best time ever to be a writer is that you have more options for getting your books published than ever. There’s a list of them at www.larsen-pomada.com. More new writers will either have to self-publish their books, if only to test-market them, or sell their books themselves. The good news is that writers sell more books than agents. Small, midsize, niche, university, and regional publishers buy most of their books from writers, and collectively, they publish far more books than the big houses that agents most want to sell to. So you can also use the list to find a publisher.

Happy hunting!

1. Referrals

The best way to get an agent’s attention is if the first two words the agent sees or hears are the name of a client, editor, agent, author, or bookseller who suggested you contact the agent. The more important the person, the more eager the agent will be to hear from you.

2. Your Networks

You need overlapping, professional, international networks online and off that will be as important to your career as writing and promoting your books: family and friends, speakers, writers, publishing people, professionals in your field, booksellers, fans, suppliers, champions, people around the country, and a promotion network

3. Writer’s Organizations

Members are part of your networks.

4. The Association of Authors’ Representatives (AAR www.publishersweekly.com/aar)

5.  Directories

Jeff Herman’s Guide to Book Publishers, Editors, and Literary Agents 200X; 200X Guide to Literary Agents; 200X Guide to Literary Agents: A Writer’s Guideby Adam Begley; Literary Market Place (LMP); The Writer’s Handbook.

6.  The Web

Google literary agents. Visit www.authorlink.com, www.predatorsandeditors.com, www.publisherslunch.com, www.publishersweekly.com, www.reviewsnews.com,  www.publishersmarketplace.com.  

7.  Literary events

Writing classes, readings, lectures, seminars, book signings, conferences and festivals.

8.  Magazines

Publishers Weekly, The Writer, Writer’s Digest, and Poets & Writers

9.  Publishers’ catalogs and websites

Libraries receive catalogs.

10.  Books

Dedications and acknowledgments in competing and complementary books.

11.  Your Platform

Give talks, maintain a website, write a blog, do an ezine, post to related sites, do podcasts, get published online or off, publicize your work and yourself, build your email list. When your continuing national visibility is great enough, agents and editors will find you.

(Adapted from How to Get a Literary Agent by Michael Larsen.)

 

About Michael Larsen

 Michael Larsen and his wife Elizabeth Pomada and started the Larsen-Pomada Literary Agents in San Francisco in 1972. They are members of the Association of Author’s Representatives and have sold hundreds of books to more than 100 publishers.

Mike handles general adult nonfiction that will interest New York houses and has social, esthetic, or practical value. He also handles anything that is so so needed or so beautifully written that its commercial value doesn’t matter. Elizabeth represents fiction, narrative nonfiction, and books for women. Their associate agent, Laurie McLean, handles genre fiction, and middle-grade and young adult fiction and nonfiction.

Mike is the author of How to Write a Book Proposal and How to Get a Literary Agent. Writer’s Digest will publish the fourth edition of How to Write a Book Proposalin spring 2010. With Jay Levinson, author of Guerrilla Marketing; and Rick Frishman of Planned Television Arts, Mike coauthored Guerrilla Marketing for Writers: 100 Weapons for Selling Your Work

Mike and Elizabeth are co-directors of  the 6th San Francisco Writers Conference that will take place on President’s Day Weekend, February 13^th to 15^that the InterContinental Mark Hopkins Hotel. The keynoters will be bestelling authors Richard North Patterson, Jane Smiley, and Lolly Winston, www.sfwriters.org. Mike and Elizabeth are also co-directors of the San Francisco Writing for Change Conference, www.sfwritingforchange.org.

Michael Larsen-Elizabeth Pomada Literary Agents

larsenpoma@aol.com / www.larsen-pomada.com

1029 Jones Street / San Francisco, California 94109

 

Please write or call if you have questions, 415-673-0939, larsenpoma@aol.com.

 

If you are writing a book proposal during Write Nonfiction in November, I’m posting this blog for you. For the nonfiction writer wanting to find an agent and have their book published by a traditional publisher, this document represents a necessary evil. While fiction writers can simply write their book, and turn in a synopsis, author’s bio and chapter summaries, the nonfiction writer has to have a full-blown marketing document (with only one or two sample chapters, mind you, not even a fully-written manuscript) to convince agents and editors they have a saleable idea.  

 

I’ve written several nonfiction book proposals for my own projects, and I’ve helped my clients with their proposals as well. I can’t say writing or editing these documents constitutes my most enjoyable work, and I’ve been known to say, “I could write the whole book in the amount of time it takes me to write the proposal!” However, when I’m done, I’ve convinced myself as well that I have a good idea. Additionally, I know my reader and my market, I know what’s going in ever chapter, and I know what I have to do to promote myself and the book. That makes the process more than worthwhile. It makes it necessary.

 

More than one book exists on how to write a book proposal, but the book proposal bible remains How to Write a Book Proposal by agent Michael Larsen. Writer’s Digest will publish the fourth edition of How to Write a Book Proposal in spring 2010. Mike also wrote How to Get a Literary Agent and, with Jay Levinson, author of Guerrilla Marketing; and Rick Frishman of Planned Television Arts, coauthored Guerrilla Marketing for Writers: 100 Weapons for Selling Your Work. Mike agreed to write a blog on the subject of writing book proposals for Write Nonfiction in November and to share what he calls his “proposal on a page,” which you’ll find in the section titled “Introduction.”

 

Pay special attention to this section. It’s a new approach to the proposal overview, or first page of the proposal, and here’s what he recently told me about it: “If it’s strong enough, it will sell a book all by itself. It’s the best thing of its kind on the planet.”

 

I used Mike’s proposal on a page to create a one-page proposal for one of my own books recently. I loved the results. I also used it to create the overview for my most recent book proposal as well as the overview for one of my clients, who plans to send his proposal to Mike in the very near future.

 

So, without further ado, if you want to get paid to write your book — meaning, you want to pitch it to an agent who will sell it to a publishing house that will offer you an advance — here’s what Mike says about writing a nonfiction book proposal.

 

The Parts of a Nonfiction Book Proposal

 

By Michael Larsen

Literary Agent and Author

Michael Larsen-Elizabeth Pomada Literary Agents

 

Proposals usually range from 35 to 50 pages, and they have three parts: an introduction, an outline, and a sample chapter. Here is a list of the parts of a proposal:

 

INTRODUCTION

Overview

 

Make the First Page of your proposal a proposal on a page by writing:

 

8 Hooks Guaranteed to Make Agents and Editors Eager to Read Your Proposal

 

Make every sentence help answer one of these two essential questions:

“Why the book?” and “Why you?”

 

Why the book?     

 

1. Your Subject Hook: a sentence with the single most compelling anecdote, fact, idea, quote, statistic that will convince agents and editors to keep reading.

 

2. Your Book Hook: three sentences with:

 

·         the title (and subtitle if you have one) of your book and your selling handle: 15 words or less explaining why people will buy the book.

 

·         (Optional) a Hollywood pitch for your book that captures the essence of it by comparing it to one or two books, movies, or television shows. For example,  “It’s x meets y.”

 

·         the estimated length of your manuscript, including back matter, the number of illustrations will have if you are using them, and how many months after receiving the advance you will deliver the manuscript.

 

3. Your Market Hook: three sentences with:

 

·         the largest groups of people who will buy your book and how fast they’re growing, if it’s impressive.

 

·         the largest commercial and institutional channels through which your book can be sold.

 

·         the largest potential subsidiary-rights markets for your book.

 

4. (Optional) Your Nichecraft Hook: if your book will be the first in a series, a sentence with the titles of up to three books.

 

5. (Optional) Your Foreword Hook: the name of someone who will help give your book salablility and credibility in 50 states two years from now who has agreed to write a foreword.

 

Why you?

 

6. (Optional) Your Credibility Hook: a sentence proving you can write your book because of your track record, credentials, years of research, or experience in your field

 

7. (Optional) Your Platform Hook: a sentence about what you have done and are doing to give your work and yourself continuing national visibility with your audience

 

8. Your Promotion Hook: a sentence with the most impressive two-to-four ways that you will promote your book.

 

The Other Parts of the Introduction

 

Expand on the hooks as needed as you come to them. Nine of the thirteen parts of the Overview are optional. You may not need them.

 

Special features (Optional): humor, checklists, sidebars, exercises, summaries

 

Back Matter (Optional): use comparable books as a guide.

 

Markets for the Book

 

·         Other groups of people who will buy your book

 

·         Other channels through which it can be sold

 

·         (Optional) Other subsidiary rights markets starting with the most commercial one.

 

A Mission Statement (Optional): one first-person paragraph about your passionor commitment to write and promote the book

 

The Author’s Platform (Optional): the other things you have done and are doing to build and maintain your continuing national visibility online and off

         

Promotion (Optional): the rest of a plan as long and strong as you can make it

 

Competing Books (Optional): basic biblioigraphic information and phrases starting with a verb about what each does and its weaknesses

 

Complementary Books: up to ten books on your subject proving the interest in it

 

 

Resources Needed to Complete Your Book (Optional): out-of-pocket costs of $500 or more

 

About the Author: in descending order of importance, a page with what’s not in your platform

 

The Outline

 

From a paragraph to a page of prose about every chapter and the length of each chapter

 

A Sample Page of Outline

Here’s an outline from what became How to Get a Literary Agent.

Chapter l2

Good Fences Make Good Neighbors: How to Handle Agency Agreements           l9 Pages

This chapter starts by balancing the pros and cons of agency agreements. Then it covers eleven essential points that should appear in any agreement, as well as clauses for writers to avoid. Four representative agreements follow, including the author’s which appears on the next two pages.

          The discussion of agreements concludes that since no agreement can encompass every potential contingency, the most important basis for any agreement is the good faith of the people who sign it.

          The next part of the chapter presents separate bills of rights for authors and agents stating their responsibilities to each other whether or not the agents have an agreement.

          The chapter ends by analyzing the causes for changing agents and the three-step procedure for doing it:

1.      Try to find a satisfactory solution to the problem.

2.      If that is not possible, notify the agent in writing of the change.

3.      Find another agent.                                                                                                                          

 

The Sample Chapter

 

The representative chapter that best shows how well you write about the subject

 

 

These are the ingredients of a proposal. They’ll give you an understanding of what you will need in a proposal, but they can’t tell you how to write one. The recipe is in the book (How to Write a Book Proposal by Mike Larsen).  

 

Please write or call if you have questions, 415-673-0939, larsenpoma@aol.com.

 

Michael Larsen-Elizabeth Pomada Literary Agents

www.larsen-pomada.com

1029 Jones Street / San Francisco CA 94109

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

About Michael Larsen

 

Michael Larsen and his wife Elizabeth Pomada and started the Larsen-Pomada Literary Agents in San Francisco in 1972. They are members of the Association of Author’s Representatives and have sold hundreds of books to more than 100 publishers.

 

Mike handles general adult nonfiction that will interest New York houses and has social, esthetic, or practical value. He also handles anything that is so so needed or so beautifully written that its commercial value doesn’t matter. Elizabeth represents fiction, narrative nonfiction, and books for women. Their associate agent, Laurie McLean, handles genre fiction, and middle-grade and young adult fiction and nonfiction.

 

Mike and Elizabeth are co-directors of the 6th San Francisco Writers Conference that will take place on President’s Day Weekend, February 13^th to 15^th at the InterContinental Mark Hopkins Hotel. The keynoters will be bestelling authors Richard North Patterson, Jane Smiley, and Lolly Winston, www.sfwriters.org. Mike and Elizabeth are also co-directors of the San Francisco Writing for Change Conference, www.sfwritingforchange.org.