Write Nonfiction in November

If you want to sell your nonfiction writing, at some point you’ll have to write a query letter. This holds true whether you are writing a book, an article or an essay. If you remain uncertain about what writing a query letter entails, return to the origins of the word itself. The word “query” means “a question” or “an inquiry.” A query letter asks an editor or an agent if they might be interested in purchasing your work or representing you.

Remember that a query letter has three basic parts: a “lead” (Yes, just like the beginning of an article…) or a paragraph that “grabs” the reader and explains what the manuscript is about; a paragraph describing the details of the manuscript; and a paragraph explaining why you, the author, are the perfect person to write this particular book, essay or article.  (For more information on how to “pitch” yourself and your ideas, read yesterday’s WNFiN post.)

Once you’ve managed to get these basic elements into your query letter, there are some other things you need to do…such as turning out a flawless letter. Here’s what Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the  multi award-winning Frugal Editor, has to say about how to accomplish this feat.

Five Things to Avoid for a Pristine Query Letter
By Carolyn Howard-Johnson

We are selling our work when we approach any gatekeeper whether that’s an editor, an agent, a contest judge, or some other person who gets to approve or nix our work. Here are five little things to avoid so you’ll look like the professional you are:

• Don’t tell the gatekeeper you always wanted to write. You can think of something more pertinent to your cause (and something more original!) than that.
• Don’t use the verb “quote” when you want the noun “quotation.” Some style books will tell you that it’s okay, but agents and editors can be a picky lot. Use zero-tolerance grammar rules for your queries.
• Don’t pitch more than one book or article at time. You want to give just one your best shot.
• Don’t call your own idea or work marvelous or awesome. Gatekeepers think these are four-letter words.
• Don’t overdo exclamation marks, question marks or the use of sentence fragments. (Yes, fragments are acceptable when they’re used for a good reason.)

Here’s one last suggestion from the stable of fiction writers’ tricks: Use anecdote and dialogue to make the nonfiction sample you submit with your query come alive.

About the Author

Carolyn Howard-Johnson is an award-winning author of both fiction and nonfiction, a former publicist for a New York public relations firm and an instructor for the UCLA Extension’s renowned Writers’ Program. She is a former journalist and editor with years of publishing and editing experience including national magazines, newspapers and her own poetry and fiction. Her The Frugal Book Promoter: How to Do What Your Publisher Won’t (www.budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo) won USA Book News’ best professional book award and the Irwin Award. The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success (www.budurl.com/TheFrugalEditor ) is top publishing book for USA Book News and Reader Views Literary Award.

http://HowToDoItFrugally.com
www.budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo
www.budurl.com/TheFrugalEditor

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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

Stop by www.copywrightcommunications.com and sign up for the free newsletter and get a gift at the end of November.

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

I know we’ve only just hit day number six, but it’s time to get into the real nitty-gritty of nonfiction writing: the business end of book publishing. (I warned you we would!)  If you’re going to write a nonfiction book, you must be sure you have a marketable product. (This is true of articles, too, but we’re going to talk about books today.) While fiction writers also must be sure their book manuscripts have a market, they don’t have to concern themselves with such things as promotion and platform. These, however, represent the essentials of selling nonfiction books. Without them, you won’t find literary representation or sell your book to a publisher.

So, while you’re writing your nonfiction book this month (or any time), you must consider—and work upon—the business aspects of nonfiction writing. Don’t put it off. Begin immediately, if you haven’t already. (If you have started, step up whatever you are doing a notch or two.)

Randy Peyser, the owner of Author One Stop, a national publishing consulting firm, not only works with many nonfiction authors, she has contact with a variety of publishers and agents. For this reason, she has a good deal of insight into what nonfiction writers need to get their books sold to a traditional publisher. You’d be surprised to discover that they don’t just look at your manuscript. Acquisition editors are looking well beyond your wonderful words and well-crafted sentences to how easy it will be to get your book onto the shelves of major bookstores—and sold to eager readers.

Read on to hear what Randy has to say about what questions publishers are asking before they purchase a book manuscript. You’ll want to be sure to have them answered before your manuscript and book proposal come under their consideration.

When you’ve finished reading this post, crack out a book about how to write a book proposal and how to build a platform. If you don’t know much about these topics, don’t worry. Write Nonfiction in November will feature expert blog posts on these topics in upcoming days, and you can find past blog posts on these subjects in the November 2008 and 2007 archives.

The Five Biggest Questions Publishers Ask
Before They Will Buy Your Manuscript
By Randy Peyser

In this economy, the marketing departments at book publishing companies are counting every bean to see if the numbers justify the purchase of your title. Even if you find an acquisitions editor who absolutely loves your book, if the numbers don’t add up to the satisfaction of the publisher’s marketing department or the book buyer from Barnes & Noble, your book is toast.

The five biggest questions that publishers ask before they buy your manuscript are:

1. Is your topic current?
2. Is your topic differentiated from every other book that is already out there?
3. Will people be interested in this topic, and, if so, what is the size of the market?
4. How extensive is the author’s publicity platform?
5. Do the numbers add up?

Here’s how the math breaks down: Publicity = Eyeballs, and Eyeballs = Sales

Picture this scenario: The book buyer from Barnes & Noble meets with a publishing house to decide which books he is going to order for Barnes & Noble for the upcoming season. He takes out his computer and starts asking questions about each title.

What he really wants to know is: What is the size of the target market for your book and how big is your platform? The book buyer then writes the stats down for your book and compares them against every other book he is considering.

The books with the biggest numbers win.

Four Tips to Build Your Numbers

1. In the “About the Market” section of your book proposal, include real numbers (strong and clear statistical evidence) to show how large the market is for your book. For example, in addition to mentioning every legitimate market for your book, think about specific associations who would be interested in your topic and include the size of each of their national memberships in this section.
2. Contact movers and shakers who have large email lists and ask them if they would be willing to send out an email message blast to announce your book when it comes out. Find out the size of each list and include this data in the Promotion section of your book proposal.
3. Blog like crazy and include the number of your connections on Linked In, your Facebook fan page, and all other social media sites in the Promotion section of your book proposal.
4. Speak, speak, speak. Publishers want you to be in front of eyeballs way before your book comes out. Get out there and speak or teach seminars or teleclasses. Include all of this information in the Promotion section of your book proposal.

If you can prove your publicity platform, justify the market and write a book that adds something new and different, you’ve got a potential winner on your hands. So get out there and build your numbers!

About the Author

Randy Peyser owns a national publishing consulting firm called, Author One Stop. Her 10 award-winning editors includes: a book reviewer for People Magazine, The Washington Post and The Boston Globe and an editor of 20 New York Times national best sellers (including those written by Sidney Sheldon, Dan Rather, Gail Sheehy, and Margaret Truman). Services offered by Author One Stop include: editing, ghostwriting, book proposals, help finding top literary agents and publishers, self-publishing, and internet publicity.

www.AuthorOneStop.com
Randy@AuthorOneStop.com
(831) 726-3153

Don’t forget to check out the WNFiN social networking and chat site!
Tell us what you are writing about this November!

Also, go to www.copywrightcommunications.com and sign up for the free newsletter.
If you do, you’ll receive a gift at the end of November.

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.

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…