Category — DIY MFA

Welcome back to your Do-it-Yourself MFA program.

In traditional publishing, fiction and non-fiction are sold in two very different ways. To get an agent or sell a piece of fiction, you need to have a completed manuscript.

Therefore, if you want to write fiction, go do it and we’ll meet back here for the next part, which is getting an agent (and why you want to have one).

Nonfiction is different: To get an agent or sell a work of nonfiction, you usually write what is called a book proposal and sample chapters, which is what we’re going to talk about today.

The reason is pretty simple — agents (and then publishers) are going to want to tweak and focus nonfiction projects before they’re written. It’s much harder to guide a project when the author has finished the book (and is holding firm to the idea that her way is the best way to relay the material to the reader). But editors will want to guide the process, because they can see a bigger picture that you can’t — namely, how readers like to receive information based on numerous past projects and past reader reactions.

Remember back when I did the roll call in Part One?  It’s time for you to go back there and hook up with someone else who wants to write non-fiction on a topic very unlike your own (since they’ll be seeing your ideas).  Feel free to form online groups of more than two and set up an Google Group to house your exchanges.  Or grab someone from your face-to-face world who will read this post and then give you feedback on how well you’re hitting the goals.  And check out the people who are participating over at BlogHer.

A book proposal is a formal piece of writing with a format that allows agents (and later, publishers) to scan the document quickly and find what they are looking for. This is not a time to get creative with format and make your proposal into a three-dimensional shoebox diorama. Give the agents exactly what they want. Consider this as important as wearing the proper attire to a meeting.

You will be judged on the look of your proposal. If it’s put together in a sloppy manner, if you’re recycling an old copy that was sent back to you from an agent who rejected it (but covered it first with coffee stains), or if it doesn’t contain the necessary information, it doesn’t matter how brilliant your idea is — no one will want to work with you. Agents are looking for an easy reason to reject your work. Don’t give it to them.

All proposals contain these parts (and this is the order I give them):

• Overview: 5 pages or so on what the book is about (definitely could be shorter, but not longer).  Spend a lot of time writing this part because it’s the first thing the agent reads and you want to pull them in.  Do you have a shocking statistic?  Put it at the front of the overview to point out how important it is that people read your book.  You can start it with an anecdote.  The point is to give the agent a taste of your writing style while also telling them about the book.  Think of it this way: if you only had 3 minutes to sit across from the agent and convince them to represent your book, what would you say?  Keep the writing formal–in other words, third person.  And make sure you say how many words you predict will be in the book to give a sense of size and how long you’ll need to write the book from the time you sign the contract.  Use this space to get the agent excited about the project.
• Markets for the Book: in other words, who the hell would want to buy your book.  Give statistics and get creative.  For my non-fiction infertility book, I pointed out that the book would be helpful for those experiencing infertility, but it was also a book that doctors, nurses, adoption agency directors, therapists, and family members might want to read too.  Is there a specific place/conference where your book could be sold (a biography of Dolly Parton?  Might be good to sell that at Dollywood)?
• Competitive Books: what are the books currently on the market that would be competition for your book?  As you tell the agent about those books, also tell how your book is different and fills a gap that other book does not.
• About the Author: your biography–but more.  This is where you need to effusively explain why you are the best person to write this book.  Tell about your platform (remember that word from the last installment?).  List any awards, the url for your blog, or your education background.
• Promotion: what are you willing to do and what can you do to sell your book?  If you have media ties, this is the place to list them.  If you speak at conferences that are related to your topic, are a member of an organization related your topic, or write for other sites that are related to your topic (did you get that it has to be related to your topic?), but those connections here.  This is a place to show the agent that you have considered the business side to writing and are going to be a cheerleader for your own project (because if you’re not–why should they be?).
• List of Chapters and Chapter Outlines: on the first page, place all the chapters and their titles.  Then, on the subsequent pages, write one page for each chapter, giving a summary of what you plan to write.
• Sample Chapters: write two or three chapters of the book.  You don’t need to write them in order.  Most people turn in the introductory chapter and then one other chapter from the middle of the book.  Make sure they’re your most interesting chapters.  And take your time with these–they are very important.  Consider them your audition.

A proposal may end up being between 50–100 pages when you factor in the sample chapters.  So this isn’t a small thing you can whip up in one day.  Take your time.

And think about your proposal like pulling a piece of clay — you have an idea in mind of where you want it to be at the end, but you need to be flexible and fluid to get it there. Remember back when you wrote a paper at college and you came up with the thesis and then needed to tweak it 100 times as you did your research? Well, your proposal sort of needs to have that flexibility, too. You may need to tweak it 100 times as you conduct more research or write those first chapters. You may even decide in the middle of writing the proposal that this book is not worth writing. And that’s sort of the point — by making yourself tease the idea out on paper, you can see whether or not it works before you begin writing the actual book.

I think the most important advice I can give is to look at your proposal as a sample of what is to come. If you have a humour book, your proposal better be pretty damn humourous. If you’re aiming for a breezy, best-friend-like tone for the book, your proposal better have a breezy, best-friend-like tone. The proposal is an extension of the book — it’s not separate from the book.

And the book is sort of an extension of you, so the proposal is an extension of you, too. Use your strengths. Do you write really moving blog posts that get people crying? You may not be the best person to put together a humourous proposal — but, on the other hand, you may rock at putting together a really moving proposal about a sensitive topic.

You’re going to be judged by your proposal. It’s not just about how well you can write, but whether the tone is engaging for the subject matter. Think of your proposal as a document that is getting 10 minutes of face time to show the person you are. You want them to like you or you want them to hire you. And you need to be yourself.

Okay class, any questions on what was discussed here? Please leave them in the comment section below and I will answer them in the comment section below. Keep in mind that I have a lot of topics to cover so your question may be answered in a future installment (see below). So keep your questions about non-fiction book proposals.

Heads Up and Looking Back: topics that will be covered in future installments or that were covered in past installments

1. Before You Even Get Started

2. Are You Ready to Be an Author?

3. THIS POST

4. Why You Need an Agent

5. How to Find and Sign with a Reputable Agent

6. Querying Agents

7. What Happens Next–Waiting for a Book Sale

8. No Agent? Other Paths to Publication

9. What to Expect After You Sign a Book Deal

10. Be Your Own Publicist

11. A Mishmash of Leftover Questions and Answers

Welcome back to your Do-it-Yourself MFA program.

Okay, so what do you need to have in place before you start trying to find an agent (or a publisher if you skip the agent route–more on that in future posts)?

Platform

Platform is a term that you’ll hear people use a lot and it means, pretty much, your reach.  How visible you are and where you are visible, your reputation (do people respect what you have to say?  Are you an authority in the field?), and public reaction.  Think of it as a literal invisible platform that you’ll stand on at a rally.  Where do you visualize its placement?

Think of your reach as a literal — if invisible — platform that you’ll stand on at a rally, and think about where this platform would be placed. Are you on the main stage for your niche? Are you sort of on a side stage? Um … are you in the back of the audience, not even on a platform at all, with several heads blocking your ability to see the main stage?

Stephen Colbert is definitely on the main stage, because he has a hit television show and can sell his book via that medium. But plenty of people who do not have hit television shows will also be on the main stage when it comes to their smaller niches in the world.

Are you gulping right now and thinking, “But I don’t have a platform!” Well, actually, if you have a blog, you do. Your blog is part of your platform. It has reach if you have readers.

The best thing you can do right now is build your blog, because it is a litmus test of how people respond to your writing (and books are obviously about writing). Blogging has changed the publishing world, since anyone can self-publish her thoughts and build a following before her first book hits the shelves. (In the past, you needed to do a lot of freelance work to build your author platform, which meant even more hoops to jump through. Be thankful you’re living in the blogging age.)

How many readers are “a lot of readers” differs from writer to writer — a big six publishing company* is going to have a different opinion about that than a smaller independent publisher.

If you don’t have a blog, start one. And dedicate time to writing it. Here is all the blogging advice I have to give in how to build a following.

Social media extends your reach, too. Get involved in Facebook; get involved with Twitter. But know that even agents can distinguish between organic followers (those who are genuinely interested in what you have to say) and filler followers (people who follow you numerically, but aren’t really reading you from TweetDeck), and they don’t put a ton of stock in those numbers.

In the end, a blog, with long-term statistics provided by Statcounter or Sitemeter and documented proof of your readership, is the best measurable platform as well as sense of your writing style.

Media

Agents and publishers are going to want to know your media contacts.  Do you have any?  You probably do if you think about this long enough.  Start with the newspapers and magazines and television programs most likely to feature your book–do you know anyone there?  Build relationships if you don’t have any yet.  And do this before you start looking for an agent because they’re going to want to know if you have any connections.

And this is not the time to be shy–you will need to call in favours.  And be clear that your media contacts can ask favours from you.

Self-Publicity

Are you okay with public speaking, with talking about your book, with shmoozing and attending events?  No?  Well, then book publishing might not be for you because authors today are expected to be their own publicists along with their actual publicists.  You need to be willing to get out there and give interviews and attend events and speak about your book effusively.  And if you can’t do that, practice.  Because how you come across to the agent matters too.

Thick Skin

If you try to publish a book, you will get rejected a lot. First, you will be rejected by agents. If you sign with an agent, you will be rejected by publishers. If published, your book will be rejected by critics, or by people who you wish would buy it and talk about it. There is a lot of rejection inherent in publishing, and before you begin, you need to know if the rejection is worth the outcome. Because damn, the rejection stings.

This is the way I think about it: I really wanted to get married, and I knew that if I wanted to get married, I also had to put myself out there and date and possibly get my heart stomped on pretty hard. And plugging away at that sucked. I hated not knowing if all the hard work of dating was going to pay off with a long-term relationship, and I based my desire to get married on a leap of faith that it would be worth all the nights I cried because I either couldn’t meet anyone or I had managed to find the biggest losers (Abortion Man ring any bells?). I was willing to put my heart through just about anything to get to a good partnership (oh, yes: I also wasn’t willing to settle).

There were two other places I was willing to push myself and go through all the disappointments in order to reach the goal: Building my family and publishing a book. Everything else — not worth it to me. There have been plenty of other things I’ve wanted in life, including a hit show on Broadway called “Jazz Hands,” but they aren’t worth the disappointments that come with putting your heart out there.

And you may look inward right now and say, “You know what, as much as I want to publish a book, I think I’m going to skip straight to self-publishing, because I really don’t think I could handle the rejection now. I’ll wait until Melissa discusses that in a few weeks.” It is good to know yourself — life is short, and it is not worth using up emotional energy on projects that are not grabbing you by the ovaries. Or you may decide this isn’t the time, but another point in your life will be the time. Or you may already have a thick skin and say, “Rejection shmjection! Who cares what others think as long as I get to that end point of seeing my book at the local bookstore?”

And that, my friend, is your best asset when it comes to getting through the next steps.

Time

Lastly, do you have the time to dedicate to this? People will expect you to make the time, especially if you’ve asked them to make time by considering your work. Do you have the time to make edits and return e-mails and send out more queries? Because other people will get pretty damn cranky with you if you do this half-assed.

If you’re the type (and be honest) who would receive an e-mail from an agent and sit on it for several days before deciding that you just don’t have the time to do this, I’d probably stop before you begin.

I treat the business side of writing with the urgency of stop-drop-and-roll: I forgo other things–such as relaxing at night–to return e-mails in a timely manner, complete edits, or get whatever to whomever. People want to work with others who are focused and serious, so weigh out whether you have the energy and time to dedicate to this.

Okay class, any questions on what was discussed here?  Please leave them in the comment section below and I will answer them in the comment section below.  Keep in mind that I have a lot of topics to cover so your question may be answered in a future installment (see below).  So keep your questions to platform, media, self-publicity, thick skin, time, or other things you’re wondering about before you get started.

Heads Up and Looking Back: topics that will be covered in future installments or that were covered in past installments

1. Before You Even Get Started

2. THIS POST

3. How to Write a Non-Fiction Book Proposal and Choose Your Chapters

4. Why You Need an Agent

5. How to Find and Sign with a Reputable Agent

6. Querying Agents

7. What Happens Next–Waiting for a Book Sale

8. No Agent? Other Paths to Publication

9. What to Expect After You Sign a Book Deal

10. Be Your Own Publicist

11. A Mishmash of Leftover Questions and Answers

*I’ll use this term in the future to distinguish between big six publishing, small press publishing, and self-publishing.

Enough people have asked me for this information, and since I am in the somewhat unique position from having published both a non-fiction book and a fiction book based on the strength of my blog (and…er…I guess my writing too), I thought I would set it all out here in a multi-part series for two reasons. (1) It’s good information if you have any aspirations of publishing a book and (2) I can’t write this out over and over again for each person. So now I can just send a link and be done with it.

Shall we begin with your Do-it-Yourself MFA?

I should start out by saying that this has been my experience.  My background: I have an MFA in fiction. I published a non-fiction book with Seal Press called Navigating the Land of If in May 2009, and I have a work of fiction being published by BelleBooks for release in December 2010. Other people may have different experiences with publishing that they can add in the comment section below. This information comes from what I’ve gleaned from my MFA program, my agent, other writers, and my own experience.

I should also tell you that unless you are selling movie rights or have royalties coming in from dozens of books at once, it is very hard to support yourself entirely on book publishing. The majority of my income comes from articles and speaking engagements. Very little of it comes from book publishing, but book publishing is unique in that it has a cumulative effect. I do the work now, but I’m paid now and well into the future. Once you have several successful books collecting royalties, it is possible to earn a decent supplemental salary writing books. But most people will need to continue teaching or freelance writing. Sorry if you were going into this to get riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiich. If that’s your reason for wanting to publish a book, you should probably stop reading now.

This is how this DIY MFA program will work: over several posts (outlined below), I will walk you through what you need to do to publish either a work of non-fiction or fiction including what to expect with each leg of the process from idea to holding your book.  Others will chime in with their experience in the comment section below and others will ask questions that I’ll answer in the comment section below.

These posts will never close, so even if you are reading this years into the future (hello 2012! Are we still living above ground?), you can leave a legitimate question below and I will answer it.  Though since this information is spread out over many posts, please place your question on the appropriate post and if that post hasn’t gone up yet, trust that I will get to that topic in the future (and if I don’t, ask your question then).

Before our first class, you should take a look at this list of terms that I’ll be using as I walk you through the process of having an idea to holding your book in your hands.  I’ll be adding terms to this initial list as these posts unfold.

So let’s begin by doing a roll call for this DIY MFA program.  Why?  Because in the future, I’m going to suggest that you hook up with a few other writers and in order to do that, if you don’t have people in your face-to-face world, you can contact someone below who has a different type of blog from your own. 

So, in this roll call, please state your blog name, give the url in the appropriate url space so your name is linked to your blog, and tell us a little bit about what you write (werewolf romance novels, memoir about your year of baking 365 pies, how to book on catching squirrels as pets).  Keep it as general as possible, please.

Heads Up: topics that will be covered in future installments (and this is subject to change as questions are asked and information unfolds):

1. THIS POST

2. Getting Started: what is platform, should you even start down this road, what will agents expect from you in order to take you seriously.

3. How to Write a Non-Fiction Book Proposal and Choose Your Chapters

4. Why You Need an Agent

5. How to Find and Sign with a Reputable Agent

6. Querying Agents

7. What Happens Next–Waiting for a Book Sale

8. No Agent? Other Paths to Publication

9. What to Expect After You Sign a Book Deal

10. Be Your Own Publicist

11. A Mishmash of Leftover Questions and Answers

Okay, now go call your own name in the roll call.