Should a Manuscript Be Edited Before Querying a Publisher?

That seems like a stupid question and most readers and authors would say, "Of course the book should be edited before it is published." However, I've had authors become upset when we refused to write a review or query letter for their books.

An author asked me to help him write his query letter in hopes of having a publisher pick up the cost of publishing. He also expected the publisher to pay him an advance. When I looked at the unedited, poorly formatted manuscript that I was supposed to "sell" to the publisher, I recommended the author have the manuscript edited first.

He thought I was trying to get more money from him by suggesting that I first edit his book! Can you believe it? I was trying to keep the author from wasting his money and time writing a query letter for a manuscript that doesn't have a chance in hell of being accepted by a conventional publisher.

While we do offer editing services, it's not just an up-sell attempt when we recommend that an author have a book edited before starting the query letter. How can I in good consciousness brag about an unedited book and write a query to a publisher who is not only supposed to accept the manuscript and pay the author an advance, but also do the marketing? Someone's not doing their research, and it's the naïve, unproven author who thinks he or she will get rich by having a publisher assume these responsibilities.Publishers are businesses and the bottom line is can this product make a profit?

What about publish-on-demand (POD) companies? Don't they publish unedited books? Yes, like their name says, they publish on demand or "as is" and that is exactly the reason why many of these companies have a bad reputation among booksellers and in the literary community. That's also why Writers in the Sky doesn't accept every book submitted to us for review. If we can't write a four-star review for the book, we turn it away rather than present a lie to the readers who have come to trust us for factual information.

Publish-on-demand companies get a percentage of the royalties from the books their clients (authors) sell. What publisher would not prefer to have authors bring them a well-written and edited book to publish? Better books make for better sales. Besides that, both the author’s and the publisher’s reputation is on the line.

For more reading on this topic, see these sites:
http://www.dancinglemurpress.com/id10.html (this publisher only accepts professionally edited manuscripts)
http://manuscript-submission.suite101.com
http://publishingcentral.coml (see #16)

I want to hear from authors, PODs, and conventional publishers. Please leave a comment.

Should a manuscript be edited before querying a publisher?

How to Write a Great Query Letter

I found a free download on Amazon.com by Noah Lukeman rightfully titled How to Write a Great Query Letter. It's an excellent read filled with solid information, and I highly recommend it to any author who wants to try for conventional publishing.

Get the download here: http://tr.im/neAU or let Writers in the Sky (WITS) help you write your one-page query letter using the same principles and advice given in Mr. Lukeman's book.

Yvonne Perry

Owner, WITS

Problem with Pitching a Book to Multiple Agents at Once

A question came in after my conversation with editor, Carolyn Howard-Johnson. I want to share it with you and provide Carolyn’s answer in case any of you are facing a similar situation with a book query.

The listener asked:

I have pitched a book to several agents and publishers at one time. I have received at least a dozen requests to see the full proposal; some asked for the manuscript. An unknown agent (not listed in the AAR website or in the Writers Market) is interested in having me sign an agreement for a one-year exclusive to try to place the book with a publisher. What should I do?

Carolyn replied:

If you've done your homework and are pretty certain the agent is on the up and up in spite of the lack of listing, write to the others. Tell him you have another offer. Say something like "I hope to hear from you by (date), for I feel that we are the best fit. But, you can well guess that I am also eager to proceed with the publishing process."

It can only give you credibility if handled well, and might spur the others to make a decision in your favor. By the way, one year is a long time. You might want to try to negotiate the term by stating, "I would feel more comfortable with a six-month trial."

You might also ask if he has any specific contacts that he feels might be interested and who they might be. That may be pushing it a bit but considering no listing, it may be a good precaution.

Querying a Magazine Lands a Writing Assignment for Joe Nolan

Writers in the Sky team member, Joe Nolan, shares a bio he wrote about Otis Redding for a magazine called Culture Grits. He became involved with Culture Grits when he answered an online ad looking for writers for a new culture magazine about Memphis, Tennessee. Joe queried the publisher and suggested a series on the history of Memphis soul music. Much to his delight, she was excited by the idea.

“This opportunity allowed me to be a part of the founding of this online publication, one that has evolved into a shiny new site, with advertiser support and a bunch of new content,” says Joe. “This is one of the reasons why beginning writers should sometimes do work for free or less than they would normally accept. If it means writing about a fascinating subject, and working with great folks on a wonderful project, the effort can really pay off.”

Here is the article/bio Joe wrote for the magazine:


Soul Series: The Man from Macon - The Otis Redding Story Part I
by Joe Nolan of Writers in the Sky Creative Writing Services

Otis Redding
Born on September 9, 1941 in Dawson, Ga., Otis Redding and family moved 300 miles north to Macon when he was three years old. Unlike many cities in the Peachtree State, Macon had been spared the ravages of Sherman’s march to the sea during the Civil War. However, by 1944, Macon showed the scars of the quieter cruelty of stalled urban renewal, and the impact of 30 years of the Great Migration, in which large sectors of the South’s African American population left their homes for economic opportunities in cities like Detroit and Chicago. The decaying downtown facades, and the old men sitting on the steps of the abandoned railway station, spoke to the lost promise of a city where “progress” had simply marched past.

Upon their arrival in Macon, the Redding’s made a new home for themselves in the Tindall Heights Housing Project in West Macon. Officially known as Bellview, the residents at the Project all referred to their neglected neighborhood as “Hellview.” Otis’ father, Otis senior, like many black men in the neighborhood, worked at the nearby Robbins Air Force Base. However, due to a chronic battle with tuberculosis, Otis senior was an inconsistent provider. During one prosperous period, the family—including Otis’ mother, Fanny, his baby brother, Rodgers, and four sisters—was able to purchase a humble home of their own. However, after a devastating fire, the family found themselves moving back into the Projects at “Hellview.”

By the time Otis reached the tenth grade, the pressure on the family had become so great that he decided to drop out of high school in hopes of helping to support his siblings.

“My father was ill, he had TB, and he was in the hospital more than he was home; my mother was working, and it was just a burden. I can remember when Otis left school he went out on the road with Little Richard’s old band, the Upsetters, and he would send home twenty-five dollars a week. That was a lot of money in those days. - Rodgers Redding, from Sweet Soul Music by Peter Guralnick

However, Otis soon found that the path of a musical artist is strewn with many stones, and he had to find other means of making a living when he couldn’t find a club gig or a road job. As a teenage dropout, he took whatever work he could find. He spent a stretch working around rural Georgia with a well-digger. He also ground out a paycheck as an attendant at various gas stations. But no matter how he busied his body earning his daily bread, Redding’s mind was always restless and preoccupied with thoughts about music.

Sources:
Peter Guralnick’s Sweet Soul Music, Harper and Row, 1986
James Dickerson’s Goin’ Back to Memphis, Simon and Schuster Macmillan, 1996
Michael Haralambos’ Right on: From Blues to Soul in Black America, Drake Publishers, 1975
Respect Yourself: The Stax Story, documentary film, produced by Tremolo Productions,
Concord Music Group and Thirteen/WNET New York, for PBS’ Great Performances, 2007
The Otis Redding biography at African Genesis
Otis Redding at Wikipedia
Otis Redding Biography at History of Rock
Otis Redding Biography at the Otis Redding official website

Joe Nolan is a poet, musician, and freelance journalist in Nashville, TN. Nolan writes about visual art for the journal, Number, published by the University of Memphis. Find out more about his projects at www.joenolan.com.

Learn to write a query letter on our podcast this week

Without a doubt, the two most feared words in any writer’s vocabulary are “query letter.” That’s understandable. Writing a query letter falls into the realm of the unknown—scary territory. Yet, every writer who wants to sell their work to an agent, editor, or publisher must venture into this fearful place and write a query letter. Because they aren’t clear about the purpose of the query and don’t know exactly how to craft it, writers inevitably set themselves up to receive the standard rejection letter. Nobody likes rejection, particularly writers, who tend to take it personally (even though it’s not!).

For a list of agents accepting manuscripts, see www.agentquery.com

Click here to listen. to Part 1..

Today, Friday, March 28, we are privileged to learn the #1 secret about writing query letters. Molly Nickell is a marketing coach, former publisher and Time-Life editor. In her March 28th pod cast with Yvonne Perry, Molli will tell it all regarding the current state of the book publishing business and what writers must do in today’s competitive market to get their work published.

Click here to listen to Part 2...

Former publisher, Time-Life editor and five-times published author, Molli Nickell, has created a one-of-a-kind website teaching writers to craft effective marketing documents. Having spent 11 years reading queries and book proposals, she knows what works and what doesn’t. The site offers evaluated query letters in different genre as well as guidance on how writers can make the vital shift from “teller” to “seller.” Insider information and marketing tips help writers craft query letters that motivate agents, editors, and/or publishers to respond with, “Yes, please send us your manuscript.” The site offers FREE query letter evaluations!

Molli Nickell has been helping writers get published since 1998. Find her online at www.getpublishednow.biz.

Click here to listen to Part 3...

The #1 Secret of Writing a Successful Query Letter

By Molli Nickell

Without a doubt, the two most feared words in any writer’s vocabulary are “query letter.” That’s understandable. Writing a query letter falls into the realm of the unknown—scary territory. Yet, every writer who wants to sell their work to an agent, editor, or publisher must venture into this fearful place and write a query letter. Because they aren’t clear about the purpose of the query and don’t know exactly how to craft it, writers inevitably set themselves up to receive the standard rejection letter. Nobody likes rejection, particularly writers, who tend to take it personally (even though it’s not).

In order to conquer query letter writing fear, I suggest you learn to apply the #1 secret of writing a successful query letter. This will improve your odds of receiving the coveted response of “yes, send your manuscript,” instead of the dreaded, “no thanks, not right for us.”

However, there is one necessary and simple step required before you learn the #1 secret. Give yourself a round of applause for having completed a manuscript (for a book or magazine article) that’s worthy of being published. You’ve written, re-written and polished your work until it glows in the dark. Acknowledge this huge accomplishment! Yea for you!

Now, to sell your glowing manuscript to an agent, editor or publisher, you’ll need to shift gears and focus on “selling” instead of “telling.” This is key to becoming a published author. If you don’t know how to sell, no problem—you can learn. You can acquire the selling skills you need. Look at what you’ve already learned to do: write words, string them together into sentences, group sentences into paragraphs, build bridges between the paragraphs and continue with this sequence until you have completed a manuscript. Pretty amazing!

Now, the #1 secret. Ask any salesperson to describe the most important aspect of approaching a prospect to sell them anything from umbrellas to diamonds to surf boards. Their response will be: speak in the terms of the prospect’s interests. In other words, tell or show them the benefits they’ll derive when they buy the product being offered. For example, the umbrella salesperson opens and closes the umbrella effortlessly while describing its strength, coverage and speedy drying time. These benefits (demonstrated and spoken) address the prospect’s bottom-line question of, “What’s in it for me?”

All agents, editors, and publisher have the same bottom line: sales. They’re interested in manuscripts that will generate profits. So, just like the umbrella salesperson, demonstrate your writing skills (in 20 seconds or less) and begin your query by leaping right into your story. In two brilliantly written paragraphs, introduce the protagonist, the challenge, the emotions of dealing with the challenge and the actions that follow. At the end of your second paragraph, leave the agent, editor, or publisher wanting to know, “what happens next?”

Every carefully chosen word in your third paragraph (about your background) and fourth paragraph (about the market) further convinces the reader you’re a skillful writer with a manuscript that will generate sales. When they finish jumping up and down with excitement over having discovered a potential new talent, they’ll request to read your manuscript. Congratulations! Your query letter has fulfilled its purpose: moving your glow-in-the-dark manuscript from your desk into the hands of an interested agent, editor or publisher.

Once you’ve mastered query letter composition, you’ll enjoy the process of writing it. You’ll write queries that generate positive responses. This will propel you along a path which eventually will require the purchase of “Published Author” business cards and new luggage for your book promo tour.

Former publisher, Time-Life editor and five-times published author, Molli Nickell, has created a one-of-a-kind website teaching writers to craft effective marketing documents. Having spent 11 years reading queries and book proposals, she knows what works and what doesn’t. The site offers evaluated query letters in different genre as well as guidance on how writers can make the vital shift from “teller” to “seller.” Insider information and marketing tips help writers craft query letters that motivate agents, editors, and/or publishers to respond with, “Yes, please send us your manuscript.” The site offers FREE query letter evaluations!

In her March 20th podcast with Yvonne Perry, Molli will “tell it all” regarding the current state of the book publishing business and what writers must do in today’s competitive market to get their work published.

Are you ready to market your work to agents, editors, or publishers?

A unique Web site, www.getpublishednow.biz, is dedicated to helping writers get published.

Molli Nickell is a former publisher, Time-Life editor, motivational speaker, teacher at UCLA and five-times published author. During her days on the “other side of the desk” she read thousands of query letters and book proposals. She knows what works and what doesn’t. She's been helping writers get published since 1998.

For a limited time, Molli is offering FR*E*E query letter evaluations. No kidding, they’re free. Come take a look-see. www.getpublishednow.biz .

Reader Views has added another service for authors!

Read this post from Irene Watson, Managing Editor:

This added service is for those that have a killer idea for a book, have started writing a book, or have a manuscript ready to be published! And....don't have a publisher.

With our "new" service we will guide you to create a proposal that will at least get the agent or publisher to read the content - and that's the foot in that you want. We want to help you get the best agent or traditional publisher possible.

And...in addition to helping you create the proposal, we will even send it out to publishers and agents - we have specific contacts that are willing to look at the proposals that we send in.

However, the "book" has to be more than good - it has to be great in order to compete with the hundreds of thousands manuscripts floating around. And, the proposal needs to be well crafted, your platform and marketing plan in place, and appeal to the target.

Interested? Send me a query email admin@readerviews.com (not questions about the service) - tell me what you have in mind, what your book is about, and what your platform/marketing plan is. Sell me on what you have and I would be happy to consider helping you get an agent or publisher.