A Publisher's Conversation with Authors: How to Find a Publisher - Networking

 

It is Tuesday. Monday's madness is over, and Wednesday will take us over the hump, so Tuesday it is--for some serious discussion with authors. Tuesday talks mean to address authors in waiting and self-published authors who would like to go a more traditional route or who would at least like to take their steps with a publisher by their side. 

Today's topic look at finding a publisher from a different perspective, not the one that advises authors how to prepare proposals and cold-approach editors. This approach, well-done, can work. That is often, however, not how a publisher is found. Sometimes, it is through serendipity. More often than not, it happens through networking. A few examples should be enough to illustrate the principle.

Attending a conference, meeting a publisher   

• This is probably the most traditional "warm approach" way to land a contract.
• If you are hoping to impress a publisher at a conference, come prepared. Know why you would like to publish with this publisher -- and share that. (That means you must know what the publisher is publishing -- and read books that come out from that publisher -- so that you can talk about "why you" with credibility. Bring business cards and proposals; make sure your professional prepared website is listed on your card and proposal. The publisher may not take your proposal but will ask to have it emailed or mailed or will waive it off the moment and then look at your website upon return from the conference. Every publisher is slightly different. Be flexible, accepting, and grateful.
• Your approach (the physical one) is important; firm handshake, humble attitude, and assertion sufficient to ask for the publisher to listen to you and consider your book.

Asking for personal contacts to a publisher

• The is one of the safest and most productive approaches. Ask your published family, friends, and trusted colleagues for a personal contact if they think their publisher might consider your book. These folks know you and they know the publisher; they will know if there is a good match between you and their publisher, and you will know that the publisher is trustworthy. 
• Publishers, in my experience (both as an author and as a publisher), are receptive to this kind of networking. I have had six books published by a couple of the world's leading academic publishers, thanks to an original contact organized by a colleague. We have published a number of books by siblings, friends, and colleagues of our authors. 
• A personal contact does not mean that you have to be less diligent in preparing your proposal; in fact, be more diligent. You are representing your family member, friend, and/or colleague as well as yourself.
• A personal contact will save you a lot of time spent on cold calls. Warm approaches are so much preferable to cold ones.

Informally float a possible proposal to a publisher you know

• Sometimes authors like next door to a publisher. If the genre is right, an informal mention of your book may well get a request to see your proposal. Then, make it a good one.
• Perhaps you have been working as a copyeditor, reviewers, or in some other position, assisting a publisher. If their lines of publishing fit your genre, there really is a natural connection; use it.
• It seems to go without saying that if you have had a book published by a traditional publisher and feel that the publisher did a good job for your book, then offer your next one to that publisher. (Some publishers require this, but many don't. In the latter case, it is amazing how many authors just start over, looking for a publisher. I cannot explain that, but I have seen it.)
  

Bottom line: Consider networking as the better option when it comes to cold approaches versus warm ones. 

Lesson for today's Tuesday talk: Sometimes, you do not need to send in proposals to a hundred publishers to land a book contract. Sometimes, that publisher you are looking for is just one networked contact away.

See more Publisher Conversations with authors HERE.

 Learn more about publishing from an acquisitions editor -- how to get your book proposal accepted, why proposals are turned down/accepted, and how to find the right publisher for your book. On special sale for $5 while inventory lasts at MSI Press webstore.

The Tuesday talks reflect real discussions between the management of MSI Press LLC and our own authors or those would-be authors who come through our doors but don't make the cut--yet. If you have a topic that you would like addressed, leave the question in the comment section. Chances are, in our 18 years of publishing first-time and experiences authors, we have had a conversation with one of our authors that we can share with you.

                             

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