A Publisher's Conversation with Authors: Know Thy Publisher

 

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. 

This week's conversation points out the reason why many authors get rejection after rejection with only the note that "it is not a fit for us." Chances are that is really, truly the reason, and it means that the author did not do his/her homework. Authors should only be submitting work where there is an apparent "fit." To do otherwise is a waste of the publisher's time and a waste of the author's time, efforts, hopes, and, often, money.

So, how do you know that there is a potential fit?

Check out the kinds of books that the author publishes.

It is amazing how many fiction submissions we get. We do not publish fiction. That is an automatic rejection. Here is how to find out what kinds of books a publisher publishes:

• Look at the submission criteria listed on the publisher's website. The publication lines will be listed.
• Check out Writer's Market; the publisher's lines will be listed there. (And if the publisher is not listed in Writer's Market, it might be a good idea not to submit to that publisher but to find one that is listed in WM because they are at least vetted.
• Look at the publisher's catalogue; the kinds of books published will be quite evident.
• So not submit a book that does not fit with a genre published by the publisher. It will be a complete waste of time; you are not going to convince a publisher to open a new line of publication with an on-line or mailed submission from an author the publisher has never worked with before. Chances are, no one is going to convince a publisher to open a new line of publication; that is risky business.

Be familiar with publications by the publisher.

Again, it is amazing how many authors submit books to us, stating that they find an obvious fit and have never read any of our books! If you think there are similar books, then read them and find out if there really is a match-up. 

• Reading only book titles tells you nearly nothing. Spend a few pennies and read a few pages of the e-book. You will quickly see if you have a match, which can save you a lot of time.
• If you read a book and find there is a match, you will be able to credibly make a case that you have a similar book to one successfully published by the publisher, always a good foot in the door. Most publishers will at least let you make the case and will consider it. (Of course, you have to present good content and quality writing, but that is a different topic of discussion.)
• Sometimes, you can present a case that your book can be modeled on another book -- and that can be very convincing to a publisher, quite interesting, in fact, because it can lead to some unique marketing ploys for both books. Here are a couple of examples from among out books:
• Tony Overbay (psychologist) and Joshua Chea (client) wrote a book together, He's a Porn Addict...Now What? that, they contended, followed the model set by our award-winning book, Healing from Incest, by Geri Henderson (client) and Seanne Emerton (psychologist). We accepted the book. It has been and currently is in the Amazon top 100.
• Andrew Harvey had written a Southern boyhood growing-up memoir along the lines of our award-winning and successful book, Of God, Rattlesnakes, and Okra, by J Bennet Easterling about his growing-up days in Mississippi. Andrew had fallen in love with the cover of Bennett's book. We took the book and were able to provide the same cover design (in green, rather than tan) for Andrew's book, which was great fun to produce. Tucker and Me also won an award.
• Publishers are always impressed and willing to listen to authors who show that they know and understand the publisher's mission through the books published.

Know the publisher's position on simultaneous submission.

Some publishers accept simultaneous submission and some do not. If you are going to make a simultaneous submission, be sure that the publisher you are submitting to accepts them -- and tell the publisher upfront because generally it is quite easy for a publisher to find out, anyway. Keep in mind the following:

• While publishers often accept simultaneous submissions by authors, understanding that otherwise authors have to wait long periods of time in going from publisher to publisher before finding on that will publisher his/her book, they do not like authors who think of simultaneous submissions as a mechanism for establishing a bidding war for his/her book. We flat out reject a book if an author tries this. Sometimes, it seems that the author is not being truthful about acceptance by another publisher. When an author states that Publisher X is willing to give me a higher advance or better royalties in what appears an attempt to get a better deal from us, we simply tell them to go where they can get the best deal, which does not appear to be us. Sometimes, the author will come back and ask what we might offer because s/he would love to be published by MSI Press. That does not work with us. Dishonesty upfront portends ill, and we do not go down that path.
• Care must be taken in individualizing the cover letter for each publisher even if making a simultaneous submission. You would probably be surprised by how many cover letters we get addressed to a different press, an obvious indication of a simultaneous submission (all too frequently without the author revealing that s/he is making a simultaneous submission). In those cases, we simply respond, "It appears that you sent this to the wrong press." At that point, no amount of "but, but, but" and "oh, sorry," and "please forgive my inadvertent error" works with us. By not individualizing content as well as address, it is clear that we are "just another" press, and the author has not identified us in the manner described above -- and therefore there is not likely a good fit.  

Bottom line: The singular most important thing you can do in making a submission to a publisher is to "know they publisher!"

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

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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Julia Aziz, signing her book, Lessons of Labor, at an event at Book People in Austin, Texas.

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Steven Greenebaum, author of award-winning books, An Afternoon's Discussion and One Family: Indivisible, talking to a reader at Barnes & Noble in Gilroy, California.

   

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