Making the Sale

You’ve written your book. Edited it. Run the chapters through your critique partners. You’ve attended a conference, hired a pro to edit your story and even started building a platform online.

The time has come to shop the story idea to publishing houses, but you don’t know where to start. Sure, you’ve got a great query letter and the proposal has been written, but who do you target?

In this lesson I will lead you on a journey throughout the “making the sale” process. I would love to share a few tips from my journey. I know what it feels like to have the door slammed in my face, but I know the bliss of watching it swing wide. Here’s to wide open doors for you, too!

Making the Sale: The Process

Never let inexperience get in the way of ambition.

Terry Josephson

Whether you’re selling that first book or your thirty-first, it’s always good to know how to get—and keep—your foot in the door of a publishing house. I’ve had a great run over the last several years. I’ve been in a “season of selling” and I’m convinced it’s due (at least in part) to my willingness to submit, submit, submit.

Many writers reach the point where they should be submitting, but don’t because of fear of rejection. Still others don’t think their piece/writing is worthy of publication. But there is a huge market out there, and most writers who’ve spent time learning the craft of writing should also become familiar with the process of submitting.

In the last lesson we talked about acquiring and working with an agent. If you’re currently under contract with an agent, he will make the submissions for you. However, you still need to put together a great synopsis and proposal, as we’ve already discussed.

In this chapter we will start with the assumption that you’ve written and submitted both your query letter and your proposal. (Yay! Good for you!) The editor, intrigued by your beautifully written proposal/sample chapters, has asked to see the whole book. Now what?

What Happens Next?

Here’s where it gets tricky. If you’re new to the business and have never sold a book before, you’d better have the whole book written in advance. If you’re a seasoned pro who’s published several books prior, this sale will likely be made based on the sample chapters alone. (Sometimes, when you’re really far down the road, editors will buy from you based on the proposal and synopsis alone. Why is that editor willing to take a chance on you? Chances are, your agent has already sent her the sales numbers on your prior books.)

From Proposal to Pub Board

If this is your first sale, however, you can expect the following. The editor will read the rest of your book. If he’s interested, he will contact you, either by phone or email, to tell you that he’s taking the book to the pub board. The pub board is a wider group within the publishing house that makes the decision on what the company should or shouldn’t buy. Just because an editor loves your book doesn’t mean the people in the sales/marketing department are going to go along with him. (This is why you’ve got to come in with a great marketing plan in place, along with an appealing platform.)

From Pub Board to Contract

Let’s say the pub board decides to pick up your book. What happens next? The publishing house will put together a contract. Many houses offer an advance, but others will offer royalties alone. If you’re negotiating this contract without an agent, you might consider asking for help from an attorney or other published author. Little details like foreign rights or film rights could cause you great headaches down the line. And while you don’t want to be greedy, the amount of the advance against royalties is pretty important, too.

Beyond the Contract

The contract will stipulate the date the book will be due. Usually you will have about a six-month window to write the book, if not longer. If the book’s already written, you might use a bit of that time to tweak it. If it’s not written, you’d better get to work!

From Completed Book to Copy Edits

Once the book is turned in, several things happen. The acquiring editor will read it, then (perhaps) come back to you, asking you to change a few things. After that, he will pass it off to an in-house copy editor. (This takes weeks, by the way...sometimes months.) Once the copy-editor reads the book, the real work begins. She will cover it with comment boxes, questions and so forth. This is the point where you’re liable to get your feelings hurt. Remember, it’s still your book, so you have the final say so (in most cases). However, also keep in mind that these are seasoned pros who’ve been in the business a long time and know what makes a book strong. So work with your copy editor to polish, polish, polish.

Superfluous Stuff: Book Cover, Back Cover Copy, and Marketing Strategies

At some point along the production route you’ll start getting emails from the various departments of the publishing house, asking for information that will be helpful as they create a cover for your book. You might be surprised to learn that they’ve changed your title, as well. Most houses like to include the author in these decisions. Some even ask their authors to help come up with back cover copy and to provide the names of important people who might be willing to endorse the book. Do your best to help your publisher along with these things.

Galleys

Several weeks or months after the book is copy-edited, you’ll receive galleys. The galleys (also called final proofs at some publishing houses) will arrive either by hard copy or .pdf file, along with a note that reads something like this: “Your book is about to go to print. Please read through it for glaring errors. This is not the time to change your story; we are giving you this opportunity to make last-minute corrections, only.” Trust me, you’ll want to read through the book very carefully at this point, making absolutely sure every “i” is dotted and every “t” crossed.

Book Release Date

The book will release with a splash, if your publishing company has the funds to do a lot of PR/marketing. If not, then getting the word out will be up to you. That’s why I’ve devoted an entire lesson to the subject of working with your publishing house to promote your book.

Farther Down the Road

Once your book has been out awhile, you will receive your first royalty statement. Hopefully, the book has “earned out” (meaning, you’ve earned out that advance check they sent you). The “tail end” monies on a book can be a great surprise, if the book’s selling well. However, if it doesn’t earn out, don’t fret. Most publishing houses don’t charge back against advances.

Download the pdf version of this lesson below

Well, that’s it for now, writers. I’ve walked you through the steps of making the sale. What fun, to see the publishing houses from the inside-out! Now, get busy and pitch that book. Sell, sell, sell!