To Market, To Market

Your proposal and query are finished, now what do you do?  The first step is to make up a list of publishers who publish material similar to yours. If you are writing a business book you might want to send it to a publisher like Harper Collins, a firm that has a good business list. The same applies to nature and the environment, pop psyche, Low carb cookbooks and much more.

How do you find these publishers? Pick them out of one of the major guides, either The Writers Guide to Book Editors, Publishers and Literary Agents, the Writers Market, or Literary Market Place.  I like The Writer's Guide best since it gives you a run down on the acquisition editors at each house. They list not only the publisher, but the editor who is interested in your type of book. When you send your query you must address it to that editor by name. This is the secret to getting a response even when the publishers say they only look at manuscripts sent through an agent.  List as many publishers as possible because you are going to multi-query every one of them if they fit. Let's say this again. You need to multi-query. More than once I have had my clients and students send out 60 queries all at once. This is perfectly acceptable today and a lot faster than any other method.

Now let's look closer at the publishers.

Once you have an initial list go on the Internet and look at each publisher's newest books to see where your book fits.

Let's begin to understand what publishers take. Publishers have general topics they publish as well as common denominators within a particular book category.

Here are what some publishers specialize in: (there are always exceptions to this).

Adams Media: women's issues, self-help/self improvement/relationships, spirituality, popular psychology, digital business, personal finance, business management and pets, parenting, cooking careers, fitness/leisure how-to and sales/marketing.

David R Goodine: history, criticism, graphic arts, architecture, horticulture, cooking, Americana and regional interest.

Little Brown and Company: Art and architecture, Biography, Autobiography, Business Economics, Childcare/Pregnancy, Cookbooks, Current Affairs, Education, Gardening, Health/Medicine, History, Lifestyle/crafts, Music, Nature, Pets, Psychology, self help, Reference, Religion/Inspiration, Science, Sports Fitness, Travel

Meadowbrook Press: books with a family outlook. Pregnancy, childcare, parenting, health, the environment, business, travel, cooking, reference, party planning, children's activity books.

Tarcher/Putman (started by Jeremy P. Tarcher in Los Angeles) Cutting edge, science, memoir and narrative non-fiction, health, anthropology, philosophy, psychology and spirituality.

Categories within a field.  Publishers may publish within a general interest area like Pop psychology or travel, but they often limit their books to one particular category within that field.

Stien and Day is no longer in business, but they make a good example for discovering how publishers approach specialties. This publisher published

How-to, pop psychology, biography, history, military history, and similar topics

Here's a look at one of their last military history list.

Tank battles in world war II

Hitler's generals

Battle over Britain in world war II

How Hitler took Poland

The allied bombing of Berlin

Notice that all the books are about World War II. If you sent them a book on the civil war it would come right back.

Specialties

Many publishers are known for their strong specialties. Here's a few.

Strong Regional California. Chronicle Books, Here are some of them.

Bed and Breakfast in California, Places to Go With Children in Northern California, Historic Houses of California, Backroad Wineries in California, L.A. Bike Rides, California Steelhead, Hollywood, U.S.A.

Chelsea Green Publishing The Natural House, From the Redwood Forest: A Headwaters Epiphany, The Good Woodcutters Guide

Military History: Presidio, What They Didn't Teach You About the Civil War, She Went to War: The Rhonda Cornum Story, Easy Target: The Long, Strange Trip of a Scout Pilot in Vietnman

Spirituality, Crossroad/Continuum, The Catholic Experience, Crisis Ministries, Formation of the Human heart          

Big Game Hunting, Stoneydale Press,

The Next Step

Once you have your list together, send your queries out. I recommend you send them all out at one time. Email the publishers that say you can. I generally go on line and check this. Mail your queries to the others with a self addressed stamped envelope only if you want a reply or your query letter returned.

What can you expect? The replies used to be faster than they are now. We have sent queries out on Friday and gotten a phone call on Monday. This doesn't seem to happen now. But expect your queries to be answered quickly (about two-six weeks).

Hopefully some of these editors will ask to see your proposal. After you send it in, prepare to wait.  Six to Seven weeks is quick. Six months is not out of the ordinary.

If the editor likes your book, he or she will show other editors to gain support. That editor will then take your proposal to the Editorial Board. This board is composed of the editors, the editorial director, the sales manager and others. If your book passes the editorial board they will send you a contract which you can negotiate.