Everything I've so far learned about selling a nonfiction book
A Big 5 author bares all (lol)
Selling a nonfiction book is a trip. Below, you’ll find a directory of posts I’ve written so far with many thousands of words explaining the process I went through, with hopefully useful insights for anyone embarking on this crazy ride. But first, my main takeaways:
Everything will take at least three times longer than you think, including very simple things like getting people in publishing to email you back (I love my publishing people and this doesn’t apply to everyone, but it’s also a clear pattern!).
You shouldn’t do it if you don’t have blind faith in your project and aren’t willing to make a lot of life sacrifices along the way.
Don’t do it for the money, obviously.
It is imperative that you build yourself a writing-and-publishing support system, ideally one that you check in with regularly. This should be a separate support system than your regular life one, but they may very well become one and the same. I truly don’t know how I would do it without mine.
Use any and all connections and introduction opportunities you have, and be creative about finding them.
Generally, publishing is a gamble. Who will get published and who won’t is unfair and often doesn’t make sense. I’m constantly furious to see bad books out there and incredible ideas by incredible writers struggling to get off the ground.
The rest of the world has no idea how publishing works and you’ll have to do a LOT of explaining why your book is coming out in two years even if you’ve been working on it already seemingly forever.
Everyone is always asking for extensions. I now 100% get why. Writing a book is fucking hard.
Apply to residencies and grants you think are a stretch. But also remember that they are insanely competitive.
Send fan mail to writers you’re reading for inspiration along the way. It will make their day and it will make yours.
And now, links to the entire unbridled journey:
What this Sweet Summer Child learned through her excruciatingly long agent-acquiring process. “I did not consider going to someone just starting out within the agency, which was my first massive mistake, fueled by a stature-addled brain and probably some hubris.”
Dear Agent. The query letter that worked. “We’re selling you, and we’re selling your book to someone who will help you sell it further, to someone who will then print it and sell it further, to people who will read it and then hopefully “sell” it to others with their reviews and recommendations. We’re selling all the way down in a capitalist hell spiral.”
Book Proposal Review: As much as I bristled, I only sold my book after I had a solid argument. “What I kept hearing after having folks read initial drafts of the proposal: great idea, interesting research, good writing, but... what are you SAYING about online dating?”
Book Proposal Review: Pick me, or Writing the Author Bio. “I hate trying to sell myself, I hate trying to self-promote, a feeling so common among writers it’s a well-worn cliche. But the author bio came easily. Maybe it’s because everything else in the proposal was so difficult. Maybe it’s because, despite how much I hate it, I’ve had to write a gajilion cover letters in my life in the hellscape industry that is journalism. But also, maybe, it’s because I had a good sense of why I’m the right person to write this book?”
Book Proposal Review: What to do about the chapter outline? “What I’ve learned is that in a book proposal you kind of have to spell out that thought process, which may feel like you’re beating the reader over the head with all that structure talk, or that you’re telling and not showing. If you weave in great stories or lighbulb-moment-thoughts and have a compelling writing voice, you can still do this quite artfully, but striking the right balance is tricky.”
Book Proposal Review: The Reluctant Marketer. “The life of a poster and a nose for the viral never coming quite as naturally to me as they did to some of my peers. I’d done just okay in this metric and online presence obsessed world. Though I’m not, generally, in life, mad about it, because being internet famous seems exhausting and going viral sucks, my lackluster audience numbers made me freak out a bit. Would I stand a chance of getting a book deal?”
Comparing ourselves to others, the toxic trait we need to harness for our book proposals. “[My agent] immediately had in mind several books that would be similar in voice, structure, or vibe to what I was hoping for in mine. Yes, several were on topics that overlapped – the internet, relationships – but not a single one was about online dating. I would have absolutely never thought of doing it this way myself, but it has really helped set the expectations for the book and given me much more helpful blueprints than books that were roughly on a similar topic.”
Taking an author photo when you hate Being Seen. “It started with looking for inspiration photos, creating a slightly cringeworthy Pinterest board. Lots of moody black and white photos of the greats: Susan Sontag, Joan Didion, Marguerite Duras, Jhumpa Lhahiri, Donna Tart. Plus a couple more contemporary ones: Zadie Smith, Jenny Slate, Kaitlin Tiffany. The overall vibe? Ineffable coolness. Restraint. A dose of mystery.”
What happened when my proposal went on submission to publishers.“It’s a funny dance, these calls. It’s not quite like a job interview, because the editors want you to pick their imprint or publisher if you get multiple offers, but you still have to sell yourself, especially if you’re a first-time author. I heard a lot of nice praise, but I also got a couple of challenging questions on whether I’d address this or that in the book.”
A sweet book advance is thrilling but......it does not a cushy income make. On how the $ works. “There’s a fascinating little genre of writers talking about how utterly trashed their finances were while writing their books. Sometimes it’s their own doing, at least in part – New York writer Emily Gould once wrote a piece detailing all the pricey and ill-fitting clothes she bought after getting a $200,000 book advance. Or it’s just because of how expensive life is – for American writers, health insurance always comes up in these stories – and how advance payments are split up over multiple years.”
This series was almost monthly for the past year, but until I write the damn thing, I won’t have much new to share on the topic of selling the book for now. Stay tuned for when I get to the terrifying stage of getting it in front of readers.
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