How Can You Get Agents and Publishers to Take Your Work Seriously?
Today’s blog post comes to us from Author Accelerator CEO Jennie Nash. If you enjoy today’s content, you can sign up for Jennie's weekly newsletter here.
One of the most frustrating parts of the writing process for nonfiction authors seeking to publish with a traditional or top hybrid publisher is how to get their book proposals in front of agents who can get them in front of the deal makers.
There are not nearly as many writing conferences that offer agent “speed dating” events in nonfiction as there are for fiction and not nearly as many online pitch contests. An expert, executive, entrepreneur, or educator with a nonfiction book proposal usually has to take the following steps:
Research the marketplace to find agents who represent the kind of work they are writing, who are open to pitches, who might have some affinity for their work, and who share a sensibility for the author’s place in the publishing universe. Build a list of 30-50 agents.
Determine exactly what each agent requests for their submission materials — which is far easier said than done. Do they use an online form? Do they request parts of the proposal along with the query letter? If so, should you attach them as a Word doc or paste them into the email? When they say “send the first ten pages along with your query” do they mean the first ten pages of the sample chapter or of the proposal itself?
Break apart the proposal you have developed into the correct pieces to meet the above requirements for all 30-50 agents.
Prepare personalizations for the query letters if personalizations make good strategic sense.
Come up with a pitch strategy for how to approach the agents. Should you first go to the agent your friend said she loves but who isn’t quite right for your project? Or should you try the new agent at the big agency who has no clients of her own yet? What do you do with the agent who says they will only accept exclusive submissions? Or snail mail?! And how many pitches should you send at a time?
Consider when to deploy your pitch strategy. Should you never pitch in August (because everyone is really in the Hamptons)? Should you avoid September (because everyone is sending their kids back to school – if school is in fact happening)? Is it true that no deals get done in December?
Start pitching and expect to hear from agents anywhere from 30 minutes (it happens) to never (it happens frequently).
Furiously review their submission guidelines to see if they say you can follow up (you probably can’t), if you should wait two weeks or two months.
Wait. And wait. And wait. And wonder what on earth you can do to get a response.
Cheer when an agent requests your full proposal and send it out.
Wait. And wait. And wait. And wonder what on earth you can do to get a response.
Review the rejections you get to try to decipher what they mean. Is that a form letter? Or a personal note? And does it matter?
Speak to the agents who offer you representation and try to figure out if you agree with the suggestions they are making for your proposal — and do they really like your project or are they just being nice? If they really like it, do they share your vision for the book?
Figure out how to approach the other agents who still have the proposal. How do you approach them if you are not supposed to follow up?
That Sounds Like a Lot of Work…
It is, and the good news is that it’s a process that works — if a writer’s book proposal is pitch-perfect, if it has everything from a category-appropriate and catchy title to a strong business case to sample chapters that showcase their voice and their authority.
But how do you know if your proposal is indeed good enough for agent pitching, if it does what it needs to do? How can you be sure? How can you have any assurance that you are not just wasting your time?
These questions are one of the reasons that many experts who have something they are burning to share with the world never start their books, let alone finish them or pitch them.
Author Accelerator Has a Solution to Make Agent Pitching Seamless
I’ve mentioned the Nonfiction Book Incubator before. I’m offering it as a way to cut through this frustration and noise.
How will the Nonfiction Book Incubator work?
I and a team of Author Accelerator certified book coaches will take 16 writers through a proven book proposal development process. This is an intense and robust process that teaches you how to get your big idea out of your head and onto the page in a way that is convincing to agents. The Incubator is a 10-week program running February 28th - June 15th, 2022.
When you sign up, you will get three successful sample proposals to study, a 14-step Blueprint workbook to fill out (that will help you hone your idea before we even start), and two self-paced courses that give you insider advice about the various paths to publishing and how the whole pitch process works.
In Week One of the Incubator, you will get personalized feedback on your Blueprint from an Author Accelerator certified coach who we have hand-picked to work with you on your book proposal. You will also be placed in a cohort with three other writers who will inspire and support you throughout the process. (How do I know they will inspire you? Because I will be reading every application and selecting the writers who will fill the 16 seats. I will talk to every single person to make sure they are a good fit for what we are doing. And surrounding yourself with that kind of get-big-things-done energy is powerful!)
Each week, you will receive customized assignments to move your proposal forward and editorial feedback on every word you write — including all eight elements of the book proposal and two sample chapters. You will never be asked to read another student’s work because this is not about peer review. This is about getting your best work done.
Throughout the 10-week program, you will meet six times with me and all 16 writers to sharpen your skills, up your game, learn from a book marketing expert, and get the inside scoop from two panels of agents and publishers.
At the end of 10 weeks, we will proofread your proposal so you can be confident it is pitch-perfect.
Next, you will submit your query and proposal for our Agent Showcase. This includes a pool of five agents and two hybrid publishers — industry leaders who are in a position to get your book into readers’ hands so you can make an impact. These are people who represent a wide range of nonfiction books and who are looking for excellent proposals. They are professionals who value the fact that work done under the guidance of a certified book coach is going to be superior to work done by an author guessing about how the process works.
We cannot guarantee that you will come out of the Incubator with agent representation or an offer to publish, but we can guarantee that your work will be done, that it will be excellent, and that it will be reviewed by agent and publisher eyes — and as you can see from the above list of what it takes for that to happen in the wild, that is an enormously time-saving and sanity-saving opportunity.
If you need support to continue to pitch, you can contract separately with one of our book coaches to lead you through that process — which makes it far less overwhelming and frustrating than doing it on your own. If you do decide to pitch to agents on your own, you can be confident that the material you are sending out is of the highest quality.
Want to learn more about book coaching or the agent pitching process?
Click here to apply for the Nonfiction Book Incubator.
If the Nonfiction Book Incubator is out of your budget or goals for 2022, you can still fill out our Writer Matching Service to be matched with the perfect book coach for your book project.
Curious to learn more about Author Accelerator’s Book Coach Certification program? Click here to learn more about how certification works, and click here to download a free syllabus for our fiction or nonfiction program.
