If you’ve got a full-blown non-fiction manuscript and you’re ready to publish, I’ve got some terrible news. Traditional publishing houses want to see a book proposal, not your manuscript, to help them determine if your book idea is salable and if you’re the one who ought to be writing it, as opposed to some sexier expert.
I can almost hear the psychic scream.
For God’s sake, it’s already done…. Can’t these people just read what I’ve written?!
No.
Let’s return to how traditional publishing houses make money: book sales.
A book proposal presents publishing houses with the necessary metrics to make a sound business decision. How many readers buy books on this topic? Within the last three or so years? Given the books currently on the market, why would anybody choose to purchase a book by you?? That sort of thing.
You won’t be able to tell how many books any one title has sold, but you can see its Amazon rating and the number of reviews. If a comparable title published in the last three years is #5 in the category in which your book would be housed and has 800ish 5-star ratings, you’re looking at a seller.
The traditional house is gambling on your book, particularly if you’re an unknown author. They need evidence that the book is likely to be a hit and that the house stands to win. Otherwise, some executive will have to lay off a bunch of poorly paid employees and give up the big annual bonus when the thing flops. And a significant portion of their acquisitions will flop, statistically speaking. It’s built into their business model.
Traditional houses are not in the dream business. (Neither is Hollywood, for that matter.) This is all about probability and profitability. Cold hard cash.
If you’d like to better understand the traditional publishing industry, rife with pitfalls, check out our free resource, 12 Horrific Things About the Publishing Industry You Need to Know to Safeguard Your Wallet.
…it is an autobiography of yong man who decide to escape kommunist Yugoslavia in 1968 to Italy..then to France..joined French Foreign Legion…been sent to Tchad ..after 2 years of active service there returnimg to Corsica decided to desert..across Europe to Sweden…to start new life as free man…there……