This is the fifth post in a seven part series called, "An Author's View of the Publishing Process."
Part 1: A Book Concept Takes Shape
Part 2: Writing the Non-Fiction Book Proposal
Part 3: My First Writers’ Conference
Part 4: Tweaking Titles in Preparation for The Big Pitch
Determined that I could convince someone to buy my book, I revised my proposal again, completely changing my primary audience. The latest version targeted prospective adoptive parents and their support network of extended family, friends, and co-workers. I created an extensive marketing section—full of adoption statistics and other information of interest to publishers—and sent it off to the editors who had requested it.
And then I waited. And waited. Meanwhile, my friend Jenn (the one with the agent) had published her first book, had contributed to three other books, and was at work on another book proposal.
Months later, I received several nice rejection letters from editors I’d met, expressing their regret that unfortunately, my project still catered to too much of a niche audience to ensure good sales.
During the summer of 2005, I attended the International Christian Retail Show (ICRS), where I worked on behalf of some of my freelance clients. While I didn’t intend to pitch my book during the convention, I tucked my proposal inside my suitcase, just in case.
As it turned out, I did end up pitching my book to an editor I’d never met before, and he invited me to send him my proposal (after recommending that I beef up the marketing section even more).
I spent the next month interviewing social workers at adoption agencies, quizzing them about the types of books their clients read and about what they’d most want to see in a book about adoption. I added pertinent quotes from them to my proposal, and then sent it off.
Then I waited for five more months. Did I neglect to tell you that the book publishing industry works at a glacial pace? Well, it does. One of my friends, a first-time author who was offered a book contract out of the blue by a major New York publishing house, informed me, “I’ll write my book during the next three weeks and it’ll be on the shelves by Christmastime. She told me this during the spring of 2004.
I bit my lip to keep from laughing uproariously. First of all, writing an entire book in three weeks is a bit of a stretch for most people. I tactfully informed my friend, “The book publishing process usually takes a year or two.” Sure enough, it’s been two years since she signed her contract, and her book is scheduled for release this fall.
For more news and information about adoption, please visit my Website, www.laurachristianson.com, or my Christian Adoption Blog at adoption.com.
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