WRITERS INFORMATION NETWORK
The Professional Association for Christian Writers

Elaine Wright Colvin, Christian Writers Consultant

1. Research the market. Visit your local bookstores. Observe the section where your book would be shelved. Look for names of publishers who publish books similar to yours and might be a possible publisher for your book. Survey your competition. Note how these books are similar to or different from yours. Make sure that you understand WHY your book needs to be published.

2. Make a list of potential publishers. Read 2001 Writers Market; 2001 The Writers Handbook; The Literary Marketplace; Writers Guide to Book Editors, Publishers, and Literary Agents -2001; or 2001Christian Writers Market Guide. Look up addresses of the publishers you've identified that have a line or imprint suitable for your book. Obtain the name of the appropriate editor to submit to. If you submit to nobody, it will go to nobody and land in the slush pile graveyard.

3. Get latest catalogs and submission guidelines. Request a current catalog and writer's guidelines for whatever type of book you want to submit (i.e. children's, academic, fiction, nonfiction, etc. Some publishers have separate writer's guidelines for each category, others have just one Guideline sheet. Send SASE. Never phone! Some guidelines are now available via the Internet.

4. Write a sizzling query letter. Initiate contact by sending a query letter (two pages maximum) describing your work and encouraging the editor to request it. This is your sales pitch, your door-opener. According to one agent, "In addition to the letter, its okay to include a resume/bio that highlights any writing credits or relevant professional credentials; a brief summary (2-3 pages) if the book is nonfiction, or a brief synopsis if it’s fiction; and promotional materials. Be careful: At this stage your aim is merely to whet the editor's appetite; you don't want to cause information overload. "Less is more." If you have secured BIG NAME endorsements, Television or Radio Talk Show invitations, this is the time to mention them. (Writers Guide to Books Editors... 1998-1999, Herman, Prima)

5. Revise synopsis until it's perfect. Sometimes called the overview, this portion of the proposal is a terse statement (one to three pages) of your overall concept and mission. It sets the stage for what's to follow. Short, concise paragraphs are usually best.

6. Personalize and polish your book proposal. From the publishing house writer's guidelines you will know what they want to see in the proposals they look at, plus how many pages they will read in their consideration of your manuscript.

7. Polish first 50 to 75 pages of manuscript (two to three chapters). To check your manuscript for grammar problems and style use Chicago Manual of Style. Biblical quotations, references and other nuances may be judged by A Christian Writer's Manual of Style by Hudson & Townsend (Zondervan), or the style chapter in The Christian Writer's Book (Bridge-Logos), or the individual publisher's in-house style guide.

8. Be sure your book proposal submission conforms to publishers guidelines. Typed (at least 1-inch margins all around) double-spaced (not stabled, clipped or bound in any way). If they have said no unsolicited or no unagented submissions, then you need to come up with a creative, acceptable way of getting a reading (i.e. First Edition, Writers Edge, author recommendation, writers conference contact, consultant's cover letter, etc.).

9. Send it off and continue working on something else. Be realistic. Agent Jeff Herman reminds us, "For every published writer, there are, at minimum, several thousand waiting in line to get published. Many are called, but few are chosen."

10. Be patient and persistent. Pray a lot! But never cold-call an editor. Don't call them to try to sell them your work. Don't call them to follow-up on query letters or submissions. Why? Do you like it when salesmen call you when you're in the middle of writing a key chapter in your next bestseller?

Copyright 1998-2001, Elaine Wright Colvin, Writers Information Network