breaking into the nonfiction market: step-by-step
TRANSCRIPT
Breaking Into the Nonfiction Market:Step-by-StepGeorge Galdorisi
San Diego State UniversityWriter’s Conference
January 20-22, 2017
A Few Preliminaries….
• Three promises:– This will be a fast-paced session– We’ll learn something…and we’ll have fun– You’ll have access to these resources…take notes…or not….
• Three assumptions:– You all are interested in the non-fiction market– That includes articles of all kinds as well as books– You didn’t wake up last Tuesday morning with this notion
• A word about Power Point…
….by way of background….
Let’s talk about writing….
….and isn’t this the oldest profession?
“History is what the historians and writers say it is.”Norman Polmar(Forty books – and counting)
Breaking Into the Nonfiction Market:Step-by-Step
• Some preliminaries - and non-fiction in general• Being - or becoming - the expert• Pursuing a subject - or letting life happen• Scratching itches - or entertaining• Getting a publisher to buy your book• Examples and resources
Some Preliminaries: Non-Fiction in General
….the dark…and light…side of writing….
“Now, if you’re getting all fired up and ready to pound the keys, I might inject a word of caution. Actually, this word comes from my wife. For most of us, writing is not a team sport. An article for a trade journal or a short story is no big deal, but if you find yourself writing a long piece or a book, you probably ought to have a chat with your spouse. For most of us, writing means closing off the other people in your life for several hours a day and it’s something you may want to talk about before you begin.”
Dick Couch(Fifteen books – and counting)Shipmate, April 1993
“If you have other things in your life—family, friends, good productive day work—these can interact with your writing and the sum will be all the richer.”
David Brin
I keep six honest serving-men(They taught me all I knew);Their names are What and Why and When And How and Where and Who.
Rudyard KiplingThe Elephant’s Child
Some Things to Consider Before You Write
• Who are you writing for?• What are you going to write?• Where are you going to write?• When are you going to write?• Why are you going to write?• How are you going to write?
So Many Non-Fiction Outlets
• A wide array of online media• Newsletters• Alumni magazines• Professional journals• Popular magazines• Newspapers• Portions of non-fiction books• Non-fiction books
Why Non-Fiction Books?
• It is a hungry market• Relatively easy to enter• Lower risk – sell then write• Can be steady money• Can query without an agent more easily• Vastly more non-fiction published than fiction
Being – or Becoming – the Expert
“There are authors and artists and then again there are writers and painters.”
Ian FlemingHow to Writer a Thriller
Being – Or Becoming - the Expert
• Some essential “first order” questions:– Is this something you’re passionate about?– Do you have enough “street creds” that you’re an expert?– If not, is there a way you can acquire those street creds?– Do you really want to spend several years doing this?
• If the answer is yes, then it’s all about the packaging:– First stop – solo or with a collaborator?– Next stop – the library and the internet – due diligence – Is it a book – or an article?– If it’s a book – packaging – query letters and proposals
What Should You Write About?
• Whatever you are passionate about• “You’re in a bar with your friends”• What my first agent always asked:
– What are you really passionate about?– What do I wish I had more time for?– How would I spend year as a “professional dilettante?”– What do I think about when I’m alone?– What do I worry about and what issues concern me most?– What have I done that people seem curious about?– Is there a topic where friend turn to me for advice?
Pursuing a Subject:Or Letting Life Happen
“Being a comparatively successful writer is a good life. You don’t have to work at it all the time and you carry your office around in your head. And you are far more aware of the world around you. Writing makes you more alive to your surroundings and, since the main ingredient of living, though you might not think so to look at most human beings, is to be alive, this is quite a worthwhile by-product, even if you only write thrillers.”
Ian FlemingHow to Write a Thriller
Pursuing a Subject-or Letting Life Happen?
• Beyond the Law of the Sea• Leave No Man Behind• The Kissing Sailor • Other examples• And this leads us to a question….
Are You Scratching Itches:or Entertaining?
“I do not over-intellectualize the production process. I try to keep it simple: Tell the damned story.”
Tom Clancy
Scratching Itches-Or Entertaining?
• Scratching Itches: Beyond the Law of the Sea:– We had a mission – We had a message– We wanted people to do something – It gave us a platform
• Entertaining: The Kissing Sailor– We had a mission– We were on a “Mission from God”– In some ways, the day the book was published – we were done– And…the book “percolated” into downstream goodness
• Leave No Man Behind – Both goals
How Much to Tell and What’s Next?
• Getting past: “It’s an article, not a book”• A comfort zone and an “article to book ratio”• One book – or a series• Above all else – the purpose of the book (LNMB)• At the end of the day – you decide, not the editor• If you haven’t written articles – now you should!
You’re in the Starting Blocks!
• You know what you’re going to write about• You know why you’re going to write about it• You know who is going to write it (solo….or….)• You know roughly when you’ll write• You already have the where figured out:
– Solo– With collaborator (the “how” question)
• Now all you have to do is get someone interested in publishing the book!
Getting a Publisher to Buy Your Book
“The toughest hurdle you must scale is getting a publisher to agree to handle your book. You are a new name, a new risk to them. They will judge you on what you send, the thought behind it, the obvious professionalism, how it reaches them, sometimes your expertise or previous writing output, and always on how your book will increase their profit line.”
Gordon Burgett Before You Write Your First Book
“It’s already been done, or it’s on
Wikipedia”“It’s an article,
not a book”
“You don’t havea platform”You must
overcome all three!
Once You’ve Overcome That, You Must Do This:
Decide What Your Non-Fiction Book Is
What Is Your Non-Fiction Book?
• Narrative Non-Fiction:– A book that tells a true story, often using the techniques of
fiction: biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs • Prescriptive Non-Fiction
– A book offering information and advice, this includes helping readers improve their lives or learn a new skill
Narrative Non-Fiction
• Most narrative non-fiction is produced by someone who has some experience as a writer
• Most good narrative non-fiction entertains through storytelling as much as it informs
• Biographies typically require an enormous amount of research and need to “hook” if the subject is familiar
• Many aspiring non-fiction writers focus on memoirs – the “art” is finding something new to say
• At the end of the day, narrative non-fiction will succeed or fail based on the author’s writing skill
Prescriptive Non-Fiction
• Prescriptive non-fiction requires decent writing, but the bar isn’t as high as for narrative non-fiction
• However, this kind of book is sold on the basis of the author’s platform or visibility
• Readers don’t want to be entertained, they want to learn from the wisdom of your experience or insights
• Most popular categories of prescriptive non-fiction:– Religion– Business– Self-help: Diet, health, fitness, self-improvement etc.
Getting a Publisher to Buy Your Book
• Due diligence – with a vengeance!• Finding the right agent or publisher• The query letter – address those three circles• Your book proposal – and some examples
Due Diligence – With a Vengeance!
• Once you get past the “It’s an article, not a book” roadblock, the next one is…
• “It’s already been done before or enough information on the subject is on Wikipedia”
• You have to convince yourself it hasn’t been done and then you have to convince an agent or editor
• How to you do that? (Your “Mission from God”)
Due Diligence – With a Vengeance!
• Meet Your Two Best Friends:– The library– The internet
• The library– Books– Journals and magazines
• The internet– Subject searches– Writer searches
• Other friends– Your colleagues and fellow travelers– Bookstores – large and small
What is the End Game – What Are You Looking For?
• Publishers who publish this kind of book• Agents who agent this kind of book• Once you know that, it’s all about the query• Persistence on steroids!
The Query Letter
• There is a cottage industry of courses on how to write a query letter
• There are a number of books on how to write a query letter• There is a cottage industry of experts on how to write a
query letter – and some of them are here!• There is a massive amount of information on the internet
on how to write a query letter• Two sources:
– The Great Courses: How to Publish your Book– Google: http://www.agentquery.com/writer_hq.aspx– But these are only two, there are many, many more
The Query LetterThe “Bell Shaped Curve” For Most
• The hook• Mini-synopsis• Your bio• Your closing – “where’s the beef?”
– High Concept– Outline– Table of Contents– Sample Chapters
• “Bound the problem” for how much time you’re going to spend on getting an “A” in query letters
One Example of a Good Query Letter“In a January interview on the Writer’s Digest blog, you praised The Thirteenth Tale and indicated an interest in literary fiction with a genre plot. My paranormal romance, Moonlight Dancer, blends a literary style with the romance tradition.”
The Magic Words….
…Yes, I’d be interested in reading it
How long will the editor have to wait to see your proposal?…
“Interest” has a half life….
Before You Write the Proposal
• Come up with a “purpose statement” for your book and write it down in one sentence
• Then put this into a working question: This book is the answer to….
• Two sources (there are a multitude of them in print):– John Boswell – The Awful Truth About Publishing– Jeff Herman – Write the Perfect Book Proposal
The Proposal – The 100,000-Foot View
• Who would read your book?• Why would they buy it?• Where would they use it?• What else is available like your book?• How does your book differ from others?• When did you decide it’s better than Wikipedia?
Think about your competition today – not just books, but the internet? Is your book better than Wikipedia?
Your Book Proposal
• This is not the time for humility • Think back to when you wrote your first resume• Advice from John Boswell: The Awful Truth About
Publishing– Define the book’s audience– Describe the book generally and specifically– Show that your book fills a need for your audience– Show that you are uniquely qualified to write this book
Today – You Are the Publisher’s Marketing Department
• Part of your proposal must include how you are going to do their work for them!
• What is your platform?– Media of all kinds (talks, interviews, print, et al)– Internet presence
• Facebook• Twitter• And more….
– How you are going to make promoting our book a constant drumbeat
Let’s look at two examples….
Leave No Man Behind
• The “Hook” – Rescue Story (Clyde Lassen – Medal of Honor)
• About the Book• Table of Contents• Chapter Summaries• The Market• The Authors• Promotion• Length and Delivery
Leave No Man Behind“An important and comprehensive work on that most American of military imperatives--going in harm's way to get one of our own.” Dick Couch (NYT bestselling author)
“Leave No Man Behind is a solid piece of history. Well written, well told, well done!” Darrel Whitcomb Author of The Rescue of Bat 21
“This story has never been told before! Leave No Man Behind offers a unique blend of operational experience and technical description.” Dr. Norman Friedman – author of over 30 books.
“George Galdorisi and Tom Phillips have provided a comprehensive, and well-written history of the development of combat rescue up to the present, including dramatic accounts of rescues, among them many never before revealed.” Norman Polmar – author of over 40 naval books.
The Kissing SailorCoverQuoteTable of ContentsConcept (Why this book?)Competition (Surely this story has been told before?)Timing (Why are we doing this book at this time?)Methodology (How are we going to pull this off?)About the AuthorsChapter SummaryThe MarketPromotionLength and Delivery
The Kissing Sailor“What a wonderful detective story about a kissing sailor and a beautiful nurse – the most famous couple celebrating the end of WWII. Famous but anonymous - until now. I loved it.” Tom Brokaw, author of The Greatest Generation
“The Kissing Sailor is a whodunit that provides once and for all the identification of the world’s best-known smoochers…You have to read this book!” David Hume Kennerly, Pulitzer Prize winning photographer
Some Iconic Non-Fiction Writersand Helpful Resources
Some Iconic Non-Fiction Writersand Helpful Resources
• David McCullough• Walter Isaacson • Malcolm Gladwell• Laura Hillenbrand• Writers on Writing (I)• Writers on Writing (II)• NYT Book Review• NYT Book Review – Last Page• The Great Courses: “How to Publish Your Book”
“There comes a time when you realize that everything is a dream, and only those things preserved in writing have any possibility of being real.”
James Salter“All That Is”NYT MagazineDecember 27, 2015
A Summing Up of What We’ve Covered:Whew – is it Worth It?
Breaking Into the Nonfiction Market:Step-by-Step
• Some preliminaries - and non-fiction in general• Being - or becoming - the expert• Pursuing a subject - or letting life happen• Scratching itches - or entertaining• Getting a publisher to buy your book• Examples and resources
“Being a comparatively successful writer is a good life. You don’t have to work at it all the time and you carry your office around in your head. And you are far more aware of the world around you. Writing makes you more alive to your surroundings and, since the main ingredient of living, though you might not think so to look at most human beings, is to be alive, this is quite a worthwhile by-product, even if you only write thrillers.”
Ian FlemingHow to Write a Thriller
Slides and Resources:http://www.georgegaldorisi.com/
For 2017 SDSU Writer’s Conference Attendees only. Contact me via this website for:
Book proposal for: Leave No Man BehindBook proposal for: The Kissing Sailor