Beginning Writers Can Get Published

 

Over the last 30 years Greg Stielstra, author of Pyromarketing, marketed hundreds of Christian books including The Purpose Driven Life. During that time, he noticed a disturbing trend. Some Christian authors sought fame because they believed only celebrities could influence culture. What’s more, they thought to sell lots of book required hiding their Christian content. In a sort of publishing bait and switch, some authors thought they must achieve a platform with secular books—or at least books that minimized faith content before they could use their platform for good. The formula was, “First become famous and then make a difference.”

Greg saw things differently. He saw authors like Lee Strobel achieve tremendous success by writing books with clear biblical content that helped people. The formula was reversed; first make a difference and then the platform will follow. “Aim at Heaven,” C.S. Lewis correctly noted, “and you get Earth thrown in. Aim at Earth and you’ll get neither.”

It's a myth that beginning writers do not get published. Because it happened years ago, many people forget about a brand-new fantasy writer who was looking for an agent named J. K. Rowling. There is a little discussed story about Harry Potter that I read originally in this article in The Observer.

Almost everyone knows that J. K. Rowling was an unpublished children’s writer and single mother who wrote Harry Potter in a coffee shop and dreamed of getting published. How was the book discovered and brought into the publishing world?

J. K. Rowling overcame incredible hurdles to secure that initial book contract. Some of those hurdles she passed through with sheer good luck. There is no other way to categorize it. Rowling’s experience definitely fell outside the normal way of publishing.

Here’s the two key paragraphs (in my view) from this article: “The agency, run in ‘cramped’ and ‘near-Dickensian’ offices in Fulham, south-west London, was cash-strapped until touched by Potter’s magic wand. Literary folklore has it that Rowling, then a penniless 29-year-old single mother, walked into a public library in Edinburgh, looked up a list of literary agents and settled on the name Christopher Little because it sounded like a character from a children’s book.”

“Bryony Evens, the office manager at the time, has said that it went straight into the reject basket because ‘Christopher felt that children’s books did not make money’. But its unusual black binding caught her eye, prompting her to read the synopsis and show it to Little. He recalled: ‘I wrote back to JK Rowling within four days of receiving the manuscript. I thought there was something really special there, although we could never have guessed what would happen to it.’ He managed to sell it to Bloomsbury for £2,500, but later it reaped huge rewards from international rights and he has won a reputation as a brilliant deal-maker who puts Rowling first.”

With the current exchange rates, £2,500 is just a bit over $3,100. Also, this article mentions the agent has received an estimated commission of over $100 million. Not a bad return for pulling a manuscript with an unusual manuscript with black binding from the reject basket.

Don’t assume your material can go into this “other” category for how it becomes published. I’d encourage you to work through the normal channels as much as possible but be aware that sometimes a project will jump to the front of the line. 

Why Every Book Needs a Proposal (Even Self-Published)

No matter what method you choose in the publishing world, I encourage you to create a book proposal. Whether it is fiction or nonfiction, you need to create this document because it is your business plan for your book. Years ago, as a frustrated acquisitions editor, I wrote Book Proposals That $ell, 21 Secrets to Speed Your Success. This book has over 150 Five Star reviews and many people have used it to get published. Also I have a free book proposal checklist and a free teleseminar about proposals. 

I’ve read thousands of book proposals as an acquisitions editor and a former literary agent. I continually teach on the topic because I believe many writers don’t understand the critical nature of this specialized document called a book proposal.

On the traditional side of publishing, editors and agents read proposals. It doesn’t matter whether you’ve written nonfiction or fiction because this document includes information which never appears in your manuscript yet is critical in the decision-making process. 

Many authors have not written a book proposal because have written a full manuscript. From my perspective of working in book publishing for over 30 years, every author should create a book proposal for their book—whether eventually they publish the book with a company where they pay to get it published (subsidy or self-publishing) or whether they find a traditional book publisher. In the proposal creation process, the author learns critical elements about their book concept plus they are better positioned in the marketplace.

Here are four of the many benefits of proposal creation:

1. You Define Your Target Market. Many authors believe their book will hit a broad target—everyone. No successful book is for everyone. Each book has a primary target audience, and the proposal creation process helps you define, pinpoint and write about this audience. It is important in nonfiction but it is also important in fiction. For example, romance is the largest fiction genre yet there are many divisions within the romance genre. The proposal helps to define this division and helps the publisher understand who will be creating the sales.

Every proposal needs a target which is defined—yet large enough to generate volume sales. You learn and achieve this balance when you create a page-turning book proposal.

2. You Understand Your Competition. Book proposals force writers to take a hard look at what is already on the market, and what if anything they bring to the conversation.  Many new authors believe they are writing something unique with no competition. It’s not true. Every book competes in the marketplace, and you will be a better equipped author if you understand your competition.

3. You Create A Personal Plan For Marketing. As you create a book proposal, you will include practical, specific and measurable ideas that can executed when your book enters the market. The proposal will be a valuable reference tool for you because you’ve done this important evaluation process.

4. You Possess A Valuable Tool To Pitch Agents and Editors at Traditional Houses. Literary agents and editors do not read manuscripts. They read book proposals. Even novelists need a book proposal for their initial pitch to an editor or agent. And if you self-publish and are successful with selling your book, because you own everything, if you receive an attractive offer from a traditional house, then you can move the book. Without a proposal you can’t properly pitch the concept and you’ve eliminated this possibility. 

Throughout my years in publishing, I have made multiple trips to New York City and met with some of the top literary agents and editors. Almost each time, I am asked, “Where is the next Prayer of Jabez or Purpose Driven Life or Left Behind or ______ (name the bestselling book)?” Each of these books sold millions of copies. The Left Behind books continue to sell over 100,000 copies a year—and they were originally published over 30 years ago. These professionals are actively looking every day for the next bestseller. Yes, they may be telling you their agency is full and they have no room on their list for your book—but the reality is something different. 

I encourage you to keep looking for the right fit for your manuscript. It’s part of the editorial search that every writer undergoes to discover the right place for their book to be published.

Tweetable:

It’s a publishing myth that beginning writers do not get published. This bestselling author and editor shows that every publishing professional is actively looking for the right author and book. Learn the details here. (ClickToTweet)

W. Terry Whalin, a writer and acquisitions editor lives in California. Get Terry’s newsletter and a 87-page FREE ebook packed with writing insights. Just follow this link to subscribe. A former magazine editor and former literary agent, Terry is an associate publisher at Morgan James Publishing. He has written more than 60 nonfiction books including  Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams and Billy Graham. Get Terry’s recent book, 10 Publishing Myths for only $10, free shipping and bonuses worth over $200. To help writers catch the attention of editors and agents, Terry wrote his bestselling Book Proposals That $ell, 21 Secrets To Speed Your Success. His website is located at: www.terrywhalin.com. Connect with Terry on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

How to Write a Children’s Book Description

 

Contributed by Morgan Lee Clasper 

Writing a description for your children’s book means tackling a unique problem.

When an adult buys a novel, the reader and the buyer are typically the same person. But for children’s books, they couldn’t be more different.
Your story may be for kids, but the person who’s searching Amazon or browsing a bookstore is likely a parent, grandparent, teacher, or librarian. For this reason, your book description needs to make your story sound appealing to kids, while also convincing adults to buy.

To help you do this, here are a few tips to keep in mind when you write your children’s book description so that it speaks to all ages.

Sell your story (even if it’s low stakes)

One particular difficulty that leaves many children’s authors stuck is that, according to conventional wisdom, you need to pack your book description with tension, conflict, and constant escalation.
The problem is that most children’s stories have low stakes, and so authors may struggle to write a description where nothing really “bad” ever happens.

However, even a low-stakes story can create the right sense of tension. To achieve this, ask yourself two questions: What does my protagonist want? And what makes achieving their goal interesting to read about?

Your children’s story might not have world-ending stakes or a race against time, but tension doesn’t need to depend on a sense of impending doom. 

Consider these examples:
•    A nervous child wants to make friends on her first day of school
•    A little rabbit learns about the value of teamwork and sharing
•    A pufferfish discovers how to express his emotions constructively

A cozy and comforting picture book about friendship, bedtime, or overcoming a fear can still have a compelling description, provided you frame your protagonist’s desire in a way that makes it interesting to read about.

Remember who’s buying your book

As we’ve seen, your book description should appeal to both parents and kids, but for different reasons. Parents may care about things like age appropriateness and educational value. Children, meanwhile, are more interested in the promise of funny characters, colorful illustrations, or an exciting story.

A good children’s book description focuses on both. It identifies what adults are searching for, while also sounding like a story that kids will love.

One simple technique you can use is to divide your description into two parts. The opening can focus on the story itself, while the second half communicates the details that parents want to know.

Don’t forget to give parents practical details

Because children’s books focus on a range of topics and themes, it’s helpful to provide parents with additional details and context to help them figure out if your book is right for their child.

One powerful way to do this is to use a bullet list to communicate your book’s unique selling points. This could include your target age range, whether it makes for a good gift, if it features a rhyming narrative, and so on. 

For example:
•    A rhyming bedtime story for children ages 4-8 
•    Features colourful illustrations on every page 
•    Shares a gentle story about courage and belonging 
•    Makes a thoughtful gift to inspire young readers

Notice how each bullet doesn’t read like a table of contents. Every point communicates something important about the book, setting the story apart from other titles while giving parents useful details to inform their buying decisions.

Make your description match the feel of your story

A good children’s book description is filled with emotion and wonder. It should feel as lively to read as your story itself! Before you start writing, imagine that you’re describing your book to a parent without explaining the plot.

Is your book playful, silly, and energetic? Is it a warm and gentle bedtime story? Or is it magical and whimsical? These words can act as a guide when choosing the language for your description.

These words can infuse your description with life. Instead of saying simply, “This book contains illustrations,” consider something like “features illustrations that leap from every page.” This subtly communicates how your book will feel to read, while also giving parents a better sense of what they're buying.

Remember that parents are looking for a fun story for their kids, so your book description shouldn’t sound dry or lifeless!

Conclusion

Writing a good children’s book description means balancing your two audiences. Kids need a story that sounds appealing, while adults are the ones making the decision whether to buy.
The best descriptions have something for both. They capture the emotional heart of your story, give a window into the reading experience, and provide the practical details that parents are looking for.

Bio
Morgan Lee Clasper is a copywriter, book sales strategist, and author of The Blurb Puzzle. With over seven years of experience in the publishing industry, he’s worked with New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling authors, writing 4,000 blurbs and counting. Morgan is also the author of the YA fantasy series The Frostwing Quadrilogy and The Chronicles of Alcabaza. To read The Blurb Puzzle, visit https://morganclasperauthor.com/

Don't Worry About Failures

 

 

 

 “Don’t worry about failures; worry about the chances you miss when you don’t even try.” 

Jack Canfield had a dream. He and co-author Mark Victor Hansen, both motivational speakers, compiled true inspirational stories from people in their audiences. They put these stories into a manuscript titled Chicken Soup for the Soul and submitted it to publishers.

They were rejected 144 times before a small publisher gave them a contract.
Imagine if they stopped after 10, 40, 80, 120, or 140 rejections.

Imagine if they let their failures dictate their lives.

They knew the true failure would be not to keep trying.

Even after they got a publishing contract, they marketed, marketed, and marketed. They not only didn’t let failure stop them, but they also actively made their dream come true.

So, whether you’re a writer, an author, a marketer, or other, take action steps, even if they’re small ones… and persevere.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 Karen Cioffi is a children’s author, ghostwriter, editor, and self-publishing consultant. If you’d like to learn more about writing for children or need help with your story, visit Writing for Children with Karen Cioffi. 

You can check out Karen’s books HERE.

Connect with Karen on SOCIAL MEDIA. 
 

 

Carrying on Charlotte’s 1974 Vision in 2026

 “Writing Spider Inspired"
This columnist’s photo of a clipping from
the LA Times featuring the photo 
from Descanso Gardens, LA Cañada-Flintridge, CA

 

How Is Charlotte Working for You? 

 

Writing Spiders’ Influence—Now and Then

 

By Carolyn Howard-Johnson, writer of fiction, poetry, and

the HowToDoItFrugally Series of How-To Books for Writers 

 

 

A few years ago, administrators and docents of the lovely Descanso Gardens in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains where I live shared the story of writing spiders everywhere including the colorful orb weaver (you might know her from her yellow spots, her eight extra graceful legs (even for spiders), and her beautifully constructed notebook which she often weaves in gardens—like our famous Descanso—and our own backyards. (If she is dressed in bright yellow, then she is probably a she/her/them/they.) Today her job is to remind Karen Cioffi’s Writers on the Move visitors, subscribers and other literature lovers and writers to read or re-read the singular Newbury Award-winner by E. B. White about a writing spider who used words like “radiant” and was forever positive and supporting. It is up to today’s writers—spiders or otherwise—to keep White’s vision flourishing in this season determined to keep us intimidated by their fearsome reputation.

The author of Charlotte’s Web wove a fictional tale for children, but he might have known one personally. Perhaps one he had read about. It’s hard to know because spiders (and other inspirational beings) are often not given the credit they deserve. Halloween is a good time remind writers that the quality that makes great literature is how it reflects or affects real life. Nature. Us. What makes it great is that magical quality that attracts and—dare I use the word ensnares?—so completely it becomes known as a “classic.”

An orb weaver we call Charlotte was once an occasional and welcome guest in our yard. Even though she was only about an inch long, she fiercely kept harmful insects away from my precious chartreuse gladiolas. Unliked the webs of many spiders, her web-notebook was very tidy; hers is the one most artists emulate when they reproduce the delicate, magical web used for most everything spiders do. It’s was her bedroom, nursery for her cocoons, her home, and (Ahem!) her kitchen! Her web was as intricate as longhand and so she became…mmm…what creatives call “writing spiders.”

Halloween has been flaunting spiders as terrifying for much longer than it has been presenting them as adorable. If reading Charlotte hasn’t already changed your attitude about spiders, Halloween is a good time for writers to readjust their attitude and put “inspirational” at the top of their list of adjectives even if it pushes “silken” to describe their webs down to second place. I know, “silk” may be a handy way to create such a conversion, but really! We all know it’s sticky! But if we get up early enough to see one that has collected dew in the gentle morning sunlight, “inspiring” can be a lot more useful for us. Let’s write a pretty little poem about it. Or draw a spider on a Halloween greeting card to give to kids who knock on our doors. Let’s continue to embrace this holiday in ways similar to what E. B. White started in with his Charlotte’s Web .

 

Note: This article was re-inspired  by a whole chain of creative souls, photographers to illustrators I found decades ago in a column titled “California Classroom”  I clipped from the Los Angeles Times. It had found its way to the clipping notebook (real paper!) where I keep articles that have touched me. It re-emerged this year all nicely yellowed by time. That’s the kind of thing that can happens to writers no matter what we use to record our messages.

 

More About the Author: 

Carolyn Howard-Johnson read E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web illustrated by Garth Williams to her children when they were very small; it never occurred to her that one day she would appreciate that book on many levels beyond a lovely story with lessons to teach. She is now the author of a Modern History Press Series that began in 2004 with The Frugal Book Promoter: How to Do What Your Publisher Won't. It’s now published in its 3^rd edition as a hardcover, paperback, and…an e-book! One of the books in that series is even available as Audio! Author White might never have believed in possibilities like that in 1974 for his lovely characters, his lovely story. Find Carolyn’s series on Amazon’s newly offered pages created for series only at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BTXQL27T. That Amazon feature is one of #TheFrugalBookPromoterTips she shares with writers so if (when?) they write a series, they’ll know there is a similar page just waiting for them to install it using their Amazon Central feature. Happy Halloween to all.

Tips on Creating Your Main Character

Give your garden sunshine, water, and food.
Watch it thrive.

By Linda Wilson    Website: bit.ly/44Dx1t9  

While creating the main character for your story, you can first think of children you knew while growing up. Was there one kid who stood out? Or perhaps a few kids? A few kids could learn to creating a composite character like Tom Sawyer, who was based on a number of boys. We children’s authors observe kids wherever we go. It’s not only fun, but you can get many tips on what children like to wear, what they do, how they act, which informs your creation. 

A helpful resource in character development is Elaine Marie Alphin's book, Creating Characters Kids Will Love. I have found the information in it true for each book I’ve written. It is a resource I turn to at the beginning of each new book project.

Alphin, author of Ghost Cadet and Ghost Soldier, as well as YA books and books for very young children, said in an interview, “There's a little of me in just about every character I write. I think there has to be, in order to give each character life.”  

Some of your character creations may surprise you. Those are the best ones. Alphin said, “This comes into play when you try to make the character do something you thought was essential, but he refuses to do it! He wants to do something else. He has just surprised you. This is a wonderful moment! When it happens, let him do it and see what happens. Often, he'll do something that's more effective than what you had in mind in the first place.” 

Keep a Character Journal

A good way to begin is to keep track of your “persons of interest” in a Character Journal. Describe the way he dresses, her mannerisms, what attracted him to you, etc. In her book, Alphin goes into great detail about the advantage of capturing what the people were like in your childhood, the things they did and what you thought about them. You can begin by exploring your own childhood.   

• Who were you as a child? Were you the oldest, youngest or in the middle? An only child?

• Write in detail how you felt about where you were in your family, what your family members were really like relative to their relationship with you.

Ways to Inform Character Creation

1. Make your character care:

• Alphin: The easiest way to make the reader care [about reading your book] is to make the main character care. Something must be at stake for the character - something he wants, something he needs, something he desires, something he'll lose if he fails. The more critical the problem is to the main character, the more eagerly the reader will turn the page, desperate to find out What happens next?

• What you can do: Make a list of what you care about. Your character can find ways to show that he cares about these things, too.

• Make your concerns personal: My concerns center around loving and respecting nature and encouraging children to feel the same way. All my stories take place in natural surroundings. This includes apartment living, as in many children's lives, but even though my character lives in an apartment, much of the action in the book takes place outdoors. Animals, plants, trees, birds, insects, the sky, mountains, grass--the list of seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, smelling nature is endless! Nature becomes a backdrop to the action.

2. Create a plot that propels your character to find a solution to a problem, solve a mystery, and in the process change to becoming a better person.

• Alphin: Character motivation is the heart of what makes a story work or not! Writers are like directors in a play - we know what we want our character to do and where we want them to move to, so we're tempted to just pick them up and move them around in order to get them there, much like pulling the strings of a group of marionettes. But if that's all we do, we end up with two-dimensional characters who are less believable than a row of marionettes dangling from their storage hooks. Characters come alive for readers when we as writers know their motivation - why they want to do or say what the writer wants them to do or say. A character's thought process has to be as believable as our own.

• What you can explore: What issues did you and your childhood friends face? Do other children face them, too? Visit and re-visit these issues. Chances are these are the same that kids have always faced, described in a nutshell as “Children's Basic Needs,” by Lee Wyndham in Writing for Children and Teenagers:

• The need to love and be loved.

• The need to belong.

• The need to achieve.

• The need for security--material, emotional, spiritual.

• The need to know.

3. Throughout Alphin’s book there are exercises that are great for ways to develop your characters, as in this example:

• Choose a situation; write a conversation between two characters. Next, make one character your main character and add that character's thoughts and feelings. Next, add the action. Then, show each character as he or she moves or gestures. Use facial expressions to reflect his or her feelings.

• In my current work-in-progress, I used this example to analyze conversations between and among my characters. Some places skimped on one or more elements, i.e., I left out my main character's thoughts or feelings or how one of the characters moved, gestured or made a facial expression to reflect their feelings.

3. At your story's resolution, show how your character has changed and grown.

• In the chapter on character growth, Alphin describes in detail how to show how your character grows and changes; an element I find particularly challenging. The example that has helped the most is in the beginning of the book under the subheading, "Characters do things."

• Alphin includes a scene from her book, The Ghost Cadet, about how Benjy, her 12-year-old main character climbed down a roof for the first time. She writes, “You can tell that Benjy is afraid from his slow progress, and that he probably hasn't done this before from his awkward movements. You can see his frustration about being short. You can see the way he talks himself into doing what he doesn't want to do . . . the next time he has to climb something” he'll be more confident.

• My main character in, Secret in the Stars: An Abi Wunder Mystery, is unfamiliar with country life and in a similar scene she climbs a dark, narrow staircase, not knowing where it leads, and finds a trap door that leads to the roof. Alphin's description of how Benjy has learned from his first scary experience has helped me show better how my main character can gain confidence from hers. From there, I've been better able to show her become more adept at each new thing she tries until she is fully capable by the end to do what it takes to solve the mystery.

• Alphin: In another example, Marc wants to find the treasure in order to hold onto a person who may be gone from his life. Perhaps he will discover not only hidden treasure, but also the hidden truth that friends sometimes go in different directions and that growing apart isn't the end of the world, because you're open to new friendships. Or perhaps his friend will get caught up in the search, and Marc will realize that they're still friends after all. His friend is the real treasure, and he just needed to reach out to him in order to hold on. Either way, Marc doesn't just find the treasure, he grows and changes because of the actions he takes in order to achieve his goal. His inner problem is what makes the story unique and meaningful.

What I've learned

What began as curiosity about how to create my main character led me to discover Alphin's terrific book and embark upon more in-depth thought about who my characters really are. Not just sides of my personality struggling to show themselves, but living, thriving beings with backgrounds, feelings, desires, likes and dislikes.

Sources: 

https://www.amazon.com/Creating-Characters-Kids-Will-Love/dp/1582973695/ref=sr_1_1

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0898793475/?bestFormat=true&k=writing%20for

'Tis the season to start gearing up for
holiday sales. Photo taken at La Cueva
High School's Big Bad Bear
Band Holiday Fair, Albuquerque,
New Mexico, December 2021,
my first time and every year since.

Linda's latest release is Secret in the Mist, the second book in the Abi Wunder trilogy, illustrated by Danika Corrall, cover art and formatting by 100 Covers, published December 2025. Two other new releases are the award-winning Botas Altas, the Spanish version of Tall Boots, illustrated by 1000 Storybooks, translated by Graciela Moreno and Adriana Botero; and Cuna en la Naturaleza, illustrated by 1000 Storybooks, the Spanish version of Cradle in the Wild, translated by Adriana Botero. Linda's newest books will be released sometime this year: The Pur-r-rfect Costume, a bilingual picture book in English and Spanish, illustrated by 1000 Storybooks, translated by Adriana Botero; and A Home Run Friendship, a middle grade book, cover art and formatting by 100 Covers. Click the link for Linda's Facebook page. 

What Playing Big Actually Means for Writers

 by Suzanne Lieurance

"Play big" gets used so often in creative circles that it's started to mean almost nothing — or worse, it's started to mean something intimidating: louder, more visible, more relentlessly self-promotional. No wonder so many writers hear it and quietly opt out.

That's not what it means. For a writer, playing big has very little to do with volume and everything to do with scope — the size of the questions you're willing to ask on the page, the size of the truth you're willing to risk saying, and the size of the audience you're willing to imagine reaching.

A quiet, private, deeply personal essay can be an act of enormous scope if it says something the writer has spent years avoiding saying. A loud, highly marketed book can be tiny in scope if it never risks anything the writer didn't already know how to defend.

Scope is measured in risk to the writer, not decibels to the audience. It's the difference between a project that could embarrass you if it fails and one that couldn't, because you never really put anything on the line.

This reframe matters because it changes what expansion actually requires of you. It doesn't require becoming someone louder, more confident, or more comfortable with self-promotion than you currently are. It requires becoming someone willing to write closer to the edge of what you actually think and feel — regardless of how quietly or loudly that gets published.

Ask yourself, honestly: if scope is about risk to you rather than volume to the world, where have you been avoiding the bigger version of a project not because it required more visibility, but because it required more honesty?

That's usually where the real expansion is waiting. Not in getting louder. In getting braver about what you're willing to say. 

And now, visit writebythesea.com and learn how to improve you writing through revision. 

And get your free subscription to The Morning Nudge for weekday emails with additional writing tips and resources. 

Suzanne Lieurance is the author of over 45 published books and a Law of Attraction transformational coach for writers.

Every Book Needs a Target

By Terry Whalin (@terrywhalin)

For decades, I’ve been an editor meeting with authors and reading their book submissions. Many of these submissions are missing a foundational element: a specific target audience. I’ve read numerous submissions which proclaim, “My book is for everyone.”

While I’ve written and published many books for traditional publishers, I’d love to write a book for “everyone.” Yet that has never happened. If I am honest, no book is for everyone. Yes, some books reach a broad segment of the reading public, yet every successful writer has a specific target audience. There is an old saying, “If you aim at nothing, you will be sure to hit it.”

Recently I received an excellent, well-crafted proposal from a business writer.  She knew her target reader and was reaching this reader through her on-going marketing efforts (online and in print). While her concept and presentation was fresh and interesting, this author also knew how to test her audience and get feedback. From this testing data, she knew the concepts and stories in her book would meet a reader need.  A proposal where the writer has identified a primary, secondary and tertiary audience is including this foundational material that will attract attention from literary agents and publishers.

In contrast, I’ve also read a proposal from a children’s book author who picked a large age group for their target audience (3 to 12). From the target, I knew this writer had no concept of a particular reader, and it showed throughout the pitch. Children’s books are a segmented market with the words and illustrations targeted to a specific audience. Just walk into any brick-and-mortar bookstore and take the time to study the children’s section. The sections and divisions are clearly marked and are segments every bookstore and library use to divide these books. While your book may eventually reach more than one target, the pitch needs to be aimed at and written to one audience. While literary agents and editors are looking for writers with a target, they also are looking for authors with the ability to reach their target audience. You can reach your target through social media but also an email list, magazine articles, regular speaking, and many other methods.

Your connection to the audience is often called a platform, and every writer (fiction or nonfiction) needs to be actively building their audience.  I have a free ebook, Platform-Building Ideas for Every Author at: http://terrylinks.com/pb The identification of your audience is the foundation of every book proposal. 

Imagine an archery target. You will have a primary audience (the bullseye) but you will have secondary readers as well (the other circles).  The aim and focus of your proposal need to be your target reader.  Follow this foundational proposal principle to make your submission standout.

Do you have a specific target audience? Does this target audience fit into a bookstore category? Thoughtful answers to these questions will help you refine your pitch to an editor or literary agent and get your book published. Let me know your actions in the comments below.

Tweetable:

If you believe your book is for everyone, this bestselling author and editor gives the details so you can refine your target audience and sell more books. #pubtip #thewritinglife (ClickToTweet)

W. Terry Whalin, a writer and acquisitions editor lives in California. Get Terry’s newsletter and a 87-page FREE ebook packed with writing insights. Just follow this link to subscribe. A former magazine editor and former literary agent, Terry is an acquisitions editor at Morgan James Publishing. He has written more than 60 nonfiction books including  Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams and Billy Graham. Get Terry’s recent book, 10 Publishing Myths for only $10, free shipping and bonuses worth over $200. To help writers catch the attention of editors and agents, Terry wrote his bestselling Book Proposals That $ell, 21 Secrets To Speed Your Success. His website is located at: www.terrywhalin.com. Connect with Terry on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.