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What Editors Look For"When I'm asked by writers what I, as an editor, am looking for, my answer is, 'Something I haven't seen before.' This reply may infuriate the writer—it is of little help to him—but it is true. The new idea, the new voice, the jolt one feels at the unexpected are what most stimulate the editor and the reading public." —Richard Marek, "How Books Are Chosen: What Goes into Making an Editorial Decision," in Gerald Gross, ed., Editors on Editing: What Writers Need to Know about What Editors Do, 3rd ed., 83-90 (New York: Grove Press, 1993) (quote on 87) "When I worked on a manuscript, my primary concerns were those expressed in this book—to make sure: solid argument skills drive the narrative; each chapter has a point and that the point of the chapter contributes to the overall point of the book; that the manuscript as written highlights the newness and breadth of the research findings. But down the hall from me were editors who were much more concerned with the beauty of the writing." —Susan Rabiner, in Susan Rabiner and Alfred Fortunato, Thinking Like Your Editor: How to Write Great Serious Nonfiction—and Get It Published (New York: Norton, 2002), 227 |
Getting
a Nonfiction Book Published: Four Tips on How to Impress Agents and Publishers
Copyright
© 2008 Casco Bay Literary Services
Many factors will influence your chances of getting you nonfiction book published. But when an agent or publisher casts an experienced eye on your manuscript, chances are that they'll be scrutinizing certain things. The following four tips, gleaned from twenty-five years in the book business, will increase the odds that you'll make a good impression.
1. Your book should be both substantive and interesting. Successful books always offer readers something of value. Your readers should take away with them the feeling that they've acquired valuable insights, obtained useful information, or learned practical skills. Publishers won't get excited about a book that doesn't meet this criterion. Your book also needs to hold readers' interest. The opening paragraphs or pages are especially crucial, but the entire book should have as much dramatic interest as possible. You can increase dramatic interest by adding an autobiographical touch, by including case studies and examples, or by incorporating intriguing bits of historical background, little-known facts, or unusual statistics. You can also borrow techniques from fiction writing, like the use of "page-turners" at the ends of chapters to motivate readers to read on and learn about some intriguing discovery or tragic event.
2. To increase your chances of success, your book needs to be well written. This means more than just eliminating grammatical errors. Strive for clarity. Don't leave anything to the reader's imagination—all terms should be defined, acronyms explained, individuals identified, and so on. To reach as broad a market as possible, most publishers expect a high degree of clarity. If they think your manuscript will require too much editing to meet their standards, they may not accept it. Also strive to make your style as cohesive as possible. Cohesion refers to devices that link various parts of the manuscript (often subtly) and give it an overall feeling of smoothness and polish. Common cohesive devices include words or phrases like "thus," "still," "but," "however," "of course," "in addition," "on the other hand," and "finally." You can also create cohesion by strategically repeating a motif throughout your manuscript. Obvious examples include the imagery of fire in books on romance or passion, and sports metaphors in books on facing business challenges.
3. Make sure your book is factually accurate and free of prejudice. Do your best to weed any major bloopers out of your manuscript. Publishers see them all the time. What kind of impression do you think an author makes who refers to a "giraffe of wine" instead of a "carafe of wine"? How seriously do you think a publisher will take a manuscript in the field of art history that mentions a painting Van Gogh painted in 1950? (Hint: Van Gogh died in 1890.) Also make sure your book is inclusive with respect to gender, race, and other factors. Problems in this area can be a deal breaker, because the day is long past when reputable publishers are willing to publish books that contain obvious prejudice. Avoid the so-called generic masculine; plural pronouns can usually be substituted. Examples and case studies should incorporate a range of ethnic groups. Biased humor should be avoided, like ageist jokes or jokes about particular religions.
4. Don't neglect seemingly trivial aspects of your manuscript like spelling, because they're more important than you think. Use a reliable dictionary; most U.S. book publishers follow the latest edition of MERRIAM-WEBSTER'S COLLEGIATE DICTIONARY (an inexpensive desk dictionary). A glance at the dictionary indicates that "mainframe computer" is the preferred spelling of that term, so it shouldn't also appear in your manuscript as "main frame computer," "main-frame computer," and "Main Frame Computer." If you discuss a book in text and give the author's name as "Roe" there, it shouldn't appear as "Doe" in your footnotes and as "Moe" in your bibliography. Rest assured that discrepancies of this nature will leap out at any experienced agent or editor. The more careless errors they find in your manuscript, the more likely they are to wonder whether you've been as cavalier with your subject matter as with your style.
In book publishing there are no guarantees. But if you follow the four strategies outlined above, you're likely to produce a high-quality manuscript that will impress agents and publishers and maximize your chances of getting published.
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