More on Book Proposals That $ell

About a month ago, Stacy Harp, president of Mind and Media, interviewed me about Book Proposals That $ell. If you’ve not seen Stacy’s blog, I’d encourage you to take a look because of her interesting view of the media and books.

The interview went live recently and you can download the thirty-minute interview at this link. Even if you’ve heard me teach about book proposals, the interview gives some recent examples and illustrations to some of the points of the book. It’s a way to gain some additional insight on this important topic. If you’ve read and studied the book, it will give you some reminders.

I’ve learned my book is headed back to press. It’s always an exciting milestone for any author to hear about their book. It’s exciting whether they printed a small amount of books or a large amount of books. Why? Because the reprinting gives you a chance to fix a limited number of pages.  From my work inside publishing, I know each change costs my publisher yet my publisher is also committed to excellence and wants to remove a few typographical errors and missing words.

I haven’t received much of this type of feedback but when I do receive it, I’ve kept track of these changes. Now is the time to get it fixed and I’m grateful to be able to improve on this strong product. I understand the topic is an “evergreen” or something that can continue for years.  Book Proposals That $ell isn’t tied to a current event which will fade from the public attention. Instead millions of people dream about getting a book published.  I find most of them are working on their book manuscript when the publisher needs a book proposal. They have tackled the publishing process backwards. From my perspective the best way for these would-be writers to realize their dream is to increase their understanding of the publishing process and create a book proposal.

If you are one of those readers who spotted some missing words or typos in the book—and you want to write me. Now is the time. Send your message to terry@terrywhalin.com.  I will not be offended in the least and it will give me a chance to make sure every possible change is carefully considered and handled. You will notice how I phrased that last sentence. It came from long experience. I didn’t promise to make every change. I promised to consider every change.  Why? I will evaluate these changes then submit them but the final decision will not be in my hands. It’s in the hands of my publisher. It’s part of the team effort involved in traditional publishing.

I’m celebrating the opportunity to spread the word again about my book and that it is headed back to press for another printing. As you can see, it’s not a one time experience but this type of book promotion is something that is on-going (or at least it should be) for every author.