The Most Difficult Aspect to Find

 

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

You’ve been working on your book proposal or book manuscript for a long time. On a consistent basis, you have been at your computer crafting your words and telling your stories. Or you have been working on your business plan or book proposal for your book. After weeks of effort and work, you are poised at your computer and ready to submit it to a literary agent or an editor. In this article, I want to help you understand the most difficult factor for you to find at this juncture: something that is not there. How do you find what you are missing and make sure you add it before submitting?

For this article, I added an image of a woman looking at a map. Let’s say you were going to be the printer or publisher of that map. What would be the most difficult aspect to check in the proofreading process before you printed it? The answer is something which is supposed to be on that map but is not there. With a book, it could be the table of contents page. An editor friend who read my Pivot Driven Devotions wrote an email and called it to my attention this book does not have a table of contents page. For other books, they have a foreword but in the proofreading process the foreword isn’t added to the table of contents. In other books, the word foreword is misspelled as forward. Foreword is one of the most misspelled words in publishing. As a writer, you want to get the details right no matter what you are publishing.

Now that you understand the challenge for the author, I want to suggest several ideas to help you in this process.

1. Use a checklist. The checklist helps you see the elements which may be missing then add them into your manuscript, book proposal or any other type of submission or pitch. For example, in the book proposal area, I have a free book proposal checklist (follow the link to get it or go to this page for more information).  My book proposal checklist is a number of pages (when you subscribe to my newsletter). I’ve written two book proposals that received six-figure advances and reviewed hundreds of proposal submissions. I encourage you to read my checklist then carefully review it and see if anything is missing that you need to add before your submission. Submitting a complete document is important. Sometimes authors will notice they are missing something and ask if they can resubmit their proposal. Often with reluctance I agree to such a request but it causes more internal work and does not make the right impression on the editor or agent that you have asked. As a writer, you can to come across in a professional manner. Use the checklist before you hit the send button to an editor or agent.

2. Hire a proofreader or outside editor. Another way to find missing elements in your submission is to hire a proofreader or outside editor. At Morgan James Publishing, we have a vetted list of editors that I will send to the authors during the submission process. The list is fluid and changes from time to time if we get complaints about a particular editor. There are a number of these professionals who can help you. The Christian Writers’ Market Guide has a list of editors and resources. Make sure you use a current edition because this type of information changes from year to year. 

Before you submit, you want to make sure your material is complete and in the best possible shape. An outside editor can help you in this process--especially when you understand that an excellent submission is a great way to stand out to the editor or literary agent. Some people estimate there are millions of submissions in process at any given moment. From the stack of material I receive as an editor, I believe that statement is true.

3. Join a Critique Group.

The final way I would give you to find something missing in your query letter or book proposal or manuscript or any sort of pitch is to join a critique group or find an accountability partner. Each of us need someone with fresh eyes to look at our material and give us input and improvement. I’ve been in a number of these groups through the years and learned it is important to find the right group. That process will take some search and effort but it is well worth it from my experience. Follow this link to learn some more ideas about finding and participating in a critique group. 

The publishing process is not easy for anyone. The overall message in this article is that you do not have to face the journey alone. Use one or more of these ideas to find whatever is missing in your material--and do it before you send it. What other ideas or resources do you have in this area? Let me know in the comments below.

New Podcasts:

In these articles, I’ve encouraged you to use PodMatch or some similar tool to book and record podcasts. Last week another podcast recording launched.

Want your book to be a success? Author Terry Whalin says, “Take five small actions every day.” That’s it. Repeat daily. Momentum comes from small, strategic actions over time.🎧 Hear the full strategy in the Author’s Edge: https://bit.ly/4iQuAYw

Some of My Writing In Other Places:

In recent weeks, I’ve had a couple of guest blog post articles.

Each month I guest blog at the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference and this month I encourage writers that The Opportunity To Publish Is Everywhere at: https://bit.ly/42AXgOL 

Once a month, I guest blog at Writers on the Move and in this article, I explain why I give away books and you should too at: https://bit.ly/3Es76KY 

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