Looking for Gold in Book Proposals

I spent some time this weekend going over a stack of book proposals I'd received while on my management retreat.

Since I wrote a book on how to write a book proposal, I believe I tend to get more than the average independent publisher.

For me this is an exciting part of my job. What if I find a book to publish that will change the world? Or at least change mine by making a ton of money?

Here is a quick rundown—in no particular order—of a few I looked at. I'll obscure some of the details so as not to embarrass anyone.

A CPA sent me one based on the book of Job aimed at the Christian reader, or at least at a reader whom he would like to become a Christian. It was, not unexpectedly about dealing with life's hurdles.

The proposal was pretty well done. I liked the fact that the author seemed to have a lot of enthusiasm. I decided not to make an offer on it because 1.) We don't do books for the Christian market. Christian bookstores use established Christian book publishers as their gatekeepers. If a book isn't by a publisher they trust, they are much less likely to stock a book. 2.) It didn't fit into any of our categories, such as the Best Half of Life series for those over 50 or our Books to Build Your Career By series. This isn't an absolute necessity, we publish books outside of these series, but it helps.

Unfortunately this author won't ever know that I read his proposal because he didn't enclose an SASE (a stamped, self-addressed, envelope) for my reply. This may sound haughty, but I get way too many queries and proposals to dig out an envelope, address it, and figure out the correct postage—not to mention the cost. If an author has done just a little bit of homework, he or she will know that an SASE is customary if you want to hear from a publisher who isn't interested in your project. Naturally if the editor is interested he'll contact you whether you include an SASE or not.

Another proposal was from a pair of young ladies who wanted to pass on information they wished they had learned in school, but hadn't. It looked like a fun idea, the table of contents they proposed seemed to offer interesting material but the information in the sample chapters they sent was too mundane or simplistic for my tastes. That last phrase, "for my tastes," is telling. Just because I don't like a project is far from the final word on it. There may be an editor out there who "gets it" like I never would.

They had enclosed an SASE, so, as I always do, I wrote a short note declining the project.

A proposal from a retired teacher who is writing his memoirs of all the interesting things his many years teaching brought him didn't light my fire either. Memoirs are tough unless the writer is famous, had a truly exceptional life, or is a truly exceptional writer. He mentioned he has had 20-plus books published but failed to include a list. I would suggest he include a list with some information on sales. That is an impressive quantity and if they sold well, might have influenced my decision.

A giant package was from New Zealand. The author sent the complete manuscript, which appears to be about 400 pages long, and a box of original photos instead of the a set of photocopies of the originals which is safer. His isn't a subject I'm currently interested in, although we did a couple of books on this subject in the past. A check for $80 was included for the return postage. This requires us to deposit the check and make a trip down to the post office to mail the package. I'm not at all sure a large publisher would get around to doing this. A workaround would be for the author to have included international reply coupons (I think that's what they are called) already affixed to the envelope he supplied. This would have saved us having to cut a check and a trip to stand in line at the post office.

Was there anything I liked in this stack? Maybe. I put a proposal on movies aside to read again. The author seems to have a bit of a platform and does have a good idea.

Oh yeah, and a proposal from Chuck Adams, the author of Murder by the Bay—a successful book QDB published a couple of years ago. His idea this time is completely different than Murder, but he's a good writer and it's a good idea. We'll see.

—Steve Mettee