Barbara Doyen

The Everything Guide to Writing a Book Proposal: Insider Advice on How to Get Your Work Published by Meg Schneider and Barbara Doyen. Whether you’re writing self-help, memoir, or the Great American novel, you’ll need a professionally prepared book proposal to sell it. This book takes you behind the closed doors of the publishing world, revealing the tried-and-true tips, techniques, and shortcuts that can help you get published sooner rather than later.

Top Ten Things You Should Know about Book Publishing

1. Agents and editors are always looking for great new talent.
2. Nonfiction is easier for new authors to break into than fiction.
3. New fiction authors should write at least two novels in the same genre to build a readership base.
4. You don’t always need an agent.
5. A good agent is your guide through the publishing process as well as your business partner.
6. Rejections are business decisions, not an indictment of you or your work.
7. Agents and editors don’t have time to deal with amateurs.
8. Six-figure advances are the exception, not the rule, especially for first-time authors.
9. From the author’s perspective, nothing in publishing ever happens quickly.
10. No matter how many setbacks you encounter, the only person who can tell you you’re not a good writer is you.

The Everything Get Published Book, 2nd Edition: All You Need to Know to Become a Successful Author by Meg Schneider and Barbara Doyen. Compared to an insider’s publishing course in a book, this book covers everything you need to know to get your idea into print, covering all kinds of markets.

Top Ten Things You Should Know About Getting Published

1. Writers today have more opportunities than ever before to get published in traditional and virtual media, and more opportunity means more demand for good writers.
2. The difference between a rejection and a contract often lies in the quality of your market research, not necessarily in the quality of your writing.
3. The maxims “Think like an editor” and “Write to the market” are code for putting the reader first.
4. The fierce competition in publishing is really an opportunity to learn and motivation to improve.
5. Submission guidelines are your friends; your work stands the best chance of getting noticed when you follow them.
6. Constructive criticism should be cherished. It can make you a more effective writer and increase your chances of getting published.
7. In traditional book publishing, look for a good agent before you try to approach editors on your own.
8. Building solid, respectful working relationships with editors will help your career more than writing the perfect query will.
9. A healthy skepticism is your best protection against scams and the unscrupulous.
10. Getting published is the gravy. The real joy is in the writing, and no one can ever deny you that.

COMMENTS:

Dear Ms. Doyen & Ms. Schneider,

Thank you both for the wonderful advice contained in your
“Everything” book on proposal writing. In my world, there are precious few
people with whom I can discuss my writing, and your book filled the need nicely. It’s been a constant
source of inspiration and encouragement throughout my (rather tedious)
proposal-dev process. Readers like me are still out there (here?), still
reading your work and still moved by it. I appreciate the great info!

Thanks!

Maddy