Non Fiction Book Publishers
Where Most Non-Fiction Book Authors Go Wrong
Author: Gordon Burgett
“If the book needs repair before going to press, what did the writer do wrong?” is the most common question authors ask me when they find out that I review almost-ready-to-print non-fiction manuscripts, a sort of objective yea-nay court of last chance.
I’m Gordon Burgett. publisher, editor, and author, and while I’ve never kept an itemized tally, these seem to me to be the most frequent problems:
(1) Three things: the book needs a sharper organizational structure, more (often better) research, and a more compelling reason to be bought or even read.
(2) As often, the authors forgot to write the book to its most likely buyers. They expect buyers to pay for their words but it’s not clear why they should. Missing are the benefits a buyer would receive, or the problems or frustrations they would solve or resolve, from reading those pages. Selling hooks don’t seem to be hanging anywhere.
(3) If their book has a workable and salable format, too often it still has a labored flow. (This is the easiest to fix, if the purpose is clear.) They must envision what the reader must (or wants to) know in what order. If the book tells how to sweep a house, the writer must first decide if the house will be swept from attic to basement, or the reverse, and why—and will the reader use a broom or a sweeper? It’s as simple as mentally going from room to room and keeping track of the order, then adding in all to be done before, during, and after. Writers too often fail to stand in the sweeper’s shoes.
(4) Far too many proposed titles are dull, unintelligible, negative, or endless. I ask the writer to create a dozen (or two dozen) titles that anybody reading them would know what their book is about. Aim for six words or less. A subtitle, longer, can further define or reinforce with sizzle, but it alone can’t sell the book.
(5) Too many of the sentences are eternal, the Black Forest of unneeded words. Many paragraphs are too long too. Think newspaper, one to three sentences a paragraph, and at 6-9 paragraphs, a short section title.
(6) Newbies give themselves away. They are enchanted by semicolons, which they then use incorrectly! New writers love dashes but use hyphens. They should use em dashes—two right here—and not make them float (like the English) by putting spaces before and after. Too many exclamation points (one max, rarely), too many chapters that don’t earn their keep, humor scattered too irregularly, tables of contents that need translation, no index, and too little backbone sharing their truths.
(7) About a quarter of the books I read are hopeless without massive rethinking. Most of the rest need more furniture, with most of it moved around. Maybe 10% are ready to go as is—though all must still survive a cranky proofreader, if self-published, or a crankier editor (then proofreader), if being published from on high.
(8) Another point: many of the books might do much better as four very specific e-books (re-edited into a masterpiece later). Or as the talking core of a hands-on seminar or workshop offered often to find the actual book(s) that others really need (or want). Sometimes a series of related articles might help find the slant most likely to get book traction.
(9) Even those ready to go don’t often make the author much money. But they can be great give-away or positioning tools from which to assemble larger empire-building platforms, including profitable speaking or product creation.
(10) Am I one of those too-cranky editors, missing the genius for all the misplaced commas? Maybe. Since they come to me because they need a hard eye before investing print money and marketing time, I may see a disproportionate number of books in obvious need.
My advice? If your book is nearing the finish line, see if any of these shortcomings apply, and fix them en route. Better yet, at the outset create a ready-to-go blueprint (with selling purpose subtly injected) that leaves no room for errant or missing bricks or for buying doubt!
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/non-fiction-articles/where-most-nonfiction-book-authors-go-wrong-1816915.html
About the Author
Gordon Burgett has owned a publishing company since 1981 where he had edited hundreds of books, plus offered the same service to others. He has also had 38 of his own books (and 1,700+ articles) of his own published. His free monthly newsletter dwells on this topic. See www.gordonburgett.com.
Tagged with: book editing • book writing • burgett • e books • non fiction books • non fiction publishing • writing
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Well done on finishing!!!! Man, that’s awesome work. =D
Here’s what you do next. Go to the largest library in the area, please.
Look up the following:
1. The Writers Marketplace annual for your country.
2. A solid-looking book on writing book proposals.
3. Any books in the same area as your book.
Now, do the following:
1. List all the agents and publishers you believe will accept your kind of work, based on what Writers Marketplace says.
2. Write a summary and query letter in accordance with the book proposal how-to.
3. Read any books in the same area as your book and write why your book is BOTH different AND better. This will become your concept and help you and your publisher develop a marketing plan.
Finally, if you are not already considered an “expert” in your area, start volunteering yourself for small services which can build a reputation base, so you can sell your work later on successfully to radio stations, tv networks, readers.
That’s all you need to do!
I would suggest starting in Australia, it’s good to start that allows people to support a local artist.
Good luck 🙂
See if you can find a literary agent first, and then the agent will find a publisher for you. aaronline.org has a list of ethical agents, as does agentquery.com. If you can’t get an agent then there are some small publishers that take unsolicited manuscripts that publish non-fiction. I used to have a list of small publishers, but my computer went up in smoke, so I don’t have access to my bookmarks. You can also find a list of publishers at http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums under the Writer beware and background check section.
That has always and continues to always depend entirely on the terms laid out by both author (with or without an agent) and the publisher or editor in a signed contract, regarding the percent an author gets from the sales of his/her work.
ADD: The publisher is who is to pay book sellers, not authors, unless you signed up to do that. Did you/Do you self-publish? Hmm. No help there.
Oh…I am not a publisher, so am sorry if I didn’t answer your question as you would have liked.
*Suggest you research this in The Writer’s Market, which covers just about everything: http://www.writersmarket.com It costs a bit to read it all at will, but is worth it to know all current trends. Suggest you read all FAQs first.* End ADD
Could try Cumberland House or Barricade. Both publish many true-crime titles and have some agentless authors. An agent could likely find you something better but it’d still beat self-publishing.
Try Writer’s Market. This reference tool tells you who is buying what. It also tells how to submit. Check your public library for a copy.
Your question is so non-specific as to be almost unanswerable. I assume since you’re asking what amount of money might be offered that you are asking about advances. The kind of advance that a book will earn is highly specific to each book and based on a multitude of factors, a few of which are:
– What is the topic?
– Are there any books on this topic? How many?
– What are the author’s experience and reputation?
– Is there a tight deadline for this book?
Bear in mind that an advance is not just what the publisher is going to pay for the book, an advance is an advance against royalties. A higher advance is not necessarily always better than a lower advance. Depending on how many books are sold a lower advance with higher royalty rate could end up making you more money than a higher advance with lower royalty rate, especially if the royalty rate increases with sales volume. A higher advance also leaves you something that you have to live up to, if you never earn out your advance and your publisher is forced to write-off the difference you will have a harder time getting a second book published than if you get a more modest advance followed by modest sales that just earn-out your advance.
Cheers.
Visit Ralan.Com he has a listing of publishers and their requirements, a quick scan through there and you may find just what you are looking for.
If you are looking for self-publishing companies to publish your book, I know of a few companies that practically holds court to everything a book needs from getting you your copyright, size preferences, book cover design customization, layout consultation, copyediting and even marketing – at affordable costs.
Most self-publishing companies have programs that costs about $250 to $12999 and is highly dependent on the kind of services that you will be getting which is why it is very significant to carefully map out your book’s budget as early as now.
Publishing companies now have all the resources to publish books with the same productivity and efficacy as that of regular black and white books. Considering the fact that most books are in full color, you should choose a publishing company whose book’s are of the highest quality, bar none.
Xlibris Publishing is one of those companies who truly boasts of their book’s top quality as your book is printed on acid-free 50lb library-edition paper. That alone can give your book a longer shelf life and durable pages.
Self-publishing entirely means that you get to retain full control of your book’s production and that it gives you the option to publish your work and claim authority of the photos that you have chosen to be published.
Publishing is synonymous to getting that copyright for protecting your book which is why it is highly important to publish it.
You can get free information sent to your mail here and even try to check the quality of their brochure because it is the same as how they publish books. The cost to publish is also listed in detail and in depth.
APA. This generally accepted for any non-fiction and research papers
When citing sources for a non-fiction book, what format should be used? MLA? Etc…?
I’m preparing to attempt writing a non-fiction book. What is the publisher’s preferred format for citing sources?
Trying to sell my non-fiction true crime book. Any publishers you recommend to submit to without an agent?
Wrote a 50 chapter, non-fiction. 70,000 word original on true crime. Most publishers won’t look at the material without being submitted by a literary agent. Don’t want to self-publish. Any publisher recommendations?
Is it better to find a publisher for a 1st non-fiction book in Australia or contact publishers in USA or UK?
Have a good idea for a non-fiction book and am just wondering whether it would be a better idea to approach publishers in the UK or USA rather than in Australia where I’m currently based due to the wider audience? Do most people approach publishers in their home country or overseas? Thanks!
Does anyone know any good publishers for a fiction book?
I wrote a book and I need some help finding the right publisher. Does anyone know any (non-scamming) publishers that publish fiction/young adult books? Thanks a trillion. =)
Which UK publishers accept unsolicited manuscripts for non-fiction books?
Few publishers now accept unsolicited manuscripts, normally a literary agent is required, I was wondering if there were any publishers who still allowed unsolicited scripts for non-fiction books to be sent to them?
Can anybody tell me how much percentage do the publishers(fiction, non fiction books) pay to books sellers?
We are a Swedish publisher and want to market fiction and non fiction books in Indian market. We want to know how much money do the retailers make?
What publishers are interested in publishing a non-fiction book on the psychological aspects of criminology?
I am writing a book about teenagers and young adults (primarily males) who commit terrible crimes: school shooters, serial killers, and mass murderers are some examples.
I am writing the book from the perspective of the psychological and sociological backgrounds of the perpetrators; this will not be a book detailing the crime itself; the thrust of the book is to understand why these men commit these crimes so that one can intervene and prevent others from doing so.
What publishers specialize in such books?
Can anyone name any good publishers willing to publish a non-fiction book by someone under the age of 18?
I can’t find any publishers right now and I need help. If you can help me, I’ll be very grateful. Thank you so much!
How to send my non-fiction book to publishers?
My book is non-fiction and now that I’ve finished it I’m wondering in which format to send it to them – should I send a proposal or a synopsis? How long should it be?
Advice gratefully received 🙂
How much would Publishers be likely to offer for my Non-fiction book if interested, what is a good offer?
Hi,
Is there any way of finding out what Authors are offered for their books? What are they likely to offer is there a standard amount?
What would be a good amount of money and what would be bad, how would I know?
Thank you for answers in advance 🙂