REALITY
CHECK
Talk the Publisher's Talk
Fit
Market
National Platform
Market Positioning
Literary agents and editors and other publishing folk tend to talk in their own jargon, just like any other group of professionals. They use common words but in somewhat different ways — different enough to confuse newcomers. It pays to make sure you understand these terms before trying to interest agents and editors in you and your book.
Fit
Every publisher cultivates a particular focus and purpose in the books they publish. A huge conglomerate has a broader focus than, say, an academic press that publishes books for specialists in particular subject areas, or a small publisher that specializes in travel books. Even so, the large publishers' focus might be said to be books with either commercial potential to sell more than (for example) 50,000 copies or sufficient prestige to enhance their reputation as a preeminent publisher — or a happy combination of both. Alfred A. Knopf (a division of Bertelsmann, formerly of Random House) publishes the Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison as well as Karen Armstrong, whose new book is The Battle for God.
When a publisher says a book "doesn't fit our list," that means that its focus and intent are just different enough to make them doubt that it would be a commercial success for them. For instance, let's say that religious publisher Dour House does books on grief and mourning for a professional audience of clergy and other helping professionals; for them, smaller, lighter inspirational or gift books on those subjects do not fit their more serious and substantive approach, even though both kinds of books could be found in the same section in a bookstore. By the same token, Brighter Day, a publisher that is highly successful in publishing inspirational and gift books, would have a hard time selling the heavier, more serious books that work so well for Dour House.
Literary agents also watch fit closely. Though they (especially the larger agencies) may define their focus more broadly, many agents specialize. For example, an agent may specialize in nonfiction but exclude categories such as self-help or memoir. Or he may represent fiction but only commercial mysteries and thrillers, not more literary works.
What's the point? Look for the closest and most
precise fit you can between that agent or editor and your book. When you
are querying a literary agent or a publisher, be sure you've researched
their program or interests to make sure you have a strong fit. That means
looking them up in a reputable guide (such as Jeff Herman's Writer's
Guide to Book Publishers, Editors, and Literary Agents), going to a
local bookstore and finding their books on the shelf, visiting their websites,
or perusing their catalogs.
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Market
Publishers use this word the way most "civilians" do, that is, to describe the commercial opportunity for a particular book. But they also use it to mean:
- The audience for the book — the particular groups of people who will be most interested in this topic, who typically buy such books, and who will be likely candidates to buy new books (for example, women, managers, pet owners, and so on).
- The specific sales channel in which a book is most likely to be successful; many publishers distinguish between books with a trade (that is, consumer retail) market and a professional market (for example, physicians, clergy, businesspeople, and so on), where most sales may come in from direct solicitation by email or print catalogs.
- The unmet need among consumers that a book will fulfill, for example, the desire for greater calm and simplicity in life, an obsession with battles of the Civil War, an analysis of the most effective investment strategies for people in their twenties.
What's the point?
When you speak about the market(s) for your book, make your descriptions as specific
and as targeted as possible. Avoid telling agents and editors what they
already know (for example, how many Baby Boomers are out there or their
book buying habits — that's just too broad). When you describe the market
for your book, focus on why your book is a better fit with the market because
it more powerfully speaks to the needs or buying patterns of its audience and because it does
so in a truly distinctive way.
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National Platform
Most publishers of any size (or with names your mother would recognize) require that authors have a ready-made national reputation and built-in audience before they publish a book. When they talk about "national platform," they mean that the author has built a national following of thousands and thousands of people through previous publications, speaking engagements, corporate consulting, newspaper or magazine columns, book publishing, TV and radio appearances, seminars and workshops, and other activities that enhance the writer's visibility and credibility.
The reason is simple: A national platform serves as a launching pad for the publisher's publicity and promotion campaign. In a world of too many news bites competing for our ever more fractured attention, a name that is already known or is associated with famous institutions or individuals (for example, Oprah), makes it much easier to achieve sales that make publishing profitable. Think about how much easier it is to sell national talk show host Dr. Phil McGraw's self-help books than a book from a psychotherapist who may have equally valid things to say but is unknown outside a single local metro area.
What's the point?
Build your platform up as much
as you can before you approach literary agents and publishers. Both agents
and publishers will look not only at your idea but also at you credentials
and proven ability to promote you book — the more national your audience
the better. If you don't have a national platform, think about how you
might build it. Or get nationally prominent experts to endorse your book. But keep in mind, as one editor said, your
book cannot be your platform.The book is simply a way of continuing to
expand that platform. If you’re a writer with more literary works, your
national platform comes from where you’ve published (literary and other
publications and books) and who you’ve studied with or gotten to vouch
for your work.
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Market
Positioning
Positioning is a traditional marketing term for demonstrating your place in and contribution to the market. Every new product from candy bars to airplanes to books must make a place for itself among all the other competing and similar products in the market. "Making a place" means demonstrating that it has what it takes to command a share of the audience for whatever is being offered. Positioning is always done in relation to other products and to the unmet need that a product fulfills. For example, if you're writing a book on sisters, you'll have to look at successful already-published books, how and why they captured a share of the market, and how you're going to touch that same need (to feel good about or to explore the complexities of sister relationships) but in a different enough way that consumers will want to buy you book.
What's the point? One of the biggest mistakes new
writers make is to neglect careful positioning of their book. Direct positioning
is usually done in the competition section of a book proposal but should
also be addressed implicitly in the query letter and the other parts of the proposal. This means descriptions of
the book, its audience, and the need for it. A writer's passion for
an idea — especially in today's fiercely competitive book market — should
not obscure realistic and objective positioning of that idea in the market.
If you cannot make a strong case for the need for your book,
trying to get it published could be a frustrating endeavor.
Maybe you need a different idea or a different take on that idea or should
explore the possibilities of self-publishing or publishing it on the Internet.
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