Workshops

From Acceptance to Publication
What Happens After Your Book Proposal is Accepted?

By Mark Stricherz, WIW Member

Four first-time authors recounted that, after their book proposals were accepted by their publishers, they focused as much on generating business and sales as crafting prose.

Speaking at the Oct. 26 workshop, which was held at the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association in Arlington , Va. , the writers described the modern book industry in decidedly unromantic terms. Despite one comment about the importance of narrative, the quartet emphasized business virtues, such as networking, forming alliances and outsourcing.

"Writers have to talk about their books as products and this is a way to advertise the product," Adam Meyer said while holding up a copy of a 5x7 postcard that illustrates and describes The Last Domino, his young-adult novel that Putnam published in May. Meyer said afterward that he searched online for a company that made postcards, bought scads of copies and was reimbursed by his publisher.

Roger Atwood, author of Stealing History: Tomb Raiders, Smugglers, and the Looting of the Ancient World, which examines the illegal global trafficking in antiquities, said his publisher, St. Martin 's Press, practically forced him to exhaust his frequent flyer miles. Before publication, the U.S. invaded Iraq . In the ensuing chaos many of the country's ancient treasurers were stolen or damaged. Heeding his publisher's insistence that the book be made more relevant, Atwood spent three weeks in Baghdad doing research on the lootings. He ended up writing a new first chapter and half of the last chapter. "This gave it a current-ness and a news peg that I would not have thought about," Atwood
said appreciatively.

Other authors had less than satisfactory dealings with their publishers. Julie Shield said that her book, How to Avoid the Mommy Trap: A Roadmap for Sharing Parenting and Making It Work, was marketed contrary to her wishes. "Book publishers and editors want to pigeonhole your book," Shields said matter of factly. They don't want to put your book in two sections of the bookstore. They want to put it in one. So my book was put in the mommy or child-care sections, when really it should be classified as women's issues."

Ray Flynt, author of Unforgiving Shadows, said he was told that as many others as possible should edit and critique his book, a murder-mystery novel. "So I got my mother-in-law and other people who liked to find fault in my life to copy edit," Flynt said in a
deadpan tone, drawing laughs from the audience.

Despite being told to make substantial changes to the texts, first-time authors should expect little guidance from their editors, the authors said. Atwood noted that he had three different editors at St. Martin 's before his book was published. Shields said that, because her publisher gave her minimal critiques, she decided to hire an outside editor for $1,000.

The authors also discussed their efforts, often in vain, at securing impressive-looking covers. Flynt said he expressed excitement to the publisher about running a picture of an empty, rickety gurney. Instead, the publisher decided to run an image of a mask-wearing doctor holding a long needle. "This picture has nothing to do with my book!" Flynt said
with a mixture of indignation and acceptance.

Several authors mentioned that publishers tend to view them in one-dimensional terms. Atwood recalled that during the writing of his book he had to, in addition to spending three weeks in Iraq , take two weeks off for jury duty. Nonetheless, his publisher demanded that he abide by his due date. "They don't really care," he said. "They want you to hit the deadline, and they start getting nervous if you don't."

The authors also stressed the importance of obtaining blurbs of praise for their works. Atwood said that he sent emails to ten authors asking for a favorable quote, but got responses from only two of them. Shields, whose book was endorsed by Democratic political activist Susan Estrich and former Democratic Rep. Patricia Schroeder, had an easier time of it. "I didn't feel they would be available, but they were," Shields said.

Shields buttressed her promotional efforts by creating a Web site for her book, www.mommytrap.com. Flynt did the same, creating www.rayflynt.com.
Other first-time authors emphasized the importance of publicists and teaming up with nonprofit groups. Both Atwood and Shields praised the efforts of the publicists each hired to generate extra sales. "She was wonderful. She spun [the book] every which way and for all sorts of news hooks," Shields said. Atwood advised finding sympathetic groups to promote your book. "They became my de facto agent," he said of an organization that tries to recover items from antiquity. "They set up radio and TV interviews. They were incredible."

Mark Stricherz, a freelance writer in Washington, D.C., is working on a book about how educated and cultural elites kicked Catholics and working-class whites out of the Democratic Party.

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