What Makes A Book “Good”? by Wendy Keller (used by permission)
For lo these many years I’ve tried to explain to my dear readers the two reasons why 99% of everything presented to agents or publishers just cannot be published. It comes down to this:
1. Most of the time, it’s because the author has NO proven ability to aid the publisher in marketing and promoting the book. If you’re volunteering to sit at home and wait for the limo to come get you for your appearance on Oprah, you’ll be waiting a long time! Especially now, having no “platform” completely ends the conversation right there. If you want to sell a book and you don’t want to self-publish, begin to transform yourself today into the sort of person who can sell the book. Give paid speeches, start a popular blog or radio show, do something. Anything. Just get started now.
2. The other reason is just as dire: the content is not good. It could be Not Good because it is common – there are too many books like it out there; it could be Not Good because you are a lousy writer (most people are) or you have no credentials related to your topic; it could be Not Good because very few people besides you and maybe your mom are interested in the topic; or perhaps agents deem it Not Good because it will garner the dreaded rejection phrase “This would be better as a magazine article.” We all hate it when editors say that.
This morning, I got a proposal from an author whose last advance was six figures. But his new idea is little more than a glorified magazine article, spun out ad nauseum. No chance of selling it, certainly not for the kind of money he’s angling for. I had to pass, and he was very unhappy with me. Wait until 20 other agents pass, and he’ll know there’s truth in what I told him. Agents work on commission. If we know we can sell it, we’ll take it on. If we doubt, we don’t.
How do you KNOW if your content is good? Go to Amazon.com and see if there’s anything like your book out there. If so, how many books? Are they selling? How is your proposed book new, different, better, or offering something more to the reader?
After Eat, Pray, Love, many women thought that writing the memoir of their post-divorce life was a great idea. (I disliked that book, BTW.) But truly, that book is about something so much more than a post-divorce sojourn. It’s about a spiritual seeking, an interpersonal struggle, a loss and a finding and a strengthening. And it’s fairly well written. You’ll have to pull back and get some perspective on your book. Think it through. If you can help promote your book AND you have something valuable to add to the million books published, invest your energy in a proposal. But stop to think it through first. It’s not an act of derring-do to waste your time writing an ill-conceived proposal. Build up your strength as a writer – perfect is better than OK when it comes to a proposal.
When I teach writing classes, I always tell authors “Cogitation is the birth of publication.”
Reflect on your book. Don’t just dash off a few thousand carefree words – that’s not writing, that’s journaling. Find your voice. Perfect your craft. Hone your content. Develop your concept. Spend time, invest in your book. And sure enough, it will be good when it’s “done” – whether you get a traditional deal or end up self-publishing. That way, it will be worth your time.
Wendy Keller has been an agent for +22 years. She and her team have sold more than 1,000 books and related rights, including 9 international best sellers. www.KellerMedia.com
