How to submit a proposal to a publishing house successfully the first time?
In 2019, because I personally published a new book “Content Hacker Marketing”, I inevitably participated in some book promotion trips, and also came into contact with a group of professionals who are deeply interested in publishing. Coincidentally, there are many friends around me who are passionate about writing and keep asking me about publishing-related issues.
Thinking of these things, I can’t help but recall that I attended a lecture on “Book Planning and Writing Skills” hosted by the [Taiwan Blogger Association] (https://www.facebook.com/bloggertw/). I quickly took the time to sort out my experiences from the lecture. I hope it will be helpful to everyone.
For this lecture, [Taiwan Blogger Association] (https://www.facebook.com/bloggertw/) invited Ms. Lu Zengdi, the current editor-in-chief of [Sanyou Books] (http://www.ju-zi.com.tw/), [Si Jade Culture and Creation] (https://www.books.com.tw/web/sys_puballb/books/?pubid=ssukuaiyu1), and Orange Culture and Food for Heaven Creation, to come and share. She has served as an interview editor all over the world, and has also been a special correspondent for Taipei Pictorial, Times Weekly, Business Weekly and other media. She has also served as the series editor of Autumn Rain Culture and the editorial director of Taiya Publishing. It can be said that she is a media publisher with rich experience.
Editor-in-chief Lu mentioned at the beginning that there are a total of 4,940 publishing houses in Taiwan, which publish 39,114 new books every year, but the number of real best-selling books is very limited. In other words, the publishing market seems to be booming, but publishing a new book requires a wide range of considerations. In addition to the content must have a unique point of view or strengths, marketability and sales issues must also be considered.
The importance of finding the right Bole
For friends who are interested in publishing personal works, Editor-in-Chief Lu reminds everyone to “find the right person.” In terms of the types of book publishing, they can be roughly divided into: textbooks, professional books, popular books, comprehensive books, text books, life picture books, etc. Each publishing house has different strengths, so everyone must do their homework before making a proposal to the publishing house.
Take Sikuaiyu Cultural Creation as an example. It mainly focuses on the categories of food, tools, picture books, spirituality and travel, so if the work you want to publish is related to the above topics, you can give priority to this company!
Tips for writing proposal letters
How to make the editor-in-chief of a publishing house willing to open your proposal letter? Naturally, there are a lot of “eyebrow corners”! Editor-in-Chief Lu said that editors are usually very busy. Taking their company as an example, they have to edit four books a month, which is a very heavy workload. Therefore, if you want to propose a proposal to a publisher, you must also get straight to the point.
A strong publishing proposal is both a sales tool and a business plan. This proposal should convince the editor to sign on for the book you want to write, and it should also estimate the book’s length, cost, likely competition, investment in money and time, and possible profit.
Editor-in-Chief Lu gave an example. Although some people attach work files to their letters, if there is no clue from the file name or content, the editor may give up. In addition, some friends will upload their works to the cloud space and only attach the link in the letter. This approach seems considerate, but because the files are not provided directly, the editor may not have time to look at them one by one, and lose the opportunity!
She also smiled and said that there are even people who have not yet written their horoscopes, but have already written the author’s preface! In fact, the focus of a publication proposal is not only to present a brief introduction to the content and target the readership group, but more importantly, to be able to convince the editor.
Editor-in-chief Lu used the book “[Chiang Rai. Take your time: Must-visit cultural attractions╳Beautiful origin cafes╳Local food╳Itinerary recommended by locals, allowing you to visit Chiang Rai in one trip](https://www.books.com.tw/exep/assp.php/vista/products/001083616 5?utm_source=vista&utm_medium=ap-books&utm_content=recommend&utm_campaign=ap-201912)》as an example, let me explain to you how to make a good publishing proposal?
The author [Yuna] (https://www.facebook.com/goforwonder/) is very thoughtful. In addition to listing a complete publication proposal and an introduction to the current situation of Chiang Rai tourism, it also attaches an interview report from the Liberty Times. At the same time, the proposal details the underestimated tourism potential of Chiang Rai, as well as the original intention and idea of writing this book.
At the same time, she also did not forget to analyze the existing Chiang Rai travel books on the market and pointed out the shortcomings in detail, such as: confusion, plagiarism, poor photos, unclear information, etc. With this reference information, the publisher’s editor can naturally make a more comprehensive evaluation of this publication proposal.
Editor-in-Chief Lu reminded everyone to be very clear about the positioning of the works they want to publish. At the same time, you should also confirm whether you have your own advantages and strengths? And do a good job in comparison and analysis with competing products. You can even boldly propose the most exciting content, which is to serve beef.
After many editors receive a publication proposal, they will most likely read the outline first to see if they are interested in it. Or is it in line with the publisher’s purpose and direction? Therefore, Editor-in-Chief Lu also suggested that everyone write a trial draft of 1,200 to 1,500 words for the publisher’s reference.
If you are interested in publishing, in addition to taking the initiative to make proposals to various publishing houses, you are also welcome to [discuss and research] with me (https://copywriting.vista.tw/)!
