As an acquisitions editor and a literary agent, I’ve read thousands of submissions and book proposals. If you have exaggerated any element in your proposal, it is easy to spot and can raise some doubts about everything else in your proposal. In this article, I suggest you set your work aside for a few days, then with fresh eyes, read every word looking for any hype or promise which you can’t deliver, then rewrite those sentences.
Take the time to go through your document one more time and look at every detail with an evaluative eye. Have you over-promised anywhere in the proposal? If so, it will stick out in a glaring fashion to the acquisitions editor, as well as the members of the publication board.
When I received a proposal that promised an endorsement from best-selling author Beth Moore, I was skeptical. Then I picked up the phone and asked the author about it. While this author had never published a book, she was an active speaker, and it turned out she had a personal relationship with Beth Moore and access to get the endorsement. My skepticism turned into genuine encouragement for this author’s proposal.
From the massive amounts of submissions and the overall incomplete and poor quality, the editors become a bit jaded at some lines in proposals. Often proposals will promise an endorsement from some well-known religious leader such as Chuck Swindoll or Max Lucado or Franklin Graham. I’ve worked with many of these leaders on different projects over the years and have a personal relationship with them—yet I would be hard pressed to get an endorsement or foreword for a book from them. It would be hype if I promised it in one of my nonfiction book proposals. I know that the majority of these prominent leaders lead nonprofit organizations governed by a board of directors. In most cases, this board has a blanket policy prohibiting these leaders from endorsing books or lending their names to various projects. While often asked for such endorsements, this prohibition from the board gives the celebrity a polite and impersonal way to decline. Unless you have a long-term friendship or unusual relationship with these people, I strongly suggest you don’t promise or even mention you will attempt to get their endorsement. Such a promise stands to be more hype than reality—and such hype will call into question the validity of the rest of your book proposal.
It is acceptable, however, to promise to pursue endorsements to the highest level of your ability and provide a willingness to work with the publisher to brainstorm endorsement possibilities and how to secure them. This gentle and generic expression shows you are in touch with the necessity of endorsements and your availability to use whatever moxie and connections you have to promote the book. To write and send your book proposal involves a great deal of personal effort. As you eliminate your hype, it will strengthen your submission.
W. Terry Whalin, a writer and acquisitions editor lives in California. A former magazine editor and former literary agent, Terry is an acquisitions editor at Morgan James Publishing. He has written more than 60 nonfiction books including Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams and Billy Graham. To help writers catch the attention of editors and agents, Terry wrote his bestselling Book Proposals That $ell, 21 Secrets To Speed Your Success. Get a free copy of his proposal book (follow the link). Check out his free Ebook, Platform Building Ideas for Every Author. His website is located at: www.terrywhalin.com. Connect with Terry on Twitter, Facebook, his blog and LinkedIn.
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