#6: Why is My Book Getting Rejected from Publishers and Agents?
In this episode, we dive into common pitfalls that lead to nonfiction book rejections by agents and publishers. Learn the crucial differences between pitching nonfiction and fiction, why a book proposal is essential, the standards for query letters, the importance of appropriate word count, choosing realistic comparative titles, and how to treat your pitch as a business proposal. Discover how to market your book effectively as a product, ensuring it resonates with your target audience and meets industry expectations.
Time Stamps:
00:00 Introduction: Why Your Book is Getting Rejected
01:00 Understanding the Nonfiction Submission Process
02:04 Top Reason #1: Submitting a Book Instead of a Proposal
02:43 Top Reason #2: Crafting the Perfect Query Letter
04:46 Top Reason #3: Managing Manuscript Word Count
08:15 Top Reason #4: Choosing Realistic Comparative Titles
10:21 Top Reason #5: Treating Your Pitch as a Business Proposal
12:07 Conclusion: Presenting Your Book as a Product
Transcript:
It's your job to show that you have created a product and P. S. Your book is a product. You are the brand, but your book is a product.
ā€‹Today we're tackling a question I get all the time, which is Why is my book getting rejected by agents and publishers? I know you've worked hard on your book and you really know your poo and it's frustrating to get a rejection, especially when you are a leading voice in your field.
I get it. Especially when you've worked so long to get your book into the world, but let's slow down and review the process of submitting books to publishers and agents, especially, and this is important, when you're writing nonfiction is completely different than with fiction. You have to write your entire book first with nonfiction.
Don't do that. First, you don't need to submit your entire book when you're writing nonfiction. Understand that. Accept it. Nobody wants it. It's the hard truth. When it comes to nonfiction, agents and publishers want to see a book proposal, not a manuscript.
They want to collaborate with you on structure and premise and voice and tone and market and how you fit into the marketplace. So why might your book be getting rejected? Let's break down the top five reasons.
Number one, you might be submitting your book instead of a book proposal. A book proposal is a business plan about your book.
A book proposal is essentially what you would see if you went on Shark Tank to pitch your book. They want to know, how's it going to play in the marketplace? And that's your job.
It's your job to show that you have created a product and P. S. Your book is a product. You are the brand, but your book is a product.
Number two, your pitch letter might not be up to the standard. In publishing, the pitch letter is called a query letter, which is annoying because With a query letter, you also query agents and publishers.
So it is a noun and a verb, which I find so offensive and just annoyingly confusing. But your query, you use query agents and publishers. A proper query letter should be less than 350 words. Less than a full page or about a full page, double spaced, concise, and to the point. It needs to present your book as relevant and urgent and critical following a particular structure.
The structure is what makes it easy for the agents and the publishers to skim it to get what they need. So you don't get extra points for being super flowery and descriptive. All you're doing is putting up literary debris in front of the shark who is trying to look at your pitch. If they have to work to figure it out, and if you put different types of details everywhere, it's a pain in the derriere for them.
Make your query skimmable. I like a particular three paragraph structure. Premise, plot, and a pro bio. So premise, plot, pro. And the pro is you because you're the pro who's bringing this to life.
Number three. Your manuscript word count could be a problem. A debut nonfiction book should be around 60, 000 words.
I know that this flies in the face of conventional wisdom that's out there. That's because fiction genres have a lot of leeway. But nonfiction, if you're writing psychology, health, even memoir, yes, you memoirist and you think Courtney Maum writes her latest memoir, The Year of the Horses, which is batshit, crazy, awesome people but that was more than 60, 000 words.
I have it on my, I'm going to check it now and I'll put it in the show notes, how many words it was, but dang, that's her fifth book. She's not debut. You can't compare your memoir to Courtney Maum. So don't do that to yourself because she is the bee's knees people. Ideally, a nonfiction book would be six thousand words.
I'll give you some wiggle room up to 80, 000, but you're going to have to convince me. A lot of people want to pitch their books as 85, 000. And the first thing the publisher is going to do before they even make you an offer is they're going to decide in advance what they think your audience will buy in terms of a book size, and then they're going to make you an offer based on what that product will require in terms of pages, because they have to factor in how much is it going to cost to produce this product.
So if they say it needs to be 60, 000 words, because they have forecasted out a 290 page book, then you're going to be sticking to that, friends. Anything over 90, 000 words makes it just look like you how do I say this gently, that you care more about you and your words than you do packaging your book so that it travels.
And it's hard to hear. Because a lot of people say, Oh, but my book, it's 110, 000 words right now, but it used to be 300, 000. Girls, 300, 000, That's three and a half books at least. And nobody reads like that. And the reason why these books have to be so much smaller is because people don't have that kind of time.
Reading habits have changed. No longer do people sit in a comfy chair for hours at a time and read walls of words. Not only that, chapters are shorter. Paragraphs are shorter. There's more white space. Chapters are shorter. Used to be 10, 20, 30 pages. Now, six, eight, 10 would be a stretch simply because reader habits have changed.
So get on board. You are marketing your product. This is your job. Number four reason why your book might be getting rejected from publishers and agents is that your comparative titles. Don't compare your book to global bestsellers that spawned a research institute, Brene Brown, don't compare yourself to Brene Brown.
Her book is not a debut and it's a lightning strike. It's an anomaly. So don't compare yourself to Brene Brown. Don't do that to yourself and to your book. Be kind to yourself and your book. Even if you think, Oh no, I know Brene and we go camping together. That's great.
You can be besties with Brene, but your book isn't, your book still needs to be in the world. So let's pave that path and make it smooth.
Instead look for comps that are debut nonfiction published within the last three years and that they were good sellers, not runaway hits. You want to be a good seller if you compare yourself to a runaway hit and even if you get a book deal and They give you an amazing deal You have to live up to that if you don't earn out what they paid in advance Your book will be considered not successful Even if it sells, oh, 50, 000 copies 100, 000 copies If they were forecasting for 200, 000 copies, it's considered not a success.
It's the same thing if you buy a house, if you overpay for a house and then you have to sell it and you take a loss, you're like, that wasn't a really good buy, even if it was a great house. So don't do that. Compare your book to books that are reasonable and good.
number five, treat your pitch as a business proposal, because agents and publishers are looking for books they can sell. They might appreciate the message of your book. They might actually really agree with you and be passionate about your topic, but your pitch needs to present your book as a viable product. You're not trying to persuade them to agree with you, or maybe you are. It is not a strategic move for you to say, I really believe in this.
Your fervent belief in your message is not a marketing plan. It's not persuasive. Just because you believe in your message. No. You believe in your book as a product? No. It's your job to present your book as a product that is going to sell. And that requires a marketing plan. It can't just be, I really, really believe in this. And that's where the pitch has to be a strategic plan.
Recap, the five reasons your book might be getting rejected from publishers and agents are submitting your book instead of your book proposal for nonfiction, not following query letter standards, word count issues. Unrealistic comps. And number five, not treating your pitch as a business proposal. Remember, you are the brand and your book is the product.
Your book is one more way for you to share your message and your insight and your perspective and your counsel and your experience with the world.
Until next week, think about how you can present your book as needed in the world. It is urgent. It is critical. It is timely. It is relevant. It has a waiting, eager audience who's looking for your message, your solution, your method, your perspective. You know that your audience is looking for your message.
Be in charge of that. Be your very best marketer. That's your job. You are a spokesperson for your book and the topics you talk about. It's your job and I know you can do it.
