You’ve started writing your book, so it’s time to sell it.

Selling your book on a partial (three chapters and an outline) is common practice whether you’re writing fiction, or nonfiction. However, if you haven’t published a novel before, be aware that you’re unlikely to get a contract until you’ve completed the novel. Publishers aren’t as picky with nonfiction — you should be able to get a contract even if you’re unpublished.

Your primary sales tool is your query letter, which you send out to publishers and to agents. You’re hoping for interest: for a request to read your partial. The ONE sentence describing your book is the most important part of your query letter.

If you can’t sum up your book in a sentence, it’s unlikely you’ll make a sale.

So what does that ONE sentence look like?

Here’s an example from Publisher’s Marketplace, New Deals for March 19, 2010.

Edgar Nominee Pat Rushford’s ARTISTIC LICENSE, in which a woman working to turn an old northwest mining town into an artist’s colony discovers a murderer intent on staving off development at all costs, to Susan Downs at Summerside Press, in a nice deal, for publication in 2011, by Sandra Bishop at MacGregor Literary (World).

(By the way, in Publisher’s Marketplace’s terms, a “nice” deal is one in which the advance against royalties is somewhere between one dollar and $49,000.)

Write your ONE sentence NOW

Can you sum up your book in a sentence like: “a woman working to turn an old northwest mining town into an artist’s colony discovers a murderer intent on staving off development at all costs”?

If you can’t, keep thinking about your book until you can. Not only is that one sentence vital in selling your book, if you can’t summarize it, you’ll have trouble writing it.

Practice summarizing — summarize five books which you’ve read recently, similar to the one you’re writing, into one sentence.

Write more – become a pro writer

Yes, you can write more and become an expert writer – even if you’re a world-class procrastinator.

Did you know that when you write more, your writing improves? Many of my writing students experience this. They find that when they write more, writing is easier for them – they’re not dominated by their inner editor.

My new writing class, “Write More And Make More Money From Your Writing: Develop A Fast, Fun Productive Writing Process” is based on lessons I developed for my private coaching students to help them to write more, improve their writing, and make more money writing.

If you’re struggling with your writing, the class will help. The techniques you’ll learn in class with help you write fiction, nonfiction, and copy for business.

Discover how you can write more, improve your writing, and sell more of your writing to higher-paying markets.

If you’ve written a book, the first step in selling it is writing a book proposal. Your proposal is a sales tool for your book, and some writers will write this before they even write the book.

But why do you need a proposal? There are three major reasons.

1. Your Proposal Is a Sales Tool: It Convinces a Publisher to Invest in Your Book

Publishing books costs money. Depending on the amount of copies which are printed, your publisher will invest quite a sum in your book. As with every other investment, your publishing house wants to know that it will recoup its investment and even make a profit.

Therefore your proposal needs to contain every possible argument to show that your book is a good investment.

2. Your Proposal Shows That the Book Will Sell

Publishers receive many proposals each week. They don’t have time to research the topic or the market for your book. This means that the book needs to show the market for your topic, and that there are buyers for information on this particular topic.

Your book proposal must show that there are already books on this topic, and that these books sell well. Publishers are conservative and traditional, and if there aren’t bestsellers already in your niche, it’s unlikely your book will sell.

3. Your Proposal Shows Your Writing Style, and Provides a Sample of Your Material

Your publisher wants to know how you will approach your material. There will be other books which cover your topic. Your publisher wants to know whether your book is different, and in what way it’s different. The publisher needs to know that your book will sell at least as well as other books on the same topic, and preferably that will sell more.

If you’re writing on a hot topic or if you have a great story, then much will be forgiven you. However, here’s what won’t be forgiven: errors of fact, and overall sloppiness of presentation. Run a spell-checker, and check your punctuation.

Enjoy writing your book proposal; with luck, it will be the start of a long and profitable writing career.

Get your book proposal professionally written by a top copywriter

Your book proposal determines the fate of your book: it needs to be a professionally written sales tool. You can get help from Angela Booth. Not only is Angela a top copywriter, she’s also an author who’s been published by major publishers. Angela offers a complete book proposal service, as well as writing coaching. Discuss your project with Angela today.

Publishing has changed. Today you’ve got many book-publication choices.

You can:

1. Find a traditional publisher (send out book proposals, get an agent, make a sale, get an advance… etc);

2. Self-publish (you have many choices here – Print on Demand, electronic publishing as PDF etc);

3. Self-publish online, using your book to gain online advertising revenue (blog your book).

Traditional book publication: it’s a long journey

To work with a publisher, you’ll need to send out query letters and/or a book proposal. A query is a letter or a few pages briefly describing your text, why it is unique, characteristics of your target market and how you can help market the book.

Most top-tier publishers don’t accept unsolicited manuscripts, so you’ll need get an agent to convince them to read yours. If they request that you forward your entire manuscript, you have one foot in the door. Be prepared to send more than one query and don’t expect a response next week.

There are writer’s guides that serve as excellent resources to find publishers who specialize in your particular genre.

These guides list the percentage of new authors published as well as the percentage of sales they pay. You may find pay rates ranging from 5-10% of sales. Some pay on wholesale sales and others on the retail amount. Do the math. Perhaps your book will retail for $14.95 and the publisher will pay 6% on retail. This means you will earn 90 cents per book sold. Of course don’t forget that the publisher is doing all the printing, distributing, and marketing of your text.

Fast-track book publication – self publishing

Another route you may want to consider is self publishing. You will be responsible for all the printing, distributing and marketing costs involved, but you will also get to retain all the profits. There are book printing companies as well as companies that specialize in assisting the self-publisher through every step along the way.

You can also opt to self publish online. This is the easiest option. However, you do need to learn the basics of online publication: how to buy a domain name, get your material uploaded to your server, and get advertisers.

Which form of publication is best for you?

In 2008, it’s completely up to you. I know several authors who’ve self published and have turned down traditional publishers who approached them.

Traditional publishing gives you prestige, but it’s far from your only option.

Write YOUR Way to Riches – Write A Book

Your life will change, when you’re a published author – writing books is the perfect home business. As an author, you’ll have successful home-based business which delivers great rewards. It’s a dream job with a perfect lifestyle.

You can write books anywhere, in your home office, or while you travel to any country in the world. Your morning commute is the steps from your bedroom to your home office – no annoying boss, no office politics.

The rewards can be huge.
Get started writing your way to riches today.

“Weird” sells, in both fiction and nonfiction books. This isn’t surprising, because books are an entertainment medium.

Unfortunately, many writers forget to make their novels offbeat, whacky and unusual while they’re writing. They leave their inner editor in charge, and this is death. Lock up your inner editor while you’re writing.

Turn on your creativity. It can make the difference between a book which sells, and one which stays on your hard drive.

For example, in PublishersMarketplace’s current book deals, you’ll read about these offbeat books which have just sold:

* Dakota Cassidy’s THE ACCIDENTAL HUMAN, about a multi-level cosmetics saleswoman who thinks she’s seen it all with her “accidentally” paranormal friends until she meets a vampire turned human…

* Judith Healey’s THE REBEL PRINCESS, the story of a princess, sister to the King of France, who battles corrupt court officials, religious fanatics and her beloved as she engages a band of underground Cathar noblewomen to assist her in the rescue of her illegitimate son…

Look for unusual twists you can give your characters and your plot

Write out a blurb of your novel – a couple of paragraphs which encapsulate your characters and plot. Where can you add twists?

In our example above, THE ACCIDENTAL HUMAN, the sales rep character is given a twist, she’s a “multi-level” cosmetics saleswoman. I’m not experienced in MLM, but I can see where this world has lots of potential for conflict. Better yet, the saleswoman meets a vampire turned human – a twist on the idea of a human tuned into a vampire.

As you’re writing your novel, ask yourself continually “how can I twist this? How can I add the unexpected”?

Adding a little weirdness to your characters and plot can lead to a book sale.

Write more – the key to your writing success

Many years ago, I wanted to be a “good” writer. So I wrote less. I became obsessive about revision – polishing the life out of my writing.

It finally dawned on me that “good” doesn’t mean slow. In fact the faster I wrote (which was my natural inclination anyway), the more quality I could winnow from the chaff.

Most of my writing students have similar experiences. For them to become better writers, they need to write more. They find that when they write more, writing is easier for them – they’re not giving in to their inner editor – and the overall quality of their writing improves.

My new writing class, “Write More And Make More Money From Your Writing: Develop A Fast, Fun Productive Writing Process” is based on lessons I developed for my private coaching students to help them to write more and improve their writing.

If you’re struggling with your writing, the class will help. The techniques you’ll learn in class with help you write fiction, nonfiction, and copy for business.

I’ll see you in class.