• While I know it is good business practice to call and ask to whom a submission should be addressed, it is really not in the best interest of the author to do so. It is an unnecessary disruption and the submissions all go in the same “in” basket regardless of the name on the envelope.

Editor’s note: This may be true of the small publishing house, but I suggest, in the case of a medium or large publishing house, that you call to ask the receptionist the name of the current contact person. I have actually had my query letter and book proposal returned with notes stating, “This editor no longer works for this company.” Rather than passing my package along to the appropriate editor, they returned it to me. How moronic is that?

• Constant, pushy follow-up. If I’ve taken too long to respond (over the 6-weeks stated), a simple e-mail or phone message is appropriate, of course.
• An author who is unable or unwilling to be a part of the book promotion through speaking engagements or interviews is especially nightmarish. I publish non-fiction books. You need to be willing, able and motivated to inform and inspire people about your topic, both in written word and in person!

Editor’s Note: Here! Here! If you are not comfortable speaking publicly, join a local Toastmasters Club. Read more about how to succeed at public speaking in Patricia Fry’s book, “The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book.”
Q: What attracts you to a proposal package and what is an immediate turn off?
A: Attractive:

• A concise, intelligent cover letter.
• Knowledge of the reader to whom your book speaks.
• Life experience/education of the author that matches their topic.
• Membership in or knowledge of organizations to whom the author might speak about their book.

Turn-off:

• Sending too much stuff. I just feel bad about it if you don’t include a return envelope and I have to throw it all away.
• FedEx or expedited submissions. Again, they’ll all go in the same “in” basket.
• Authors who clearly have not paid attention to the current catalog offerings. I get a lot of fundamental, conservative Christian book submissions, for instance. These would clearly not fit. Check the websites for the publishers you target, just to be sure nothing has changed since the once-per-year publication in Writer’s Market.Q: From your standpoint, what is the most important part of the book proposal?
  A: Number one: the ability to show why your book is different than others out there in the marketplace.
  Q: When a manuscript is accepted, what is the process that follows? I think that many new authors are confused about this and don’t understand why it should take so long from acceptance to publication.
  A: After acceptance, there is usually some dialog back and forth between the author and the publisher about fine-tuning the direction of the work for the intended audience. This is sort of a “pre-editing” phase. Then, no matter how brilliant the author, there is a need for third party editing. Should the book have illustrations? What are the interior design choices and how do they affect readability? The cover will go through many design iterations before a decision is made, if it is to be effective. I involve the author in every step of this, if they want to be included. The shortest time I’ve experienced from acceptance of a manuscript to production of a book was, I think, 5 months. That was a manuscript from a very intelligent, clear, experienced writer, using an interior design that worked in a prior book and a very lucky first or second pass cover design. Printing takes a minimum of another month for production and shipment.
  Q: What is the best and the worst thing about being a publisher?
  A: The best thing about being an independent publisher is that you are in the position of promoting talented authors who may not otherwise have had the chance, and the books have a positive effect on thousands of readers. It’s an ultimate “facilitator” role on both ends of the process. Working with creative types for editing and design is icing on the cake.
  The worst is that you really don’t make any money at this without spending a significant amount. Authors typically complain (although mine don’t, thankfully) that they don’t get enough in royalties and the publisher makes all the money, but it doesn’t take long with a calculator to figure out that there is not much left for the publisher, either. Here’s a rough example (using some averages).
  Retail price of book: $16.00
  Wholesaler pays Publisher: $ 6.80
  Publisher pays shipping: -$ 0.80
  Publisher pays author: -$ 1.02
  Cost to print (I print in 1k to 5k qty): -$ 3.00
  Initial cost of editing and creative: -$ 1.60 (this figure is a one-time cost, but is shown because not all books get past the first printing)
  Publisher’s “profit”: $ 0.38 (to pay the phone, electric, storage, advertising, etc. bills)
  Luckily books can be sold directly at speaking engagements and via the website. Then the author’s royalty and the publisher’s profit both go up significantly, or we’d all be out of business.
  Donna Jacobsen, Publisher
  Rising Star Press
  http://www.RisingStarPress.com
  Editor@risingstarpress.com

  *****

  Let me introduce Charles Nurnberg, CEO of Sterling Publishing Company.
  Q: First, a little background about you and Sterling Press. When and why was this company formed?
  A: The company was formed in 1949. The initial books were all nonfiction, on subjects such as coin and stamp collecting, crafts and hobbies, sports and nature.
  Q: What types of manuscripts are you currently seeking?
  A: A full range of the nonfiction areas. We publish such a huge variety of subjects across both the adult and children’s areas, that it would be almost impossible to limit or define us. Sterling has over 6000 titles in print. What we do seek are books of continuing interest, that have a point of view or are entertaining, edutainment (not educational but entertaining informational types of books) and are either new or unusual or different twists on what is already out there. For children’s we look for innovative, entertaining and informational.
  Q: Is there something that you are particularly hoping to see come through the mail?
  A: No. It is across the range and we welcome unsolicited manuscripts.
  Q: Speaking of mail, I see that you do not include an email address in your Writer’s Market listing. So you accept submissions through the mail only? Why is that?
  A: Not true. That is an error and we will correct it. You can get the correct details from Leigh Ann Ambrosi on that.
  Q: Do you prefer to see a query letter first?
  A: Yes.
  Q: And then what happens?
  A: Somebody will respond reasonably quickly.
  Q: Are you receiving fewer submissions now that so many authors are turning to fee-based publishing services with their projects?
  A: No. We are still receiving a great number of submissions.
  Q: Has the quality of the projects you’re receiving improved over the years or declined?
   
  A: Same.
  Q: What are some of the mistakes hopeful authors are making today on behalf of their book projects?
  A: Sending them to the wrong publishers. For example, we get a number of submissions of fiction, and we publish no fiction at all, except for a series of the classics (all reprints obviously). Authors need to research what publishers specialize in, and send the proposals to the appropriate publishers. And they should always include author backgrounds, especially in the areas of expertise that the book might be in, reasons for the book coming into existence, illustrations if they are to supply them, or at least, in the case of a number of craft, hobby, science titles, sample photos of the finished projects.
  Q: Describe the author that is your worst nightmare. (Here’s your chance to vent and to educate my readers—mainly authors.)
  A: One who believes that they are the world expert on the subject, that no other point of view is ever correct, that they are able to write, edit, design, illustrate, market, publicize and advertise and sell better than all the publishing professionals in the world. And that they exist in a universe of one—that the publisher is not publishing any other book, and that the entire company is dedicated to the one book for all time. It is, of course, a team effort, and the good authors recognize that and work within the publishing system.
  Q: What attracts you to a proposal package and what is an immediate turn off?
  Attract:
  A: That’s easy. The subject of course. Or the visuals that might come with it. Or the author.
  Turn-offs:
  Long-winded introductions to the proposal that take pages and pages to get to what the book is about. Subjects that are wrong for our company. Manuscripts that are hand-written (yes, people still do that). Stacks and stacks and scraps of paper without organization of any kind. A manuscript without any documentation as to the author’s expertise or background.
  Q: From your standpoint, what is the most important part of the book proposal?
  A: The subject itself and whether anybody will want to buy it. We can edit a book, design it spectacularly, price it perfectly, but if the subject is not of interest, the book will fail.
  Q: When a manuscript is accepted, what is the process that follows?
  A: We make an offer for the book. But your question, I believe is really why it takes so long. Publishing is not an exact science. It is a combination of instinct, experience, intuition, previous results, and the combined thinking of a group of people with different interests and thoughts. Although I make all the final editorial decisions here, I make sure to involve as many of my editorial acquisitions committee as possible, to pool their collective intellect into the decision-making process. As many as 10 people might see the proposal before we make an offer, which is why the time frame is often quite long. There is no Eureka moment instantly, although sometimes it is obvious we are going to do it right away and it just becomes a matter of having a couple of people take a quick look to make sure you are all thinking the same way. I think that many new authors are confused about this and don’t understand why it should take so long. The process here typically takes about 4 weeks. I wish it were faster, but have never figured out how to do so without making it a complete dictatorship rather than a benevolent one.
  Q. What is the best and the worst thing about being a publisher?
  A: The best, picking the books. The worst, picking the books. When you realize how many people you tend to disappoint in the course of a week, month, year or career, you realize how much disappointment you spread along with the joy of the few who get selected. We probably turn down around 7500 proposals at the very minimum per year. And publish about 800. The fun is in picking right, in finding a book that just soars. The sadness is in picking a book that you were wrong about, or at least the public thought you were wrong about and proved it by not buying it. And that may have nothing whatsoever to do with the author. It could be price, format, timing, publicity, the wrong sales pitch. Any number of things can go wrong and ruin a book’s potential. For me, the ultimate joy is in the fact that because of our publishing program being so broad, I can specialize in being a medical expert for one moment, a sports hero the next, an artisan, artist, a child, or science superstar. For somebody with a short attention span, this is a dream job. Or who is very inquisitive. Or for a dreamer, it is an even greater dream job. I’m all three, which is why I love being a publisher.