This week, I had two calls with publishing/editing professionals. I was seeking help with my query letter. It’s well known that many writers write good books but it’s the query that sells the book. And query letter writing is so specific and yet elusive.
Both professionals I spoke to said that for a memoir, I need a book proposal. Uhhhh. That’s a daunting task, another very specific business type document that has nothing to do with my craft of writing and shaping my memoir.
Call #1 - 15 minute phone call
I had a 15-minute call with a representative for a company who helps put first-time authors together with agents and editors. Her initial comment was about the business plan for my book.
“How many social media followers do you have?”
I have some….not a lot, between 2 and 3 thousand all together.
(Frankly, I would throw all my social media into the garbage shoot if I give it much thought. It’s not enjoyable and I don’t think it’s all that helpful. It’s more a byproduct of what I do, not the goal. In fact, George Saunders thinks we should give up social media - it’s poison. I gave up Facebook long ago because of the bad business that Facebook was doing to users. Somehow, I’ve been sucked back into some social media in hopes of attracting audience. There has to be another way.)
Basically, she said without an audience, a publisher will not take a chance on an unknown author. (I don’t really think that’s the case - I have audience based on who the book is intended for. But I don’t think it has to be a social media savvy audience.)
Then she said asked about my book, seemed interested, asked if I wanted to make a movie out of it, plugged a screenplay writing seminar she was hosting in July and August, and said she’d send a non-disclosure agreement and name of an writer for me to work with.
For a manuscript of my size (104K words), it will cost $1500 for a manuscript review to determine whether it’s suitable for the marketplace. After that, I’d work with an editor/writer - $7000/per 50 pages. My manuscript is 340 pages. You do the math.
What the absolute *&^%$????
Call #2 - Zoom meeting
My second meeting was with a very nice gentlemen about my project. He listened patiently to my story and we talked about my experience at the Atlanta Writers Conference and my need for help with my query letter.
He said he didn’t agree about the social media numbers. He said you could figure audience by who would be most likley to buy the book. In my case, it could be many different audiences. But he also said that a book proposals would be where you would state that audience.
For help writing a book proposal - $10,000. For help with a pitch package, working on the query letter and putting everything together to get an agent and sell it to an editor - $15,000.
“You’ll need both,” he said. So $25,000, or if I want to make payments, $30,000.
Uhhhhh.
We talked about my joining the speaker’s circuit as a way to gain audience, which is something I may do when I get to Seattle.
Both of those options are not viable. I don’t have that kind of money, and I don’t imagine making that kind of money from a first book, unless it happens to take off.
I’m not that naive to think that my work will be discovered if I just sit around and keep my manuscript hidden in a drawer.
But I guess my future will be one where I’ll be sitting at a coffeeshop with my last dime, hoping someone buys me a cup of coffee before I have to start living on the streets.
My book is in part about being thrown off my life. This book needs fund my retirement.
No, I will not give up. I will revamp my query letter and keep pitching to agents. It’s a vital story, it’s artistic, and it’s worth a great deal. It may not be perfect, but it’s a far sight better than a lot of what I read.
Keep spreading the word about my efforts. Share this post with others. Get your friends to sign up. It’s a ways to 10,000K followers (ha!) but everyone reader counts.
Thank you for reading. This may be a longer journey than I anticipated. But if I can survive my own story, I can survive this crazy marketplace.
Take care and be safe out there.
For me, I’ll . . .
Just keep writing!