Almost A Book: How The Market Rules
Fran Davis -- June 1, 2006
What baby boomer could resist a book with the title Hell No We Won't Go: How Boomers Can Tranform the Ultimate Third of Life? With the first boomers turning 60 this year, the subject is timely and the market potential enormous. Jill Cordover, my co-writer, and I were excited about the prospect of writing the book. Our agent was excited. But the proposal failed to sell in New York. What we learned in the process is worth sharing.
Jill and I prepared a catchy query letter pitching our proposal, and the Dijkstra Agency indicated an interest. We began a phone relationship with an agent there, and through many consultations with her over a period of months we massaged our 60-page book proposal into a form we thought was a winner.
A non-fiction book proposal must do several things: It must get a publisher interested in your idea; it must establish your "platform" (why you are uniquely qualified to write this book and how you and your qualifications will help sell it); it must provide an outline of the book and sample chapters that demonstrate your writing ability; it must show how your book is different from, and better than, other books on the same subject.
We knew that the boomer book was an "impacted" subject area. Because we'd been diligent with our market research, we knew exactly how many books were out there. But we thought our concept was different enough to make it stand out. Basically, our book's goal was to investigate how boomers who came of age in the 60s and 70s could revisit the transformational heritage of those times to reinvent the so-called "retirement" years.
We signed a one-year contract with the Dijkstra Agency, agreeing to let them represent our work. Our agent sent out her pitch letter, which resulted in the proposal going to about ten editors at large publishing houses in New York. A "close date" of two weeks was set for the "auction." Two weeks was ideal, according to our agent; any longer and an idea went "stale."
Comments from editors were forwarded to us as they came in. The proposal was described as "fabulously done." Another loved the concept but passed on the book. "We're not seeing a ton of projects like this translate through to register sales," she said. The editor at Rodale wrote, "Thanks for sharing this terrific proposal with me. I'd love to see it land here at Rodale." She asked for an extension of the close date.
The auction date was extended another week. Jill and I got tired of holding our breath. Our agent instructed us to keep our fingers crossed. "All it takes is one editor who loves it to sell," she said. The turn-downs that she'd received all indicated that they either had something similar on their list or that the market just wasn't proving out. Sales for the recently released and much-heralded boomer book The Number had been dismal.
Rodale chose to pass, too. They already had a book addressed to this market, and it wasn't selling well. Turns out baby boomers, a generation known for its energy and vitality, are not ready to stop being young. They don't want to be reminded that they're aging, and they're not ready to shell out cash for a guidebook on how to do it with pizzazz.
Our agent offered to try "the next tier" (down) of publishers. The advance would be small, and the book might not get wide distribution. Jill and I decided the compensation wouldn't be worth it. We bid her a fond farewell and thanked her for working so hard on our behalf. She encouraged us to try some magazine article spin-offs based on our research.
Jill and I had a glass of wine and a long walk on the beach to contemplate our dashed hopes. We'd invested an enormous amount of time and energy on the project, and though it didn't come to full fruition, we'd learned a lot. It was kind of like going to school for a long time but never earning a degree. There was some satisfaction with the knowledge gained, but nothing in print.