When to Move Beyond the Proposal

You have to decide how much you believe in yourself, and your book.

If I want to write a book, I will do so, and trust that I can sell it when I am done. I will talk to my agent and be guided by his insight as to marketability.

I know that any publisher that considers my book will want to talk about it, and I'd want to be well along in research and writing before that happened.

I'm pragmatic in my approach to selling non-fiction books. Since this is how I make my living, I can't get tied up with a project that doesn't go anywhere. There are many, many reasons that a non-fiction proposal may not find a home, none of them having the first thing to do with my ability to write the book. So I tend to turn my attention to a new project while my agent sells -- or attempts to sell -- the proposed one.

Earlier in my career, I often had editors express interest in my proposals, but not exactly as I had written them, which required me to take a different approach with the material. Thus research and interviews I did for the original vision of the book no longer fit the revised vision of the book, and I wasted everyone's time. Once the editor and I had agreed on the scope and slant of the book, I was able to more satisfactorily conduct my research. This doesn't happen much anymore, because I have a much better sense of what kind of trade non-fiction book sells and I have a good agent who helps me craft my proposals. Even so, I still miss the mark now and then.

Depending on the types of interviews you'll be setting up, they may be siginificantly easier to accomplish once you have a deal, because then you can say, "This is for a book to be published by Penguin . . . ."

But there is something to be said for John's approach, too, and I don't disagree with his advice. Just offering my take on things.

Jennifer Lawler

Having read Jennifer's comments, which I think make sense, I should qualify my statement.

When I wrote my first book, I believed in it enough to write it entirely on spec. I devoted a huge amount of concentration and effort to the project with absolutely no guarantee of any return at all. But I did some things on my side . . . my brother was already a huge success, and I knew his agent would read my work and offer advice.

And the gamble paid off. My bound galleys will be available for advance readers in just two short months, and I'll be in bookstores everywhere this fall.

So now I consider book two. Book one gave me many ideas for a sequel. The public response gave me ideas. The responses my publisher received gave me ideas. And my agent told me what he thought of them.

So I am not making topic decisions in a vacuum. When I say, "I'll write a book and then show it to the publisher," I already have an excellent idea what they want. Sure, I will do plenty of rewriting and editing, but I'm not just going on a wing and a prayer.

But book #1 - that's exactly what it was. Could I tell a story in a compelling enough way to interest a publisher? Who could know? So I guess you should consider both our comments in light of your own position.

I don't want to encourage you to go off on a wild goose chase. You should think very carefully about how well you know your publisher, your market, and your abilities.

For me, the thing I doubt most is my own ability. Maybe I shouldn't, but there it is. So I will address that by writing most of the book first. Then, if it's good enough, we can go ahead and I'll feel good, and not pressured. I would never want to sell a project and then discover I could not do it. I prefer to do most of it first and then sell what I've done.