What could be more awe-inspiring than the birth of a new life? From the time I knew my daughter was expecting her third child until a few days ago— all during the nine-month gestation period— we prayed and dreamed and worked and waited and prepared and planned.
Cladach’s publisher, Catherine, with newborn grandchild.
There were many details, many concerns, many uncertainties during those nine months. Complications arose. We waited, prayed, hoped. We had to be patient with the process and trust in God’s timing and ability to overcome the obstacles.
This is the third time I have been present at the birth of a baby and there is nothing to compare to the expectancy, intensity, and thrill. One can almost hear the flutter of angel wings and the tinkle of heavenly bells ringing as the Creator gives breath to this new life. . . .
But birthing a book can come close. We dream and conceive, we learn to be patient through the gestation period as we write and wait, write and listen, write and pray, write and then rewrite, edit and polish.
Writers submit queries and proposals and manuscripts, then wait and wait some more.
Publishers agree, then prepare to attend the birth and catch the baby, wrap it in a bright cover and hold it up in presentation to the world.
We — both author and publisher — will feel as proud as new parents and full of wonder at the creation of this new thing. We’ll have high hopes for this book baby, that it will thrive, that others will love and celebrate it with us, and that it will develop a growing circle of influence to make the world a better place; that it will help God’s kingdom come, his will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven.
As I said in the previous post this is my most difficult publisher hat to wear:
ACQUISITIONS EDITOR
I receive queries and proposals daily, both through email and snail mail. This publisher’s hat may seem glamorous, and I admit to a certain curiosity and gambler’s hope that in the slush pile I may discover the “next bestseller”—but, alas, I must say “No, thank you” to the vast majority of author queries.
So, you may ask: what makes me say “Yes” to an author’s book proposal?
First of all, the first sentence of the query letter must “grab” me with this writer’s giftedness, creativity, and unique slant on the subject. I barely have time to read unsolicited queries, so if you start out with the impersonal, boring, and obvious, I probably won’t even finish reading it. For instance, please don’t start (as many do) with, “Dear Editor, I’m writing to you in hopes that you will publish my book …” I already know that! Dive right into the gist of your passion, message, and/or quest—as any good nonfiction book or novel does. For instance, here are the first sentences of a query letter that recently grabbed my attention:
Ms. Lawton:
This story does not begin on the day Spring-baby Westbay throws a rock at Amen: a simple-looking donkey who knew Adam and Noah, Abraham and Moses, Jesus Christ, the Apostle John, Saint Francis of Assisi. Nor does the story begin when Spring-baby’s father jilts her by dying far away from home and rebuke. The story begins in the beginning – when death itself comes into the world and initiates its nefarious plot against Spring-baby’s dad amongst countless others.
Gadly Plain (a novel of 59,000 words told from an omniscient point of view) follows the struggle of a twelve year old girl as she grapples with one of life’s most mind-wrenching questions: Is death really the end? …
Not surprisingly, I kept reading this one to the end, then asked for sample chapters, then just had to read the entire novel, then offered J. Michael Dew a contract. And voilà! the first literary novel in Cladach’s fiction line was born:
Okay, there were a few other steps to the acquisition process. The manuscript was sent to a few readers whose input I value, and their responses were positive. I then had several phone conversations with the author. We negotiated a royalty contract. But the process started with those first few sentences hooking my interest.
I must add, though, that I have received some amazingly-written queries/proposals that caused me to ask for the manuscript with great expectancy only to be disappointed that the writing of the book did not match the quality of the professionally-prepared proposal. At writers conferences and from freelance editors and book doctors you can get help writing a proposal that will blow off the publisher’s socks and whet their appetite with tasty tidbits, making them want to express mail a contract offer to you. But the manuscript that follows had better offer real meat to chew on, flavor in every bite, and new taste twists presented on the plate in a memorable way.
As a small publisher, we learn to wear many hats. And we don’t just decide in the morning what hat to wear that day; we may change hats hourly or … any minute now.
What sort of hats do we wear most days? The hats below may seem in random order, but often our days are like that. I do a lot of these things; but, thankfully, not all of it by myself.
MARKETING
Our main task, besides producing great books, is to create demand for those books. We believe in each Cladach book’s author, message, artfulness, and ability to touch hearts and minds. So we must continually look for ways to convince potential readers that these books will give them enjoyment as well as strength, encouragement, and inspiration.
COPY EDITOR
Manuscripts, drafts, proofs, on the screen or printed out, all need editing. Either Cathy or Christina—or an editor or proofreader hired for the job—goes through the copy with a fine-tooth comb, digging, refining, clarifying, cleaning up, and polishing.
INFORMATION MANAGEMENT
Once we upload book data to places like Bowker, Ingram, Amazon.com, BN.com, Baker & Taylor, and the Library of Congress, that information disseminates all over the internet and in book data retrieval systems worldwide. It is important that the data be accurate and up-to-date, and checked and updated regularly.
ACQUISITIONS EDITOR The publisher receives queries and proposals daily, both through email and snail mail. She tries to answer them in a timely fashion, but sometimes queries “fall between the cracks” of slush piles, old emails, and busy days. This is probably the hardest job because it’s hard to say “No,” which has to be said to the vast majority of queries and proposals. If an author and their query does pique our interest, we usually ask for a full proposal and 1-3 sample chapters. Prospective authors find us online and in lists of publishers, including the annual editions of Christian Writers Market Guide. We also meet writers and find manuscripts to publish at writers conferences. The publisher enjoys meeting and talking with writers (but that doesn’t make saying “No” any easier. We have, however, said “Yes” to several good writers and their books, at writers conferences). And then, still in my acquisitions hat, there are contract offers and negotiations and agreements. Then onward and upward together with a new book in view!
FINANCIAL ANALYST
As book sales trickle in—and occasionally a bulky order knocks on our door, so to speak—the plus side of Larry’s spreadsheet increases and we try to forecast expenses and how many books to print, the best use of advertising/publicity budgets, what percent royalties and advances to offer authors, what retail prices to put on books, etc., etc. Profits aren’t real impressively high, but Cladach stays in the black, and we often remind ourselves that we are doing this as ministry—though it has to be done in a businesslike way in order to continue.
SALES
Larry may call or visit a store to check sales, restock consignment shelves, or we may let stores know about a new title and that they can order through the two major book wholesalers. We receive direct orders from individuals, authors, stores, libraries, and nonprofits in the U.S., U.K., and beyond. Larry processes the orders with accounting software and keeps meticulous and conscientious records and produces reports, as he is the one who usually wears this hat.
BUSINESS EXECUTIVE
The buck stops here. Decisions have to be made, staff meetings and communications directed. Fortunately, we really enjoy creatively brainstorming together.
CONTENT DEVELOPMENT
I guess you could say that’s what I’m doing right now in writing and developing this material. Cathy and Christina (and our authors) develop content for editorial and marketing purposes, to be shared as book descriptions, back cover copy, web content, bios, blog posts, other social media posts, letters, newsletters, press releases, etc.
CONTENT CONVERSION
So we’ve written an article or post, we’ve developed and produced a paperback book, we’ve published a web page. Now we can convert the paperback file into an ebook file, the post into tweets, the graphics and description into a video trailer, the web page content into an ad or an email. Get the idea? Gotta be creative and keep thinking “outside the box.”
SHIPPING/FULFILLMENT
All the Cladach staff have worn this hat at one time or another. But Larry has expertly taken on the job and wears this hat almost daily. Our warehouse/shipping department is lined with cartons of books and is all set up with packing supplies and a handy table for sorting, labeling, packing, etc. Then trips are made to the Post Office and to FedEx, which are handily close by. This hat is fun to wear. We love sending out books! Go, team Cladach!
DESIGNER
Here’s another job that’s fun but can eat up time and requires a constant, steep learning curve. Very satisfying to the artistic side and creative urges felt by this publisher. We use top of the line software to design book pages and covers. Many of our book covers have been designed in-house, but we have contracted with graphic designers and artists for a number of our designs and cover—as well as interior—art. Besides the books themselves, there are web pages, promo pieces like postcards and sell sheets, and other design output required in the course of our publishing days. We keep this hat handy, usually near the computer.
PRINT BUYER The book cover is designed and tweaked, the text edited and proofed, the pages formatted, the book data disseminated, the forthcoming title announced. The book must then be printed! This involves organizing and sending out specs, studying and comparing print quotes, comparing choices of papers, finishes, bindings, etc. Decisions, decisions, often feeling like guesses, about how many books are expected to sell and how quickly, how active the author will be in promoting their book, how wide a market can we reach, should we print a larger quantity and pay much less per copy and have a lot of stock on hand and use up our cash, or print a small quantity and preserve cash flow, though we pay much more per copy, or should we go with print-on-demand? Once we’ve decided on the printer, and we’ve used several reliable book printers/manufacturers, the biggest decision is “how many books to print?”.
MEDIA SOCIALIZER
This has become an important hat to wear at least a while each day. Social media is where readers are hanging out and we can connect and get acquainted and talk about some of our favorite things: life-changing ideas and experiences; the daily life of faith, work, family, and wonder; our Creator and Lord who initiates every good thing; the creativity He inspires; new and talented authors; and … books! You may connect with us here on this blog, on Facebook, LinkedIn, Goodreads, and? Who knows what’s next. One thing for sure, we’ll find a hat for it!
