Right Fit: The Search Within Publishing

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin



For over seven years, I've been acquiring books for Morgan 

James
Publishing. As an acquisitions editor, I have a lot of interesting exchanges
wtih authors, editors and literary agents about books. In this article, I'm going to
tell you a few stories related to a constant search within publishing: finding
the right fit.



If you can't find the right fit for you. You can always
self-publish. Last year over 1.6 million new books took this route of
self-publishing. One of my writer friends self-published and told me how he
spent over $10,000 in the process of creation, editing and launching his book.
When I spoke with him, he was wondering if he made the right choice for his
book. As an editor, I've heard this story many times from various authors. For
many houses if you self published, they will not consider taking it into their
publshing house—unless you have huge sales like 100,000 copies. The good news is
occasionally at Morgan James we take a self-published book and move it into our
books. It does not happen often but it is possible and something to
explore if you have gone this route with your book.



I regularly read a number of blogs and online articles. While
reading a recent article, I learned a detail buried in the article. This author
(also a book editor) was looking for a publishers for her historical novel.
Because Morgan James publishes some fiction, I used her website to reached out
and suggested she submit to Morgan James. We are looking for clean fiction (no
profanity) and 100,000 words or less. This author responded that her story was
gritty and over this word count. It was not the right publishing fit for this
author.



Recently a Christian author with an unusual proposal approached
me. While over the years I've reviewed thousands of submissions, I had never
seen a book with this particular topic. From my understanding of the publishing
world, I believe it will be a challenge for this author to find the right
publishing fit but I liked the concept and wanted to help. As an editor, I went
ahead and processed his submission and moved it forward through the process. My
colleagues agreed with me that it would be a fit for Morgan James
(doesn't always happen—yes my pitches get rejected at times) and we offered this
author a contract. He responded that he's looking for a literary agent and a
different type of fit. Will he find it? I don't know. He has an opportunity with
Morgan James but like several other authors that I've spoken with, he is looking
for the right fit.  



This search for the right fit is not just something writers are
doing. Literary agents are looking for the right fit. They do not represent
every type of book but search in specific categories and types of books they
want to represent and place with publishers. Publishers are looking for the
right fit. In fact, every person in the process is looking for this right fit.
In many ways it is one of the constant factors in the publishing
search.



One of the best actions any writer can take to find the right
fit is to make sure they have a solid pitch or proposal to send to the editor or
literary agent. Often
these pitches are missing a critical element. Years ago as a frustrated
acquisitions editor, I was not getting the right pitches from writers to be able
to convince my colleagues to give them a book contract. I wrote Book Proposals That Sell,
21 Secrets to Speed Your Success . 



This book has over 110 Five Star
reviews—and I have all of the remaining print copies—and I've discounted the
book from $15 to $8. No matter what you write, you will find valuable
information in these pages and be able to use it to improve your pitch and
search to find the right fit in the publishing community.



What steps are you taking to find the right fit for your
book? Let me know in the comments below.



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