The Literary Agent's Guide to Writing a Non-Fiction Book Proposal Quotes

“An editor's life isn't all that glamorous. She (and it’s usually a she) works in a 10’ x 10’ office all day, every day. She has to attend boring acquisition meetings with a bunch of other editors who are pitching their pet projects”
― Andy Ross, The Literary Agent's Guide to Writing a Non-Fiction Book Proposal

“the target”
― Andy Ross, The Literary Agent's Guide to Writing a Non-Fiction Book Proposal

“When the paps surround the star like a wolf pack, we call it “gangbanging.”
― Andy Ross, The Literary Agent's Guide to Writing a Non-Fiction Book Proposal

“people’s response to the manuscript or proposal itself.”
― Andy Ross, The Literary Agent's Guide to Writing a Non-Fiction Book Proposal

“How on earth can you make realistic sales projections on a product that is unique?”
― Andy Ross, The Literary Agent's Guide to Writing a Non-Fiction Book Proposal

“Andy:  But still, as the cliché goes, book publishing is the marriage of art and commerce. So once you “love it”, you have to take it through the meat grinder.”
― Andy Ross, The Literary Agent's Guide to Writing a Non-Fiction Book Proposal

“So once you “love it”, you have to take it through the meat grinder.”
― Andy Ross, The Literary Agent's Guide to Writing a Non-Fiction Book Proposal

“Publishing any book requires an enormous investment of time and psychic energy by an editor. The process takes months and sometimes years.”
― Andy Ross, The Literary Agent's Guide to Writing a Non-Fiction Book Proposal

“Peter: I don’t think the agent’s location is important. If you were in New York, I’d enjoy having lunch with you more often, but as an editor it is much more important to me that you a) always had high-quality submissions and never wasted my time and b) were always professional and a straight shooter. Those are the qualities that get an agent’s clients favorable attention from a publisher, not whether the agent is in Manhattan.”
― Andy Ross, The Literary Agent's Guide to Writing a Non-Fiction Book Proposal

“Agents come in all shapes and sizes and personalities—some are very warm and fuzzy,”
― Andy Ross, The Literary Agent's Guide to Writing a Non-Fiction Book Proposal

“Second and equally important, do I have the right relationship, the right chemistry, with this agent? Not only do I trust them, which is critical, but is their style of doing business going to mesh with mine?”
― Andy Ross, The Literary Agent's Guide to Writing a Non-Fiction Book Proposal

“First, do they truly get my work—do they understand what I’m trying to do and know how to help me realize it?”
― Andy Ross, The Literary Agent's Guide to Writing a Non-Fiction Book Proposal

“And of those titles you published, how many ended up making money? Peter: Probably around a third or fewer turned a profit for the house in the first few years, though my list was generally oriented toward books that, with luck, would backlist and generate money over the long term.”
― Andy Ross, The Literary Agent's Guide to Writing a Non-Fiction Book Proposal

“acquired 15 to 20 new titles a year, out of all of those.”
― Andy Ross, The Literary Agent's Guide to Writing a Non-Fiction Book Proposal

“got between 15-30 submissions a week; probably 80 percent of those were agented,”
― Andy Ross, The Literary Agent's Guide to Writing a Non-Fiction Book Proposal

“Whenever I give presentations before authors’ groups, I try to be brutally honest about the realistic chances of getting published.”
― Andy Ross, The Literary Agent's Guide to Writing a Non-Fiction Book Proposal

“well written and well crafted, but they seem kind of the same.”
― Andy Ross, The Literary Agent's Guide to Writing a Non-Fiction Book Proposal

“well written and well crafted,”
― Andy Ross, The Literary Agent's Guide to Writing a Non-Fiction Book Proposal

“When you say what genre your book is, make sure it is a term of art that is common in publishing. Don’t say, for instance, your book is a “non-fiction novel.”
― Andy Ross, The Literary Agent's Guide to Writing a Non-Fiction Book Proposal

“compelling narrative arc.”
― Andy Ross, The Literary Agent's Guide to Writing a Non-Fiction Book Proposal

“literary memoir.”
― Andy Ross, The Literary Agent's Guide to Writing a Non-Fiction Book Proposal

“I see things getting published that just aren’t that good.”
― Andy Ross, The Literary Agent's Guide to Writing a Non-Fiction Book Proposal

“Peter [Ginna, Peter]has been a book editor for over 30 years. He has worked at Bloomsbury USA, Oxford University Press, Crown Publishers, and St. Martin's Press. Authors he has worked with include James McPherson, David Hackett Fischer, David Oshinsky, Daniel Ellsberg (my client), and Suze Orman.”
― Andy Ross, The Literary Agent's Guide to Writing a Non-Fiction Book Proposal

“Peter [Peter Ginna] has been a book editor for over 30 years. He has worked at Bloomsbury USA, Oxford University Press, Crown Publishers, and St. Martin's Press. Authors he has worked with include James McPherson, David Hackett Fischer, David Oshinsky, Daniel Ellsberg (my client), and Suze Orman.”
― Andy Ross, The Literary Agent's Guide to Writing a Non-Fiction Book Proposal

“Peter has been a book editor for over 30 years. He has worked at Bloomsbury USA, Oxford University Press, Crown Publishers, and St. Martin’s Press. Authors he has worked with include James McPherson, David Hackett Fischer, David Oshinsky, Daniel Ellsberg (my client), and Suze Orman.”
― Andy Ross, The Literary Agent's Guide to Writing a Non-Fiction Book Proposal

“Daniel Ellsberg (my client),”
― Andy Ross, The Literary Agent's Guide to Writing a Non-Fiction Book Proposal

“So you have some pretty stiff competition.”
― Andy Ross, The Literary Agent's Guide to Writing a Non-Fiction Book Proposal

“Every acquisition editor gets 10-20 proposals a week. Every one of those proposals has been selected by an agent only after a robust vetting process. Almost all of them will have a compelling reason to get published. But the editor will probably only be allowed to publish 10 to 20 books a year.”
― Andy Ross, The Literary Agent's Guide to Writing a Non-Fiction Book Proposal

“compelling reason to get published.”
― Andy Ross, The Literary Agent's Guide to Writing a Non-Fiction Book Proposal

“robust vetting process.”
― Andy Ross, The Literary Agent's Guide to Writing a Non-Fiction Book Proposal