Should You Change Your Book to Please a Potential Publisher?

Welcome back to my series for new writers on publishing Catholic non-fiction books.  Last month we talked about the big surprise you might receive when querying publishers: Your would-be publisher might come back with a different book idea. This could be anything from minor changes to a completely different topic. Today we’re going to look at how to decide whether to accept those changes or stick to your original proposal.

Setting Emotional Boundaries

The first thing to do when a publisher comes back with an alternate proposal is to stay calm. You’re probably feeling a lot of pressure.  You’re eager to be published, and it took a lot of work just to get this far.  You are likely experiencing two different fears about what’s going to happen.

1. You are afraid that if you turn down the publisher’s suggestion then you’ll never get published.

This is not true. If you are friendly and professional, you can politely decline a proposed change without wrecking you future as a writer.  This particular publisher may decide to pass on this particular book, but that doesn’t mean they won’t consider working with you on a different project in the future.  Meanwhile, another publisher may be interested in your book proposal as-is, or with a different set of changes you are more comfortable accepting.

While there is wisdom in seriously considering the publisher’s suggestions, whether or how you change your book is completely up to you.

2. You are afraid that if you do accept the changes then you’ll be betraying your mission as an author.

You put a lot of heart into your proposed book. You care about your subject and feel that your message is one the world needs to hear. Nonetheless, there is nothing wrong with choosing to modify your book plans, even if your publisher is asking you to change topics completely.

I talked last month about my own experience with a complete topic-change that led to The How-to Book of Evangelization. Here’s another real-life example of how both these fears are unfounded:

My friend Emily DeArdo wrote a memoir about her experience with needing — and receiving — a double lung transplant. I read her original manuscript and it’s a great story! She approached a Catholic publisher with her book proposal, and they were interested, but only if she reworked her memoir into a different genre that they knew would perform well.

She considered their suggestion, but determined that the direction they wanted to take the book wasn’t what she wanted.  Did this mean her story would never get told? Not at all. It turns out that if you have both a pretty good book idea and the writing ability to back it up, publishers are going to be interested in working with you.

She took her original book proposal to Ave Maria Press, and they had a different suggestion on how they wanted to change the book: They wanted Emily to rewrite her memoir as a series of reflections on faith, suffering, and the Stations of the Cross.

Emily gave prayerful consideration to this request and decided to accept their suggestion. The result was Living Memento Mori: My Journey through the Stations of the Cross; I think she and her editors at Ave Maria were absolutely right that the world needed this book, and that Emily was just the person to write it.

This decision to set aside her original concept doesn’t mean she let go of her creative vision as an author. She recognized that her publisher’s proposal was in fact a book she wanted to write.

Now, several years down the road, she’s working on a completely new manuscript in the style of a traditional memoir. The experience of working on Living Memento Mori has prepared her to revisit her original project idea with fresh insight and an expanded skill set.  I think she made a fantastic decision that helped her become more true to herself as an author.

Making the Tough Call

What you decide to do about your own work is completely up to you.  Here are some of the many factors to consider as you are in conversation with a potential publisher about your book idea.

What’s your financial situation? Your publisher needs to stay in business, and that requires selling books. Your editor’s suggested changes are based on that unavoidable reality. You may or may not be in the same position.  Are you writing strictly as a ministry, and therefore your specific message is your highest priority, even if it means taking a financial hit? Or is your writing first and foremost a way to pay the bills?

Needing to make a living is an entirely legitimate reason to write! Because your publisher needs your books to sell, following your acquisition editor’s guidance is likely to lead towards a financially viable work.

What are your non-negotiables? Make a list of the most important aspects of your original book proposal.

• Is there a central message that you desperately need to share with the world?
• Is the way you explain your topic as important as what it is you are trying to teach?
• Do you have an artistic vision that is essential to your work?
• Is there an audience your book absolutely must reach?
• Or do you honestly just enjoy writing and are primarily seeking the satisfaction of creating a quality book, but beyond that you are flexible on the details?

With Classroom Management for Catechists, my two non-negotiables were that the text be a quick read and that we stick to an affordable price point so parishes could purchase in bulk for training new teachers. Liguori’s vision for the book fit those priorities perfectly. If it hadn’t, I would have moved on to a different publisher.

Are you passionate about the proposed book? No matter how similar or different your acquisition editor’s suggestions are to your original idea, one fact is unavoidable: You are going to pour an awful lot of your life into this book before it’s all over.  Unless you just want to be bored and miserable, whatever it is you agree to write must be a book you genuinely believe the world needs.

This isn’t a super high-stress consideration.  Your publisher is not going to agree to a book idea unless there is an obvious market for that book — that means there are people out there who want to read such a book because it fills a real need in their lives. Likewise, your publisher is not going to ask you to be the one who writes the book unless you’ve shown the knowledge and subject-area interest necessary to handle the topic. Furthermore, your editors want at all costs to avoid having to slog through the production process with a burned-out author.

So just be honest with yourself:

• If the proposed changes leave you lukewarm, it’s probably wise to take a pass.
• If you love the updated book idea, feel free to accept even though it’s not the same as your original proposal.

What if you’re not sure? During the proposal phase you and your publisher are still in a conversation about what it is you are going to write.  Next month we’ll talk about having that conversation with confidence, even when you’re a first-time author.

 

Copyright 2022 – Jennifer Fitz