The Catholic Writers Guild

Your Author Toolkit: Pitching to an Editor

NB: This does not address pitching to an agent, because I’m not one, but similar ideas apply.

Quick vocabulary lesson: Solicited proposals are those that an editor actively seeks out. That usually means she or her team have developed an idea and reached out to an author to work on it, or made contact with an author she wants to work with and asked for whatever the author is currently working on. Unsolicited proposals are, well, everything else, and form what is professionally termed the “slush pile.” A manuscript can become solicited if an unsolicited proposal reaches      an editor who is interested and requests more. Agented manuscripts usually bypass the slush pile and, if not actively solicited, at least get direct access to an editor.

That idea of direct access to an editor is what lies behind in-person pitching, usually found in the context of a conference or contest (say that ten times fast.) Essentially, you’ve made it past the slush pile to the point where you can get one-on-one feedback from an editor, rather than being buried among all the slightly-kooky things we get in our Submittable pile.

Think of pitching like a job interview. Your application has made it past HR (slush pile) and to the hiring manager (editor). Now, you’ve been called in, so you’re dressing your book up in its best (a well-edited manuscript), making sure it has a good resumé (proposal document or one-sheet), and convincing the editor that it fulfills all her hopes and dreams (that she wants to publish it.)

From the editor’s side of things, like a hiring manager, we have specific needs that we are looking to fill, and we are always looking at the bigger picture of whether you and your book will fit within our line. In a pitch session, I have a few minutes to discern whether it’s worth looking closer at your proposal. I’m going to do that by looking at a few key factors, which you can leverage to help your pitch:

• Fit — How familiar are you with my publishing company? Have you read our submission guidelines, and can you tell me how your book fits within our line? Are you conversant with the topics, genres, and authors we’ve published in the past?
• Market research — Are you familiar with titles that reach a similar audience or address a similar topic? Particularly in the Catholic space, what books you refer to are going to tell me a lot about how you’re positioning yourself — or, they’ll reveal that you didn’t do your research and you aren’t aware of the conversations that are happening around your topic.
• Credentials — What has equipped and prepared you to write this book? Personal experience isn’t enough, and neither is “God told me to write this.” If He did, I sincerely hope you followed up that call with research and training so that you could fulfill His will to the best of your abilities. Show me that you have the authority to write on the topic, and the craftsmanship to do it well.
• Saleability — Fit, comp titles, and credentials, combined with a diligent approach to marketing  give me an idea of whether we can actually sell your book. If it’s something our audience wants, it fills a hole in a conversation or hits a popular genre, and you have the authority and craftsmanship to do it, I still need to know that you’re willing to put your boots on the ground and market the heck out of your book. Readers care more about the author than about the publishing company, and it’s essential that you are ready to partner with us to do that work.

As the editor hearing pitches, these essentials (fit, market research, credentials, and saleability) also reveal what you know about your ideal reader. I can tell right away if you are more focused on your needs while      writing the book than on what your reader actually needs.

One last note: your pitch can always be bolstered by the same general points that apply to a job interview: respectful attire and attitude, clear answers, and confidence without arrogance. Publishing is a partnership, and we need to know that you are going to be a good partner so that we can work together to serve the needs of our readers.

 

Copyright 2024 by Rebecca Martin