NOTES

FROM THE
MARGINS
WRITER’S DIGEST COLUMNS
OF NONFICTION BOOK TOPICS

AMY JONES
NOTES
FROM THE MARGINS
BY AMY JONES

L
ook at the requirements for
any book proposal and you’ll
find a request for “comp titles.”
These are comparable and competi-
tive books yours will stand next to in
bookstores and on sell-sheets with
publisher’s sales teams. But what
does that really mean? Who really
uses them and why is there so much
emphasis put on them? We’ll cover
all that and more and you’ll quickly
understand why so many people
(myself included) have a love/hate
relationship with comp titles.

WHAT ARE COMP TITLES?

First, note that it’s “comp titles,” not
“comp title.” More than one is always
required. When I was acquiring
books for Writer’s Digest Books, our
pub board (which approved new
books for nearly a dozen imprints)
required that acquisition editors
provide at least six comp titles: three
it comes to production, we’re look- The first person who should
books from our own line (i.e., other
ing at whether the books are/will be make use of comp titles is You, if
WD titles in my case) and three
paperback or hardcover, the dimen- you plan to pitch your book to an
books from other publishers. Other
agent or publisher. Knowing that
PEN ILLUSTRATION © GETTY IMAGES: MURIKA PHOTO © GETTY IMAGES: LUIS ALVAREZ
publishers may require more or sions, the length, and the retail price.
fewer titles, but this is a good base- When using the word competitive, legitimate comp titles exist for a
line and you’ll see why later. we are thinking about books yours book you plan to write and sell will
When using the word comparable, will be selling against both in terms help you establish (1) the focus of
agents, acquisition editors, and sales of what bookstore buyers will be the book; (2) that there is a need for
folks take both content and produc- thinking of, and what consumers in the book in the marketplace; and (3)
tion values into account. We consider ways to make your book stand out
those bookstores will be shopping for.
the similarities and also note distinct from the competition. When you
differences between your proposed WHO COMP TITLES CAN include compelling comp titles in
book and a published title in terms HELP AND WHY your proposal to an agent or editor,
of the content and how the content To really understand what comp titles it also helps convince that person
is presented as it relates to writing are, you have to understand who uses that you are well informed and up-
style, inclusion of images/graphs/ them and more important, the ways to-date on the topic and the market
charts, etc., and organization. When in which they are used. for that topic.

60 I WRITER’S DIGEST I April 2020

 Agents and Acquisition Editors sales rep offer up ideas for special title was bad, or the writing was bad,
also use comp titles as part of their displays or promotions that include or any number of other things your
consideration for whether a book your book along with a few comp book will improve upon.
has viable business potential. They titles. If a buyer can envision addi- There are also exceptions to the
might love the book for the writ- tional ways consumers will find one to three years guideline. Some
ing or for the content, but they also your book in their store, they’re books in some markets have a long
have to know how to position the more likely to take a higher quantity. shelf life. They might be consistent
book in the marketplace so the Those displays you see at bookstores high performers by well-known
publisher is willing to take the risk that say “If you liked _____, try writers (think Stephen King’s
on all of the costs associated with _____!”—those are comp titles. On Writing or Julia Cameron’s
producing the book. Ideally, agents I mentioned earlier that I was The Artist’s Way), but before you
and editors will be able to find a required to provide at least six comp include those on your list, consider
few books that are similar enough titles for each book I wanted to the fact that those books could be
to yours in content and produc- acquire, but what I didn’t mention hard to compete against. The other
tion, while still pointing out the gap was that all of those had to be pub- exception to the time guideline
between them that yours would fill. lished in the past one to three years. would be books related to specific
But beyond their similarities, the Because sales reps use comp titles events, such as books celebrating
agent or editor would also need to to sell books to buyers, buyers want the anniversary of something (like
consider sales of the comp titles. A to know that similar books have Woodstock) or about a current spe-
book might look great as a comp recently appealed to consumers. If a cial event (think the 2020 presidential
for content, but if it hasn’t sold well, buyer only sees comps from seven election). In those cases, it’s OK to
years ago, that can be an indication look to books about previous anni-
that doesn’t exactly encourage a
that either the fad has passed or the versaries or other less-current special
publisher to try something similar.
market is saturated in that area. events. Just make sure to have some
The Sales Team uses comp titles
newer titles too.
for a decidedly different purpose. THE CAVEATS
When the sales reps visit buyers for Given what you just read, you might Finding comp titles might feel like
bookstores or for book sections of imagine there are caveats and con- a tedious, constraining exercise, but
big box stores, oftentimes they have ditions and “what if ” scenarios to they do serve a purpose, or rather,
to encourage a buyer to take a book nearly all of it. You would be right multiple purposes. If you keep those
over other new titles in that category, and that’s what makes comp titles in mind, finding them will become
or to purchase a larger quantity. Part so challenging (and why I love them much easier and might even be fun.
of that process is to position your and hate them!). Here are just a few. In the next Notes From the Margins
book relative to other books that Perhaps you’re writing in a truly column, we’ll delve into just that:
have done well for that store in a niche market—publishers will have how you can find the most compel-
particular section. As with the agent a different expectation of what’s ling comp titles for your proposal,
and editor, the sales person will use considered a successful seller than a and how and where agents and edi-
a combination of “this is a similar more commercial market (that’s why tors might select different comp
topic as X book which your custom- I deliberately haven’t included sales titles. WD
ers bought Y copies of.” ranges). Likewise, if a comp title is
Additionally, a Buyer might be truly convincing in terms of con-
convinced to take the book, but per- tent but hasn’t sold well, the agent
haps the sales person wants them or editor can argue (internally at Amy Jones is a senior editor of WD and
the former managing content director of
to take a higher quantity from the least) that your book will be better
WD Books, North Light Books, and IMPACT
initial print run. Knowing which than the one that didn’t sell. Perhaps Books. Find her on Twitter
books your title is like will help the there wasn’t any marketing, or the @AmyMJones_5.

WritersDigest.com I 61
NOTES
FROM THE MARGINS
BY AMY JONES

L
ast issue, we talked about why
many people, myself included,
have a love/hate relation-
ship with comp titles. But, because
I knew they’re important—and
required—I needed to find a way to
make looking for them more enjoy-
able as I worked on book pitches. So,
I started to think of my search for
the perfect comp titles as a scaven-
ger hunt. I put myself in the shoes of
the book’s perfect reader and asked,
what are they reading and what do
they want to read but can’t find?
From there, it became a black hole
of internet searches.
As an example, my most recent
searches for comp titles were for
Writer’s Digest Books that I was
going to pitch to the pub board.
While all of them were books about
writing, there are smaller parts of
that niche—even smaller than sim-
ply separating books about fiction dig deeper and consider the more with already, or typing in a related
or nonfiction writing. Within fiction relevant sub-topics too. search term and restricting the
alone there are subcategories like searches to books. Once you click
WHERE YOU CAN FIND
writing characters, settings, short on a specific book or title, scroll
COMP TITLES
stories, plotting, and pacing—you get down until you see “Customers who
Online viewed this item also viewed.” There PEN ILLUSTRATION © GETTY IMAGES: MURIKA PHOTO © GETTY IMAGES: ERHUI1979
the idea. The same goes for nonfic-
tion: writing personal essays, articles, The low hanging fruit of internet you’ll see a list of titles that are
and memoirs. And this doesn’t even searches is, like it or not, Amazon. related in some way. You’ll need to
begin to address all of the different The search functionality and the search through them to see exactly
business-related aspects of these sheer volume of titles available how relevant they are, but once
types of writing (queries, proposals, make this site a quick and conve- you find one, you can use the same
etc.) or getting inspired to write. nient resource for finding comp method on that book. And thus, the
I tell you all this because next titles for even the most obscure top- internet black hole!
we’re going to look at where you can ics. Here are a few of my best tips for Once you’ve exhausted the “also
find comp titles and as you do, it’s looking for comp titles on Amazon. viewed” selections, scroll down a
important to remember to not just You can start in one of two ways: little further to the product details.
select the first books related to your looking up the title of a book in There, you’ll see several links of
topic that you find. You’ll want to your category that you’re familiar categories where this book is listed.

62 I WRITER’S DIGEST I May/June 2020

Click on the links that are most
relevant to your proposed book’s
  ’
 d r о , 
topic and you’ll find plenty of other t  y    to ! "#$ore or
potential comp titles.
Two caveats to searching on
& y to  ' () *+. - / 0t 12
Amazon: 1) Be on the lookout for 3w or e r "# 4ll fit о ! 67.
self-published titles. As I discussed
in Part 1 in the last issue of WD, your topic, that could mean your of what your agent or editor will
self-published books don’t often potential publisher could have a look for. They’ll use a service avail-
make the best comp titles, though difficult time selling your book to able to industry professionals called
buyers for those stores or libraries. NPD BookScan (formerly Nielson
that is not a comment on their
If, however, the seller or librar- BookScan). This service tracks what
inherent value. 2) Be on the look-
ian can direct you to a section, this books are sold each day, week, year,
out for very old, out-of-print books.
is your opportunity to envision your and since a book was released. It
Comp titles need to be published
book on the shelves. How full are also offers current bestseller lists for
within the past one to three years
these shelves? How are the other specific categories.
(with few exceptions).
books packaged (hardcover or paper- Your agent or editor will look
Next, try the above tactics on
back, trim size, number of pages, up the specific titles you’ve listed
bookstore websites as well. Their web-
price, etc.)? What kind of covers do and see how well they’ve sold, then
sites have similar functionalities and
they have? How are they appealing determine if they need to search for
will also give you an idea of which
to readers with the copy on the front new comp titles that can better make
books they carry in stores versus
and back covers or the first few pages the case for publishing your book.
which ones are only available online.
of the interior? “Look Inside” features They’ll also use their knowledge of
Another option for online
are great on websites, but seeing the the topic, particularly if they work
searches, though a bit more chal-
books in person can give you a more for a more niche imprint, to select
lenging, is the Library of Congress
complete picture of how books like comp titles that could be more per-
website (catalog.loc.gov/vwebv/
suasive to a pub board or sales team.
searchBrowse). They keep a list of yours are made.
all the books published in the U.S. Finding the right comp titles for your
WHERE AGENTS AND
so you’ll have to carefully narrow EDITORS FIND COMP TITLES proposed book can be a somewhat
down your search in terms of publi- Your online and in-person searches time-consuming and challenging
cation date and subject type. for the best comp titles will give task, but in the long run it’s a valu-
the agent or editor a great starting able exercise. It will help you solidify
Real Life—Retail and Libraries
your target audience base and help
After you’ve exhausted your online point for how you position your
you get to know how they search
searches, you might wonder why book in the marketplace, but they
for and buy books, like the one you
you should go to the bookstore or won’t take what you’ve provided and
hope to get in their hands. And all
library to look for comp titles. This simply call it done. Instead, if they
of that information can help you
is about seeing how and where your are intrigued by your proposal, they
persuade your potential agent or
book will fit in on the shelves. It will will conduct their own comp title
publisher that you and your book
help you connect with the people searches before choosing to pitch
are in their best interest. WD
who are selling, recommending, your book to an editor or pub board.
or helping people find your book. Your searches likely won’t be able
Librarians and booksellers know to quantify how successful those Amy Jones is a senior editor of WD and
the former managing content director of
their stuff—if they can’t give you books have been in terms of sales
WD Books, North Light Books, and IMPACT
a good feel for how or where their (rankings on websites can change Books. Find her on Twitter
customers will search for a book on daily or even hourly), so this is part @AmyMJones_5.

WritersDigest.com I 63
NOTES
FROM THE MARGINS
BY AMY JONES

Identifying Your Book’s

Target Audience

F
or about two years before I to continue writing, but it can also If you know your target audience,
became an editor, I was an help you organize your book. you are more likely to know if, gener-
English composition instruc- When writing a nonfiction book, ally speaking, they have some exist-
tor for first-year college students. it’s common to write it because you ing knowledge about the topic or not.
(I was not good at it.) During that think you have something to share— If they do have some background,
time, one of the most important information to impart, stories to tell. you can more likely use industry
things I tried to drive home to the And that’s true—you should have terms without defining them or skip
students was: Know your audience. something unique to say or a unique over certain basic information. Or, if
Whenever, wherever, and whatever way of saying it. But, you aren’t the you’re writing to beginners, including
you are writing, knowing who your most important part of your book; a glossary or the nitty-gritty basics
audience actually is vs. who you the reader is. Your reader needs to can be crucial. This can help you and
want it to be is crucial. know why and how your book will your future publisher identify gaps in
And that means, unfortunately, help them solve a problem or enrich your table of contents.
your book is not for everyone. But their lives. It’s what keeps them inter- Identifying what you need to
instead of fixating on that disap- ested and invested in your book. And leave out can be one of the most
pointing fact, let’s focus on identi- that means you aren’t writing for difficult parts of writing a book for
fying your audience and what that yourself, even if that’s a lovely moti- another, more personal reason as
means as you write your nonfic- vating sentiment we like to tell our- well. Some of the authors I worked
tion book and the corresponding selves to keep our inner critic at bay. with struggled with this: coming
book proposal. (Meta lesson one: By (Meta lesson two: Here I’m making to terms with the idea that a story
saying “your nonfiction book,” I’m the assumption that my readers are or experience that was meaningful
identifying part of my audience as folks who want to sell their books. If to them might not have relevance
people writing nonfiction.) you don’t want to sell your book, you to their readers. They would spend
wouldn’t need to read further or put time trying to rework the mate-
BEFORE YOU START WRITING together a book proposal.) rial to get it in and many, but not
It might seem odd to think about Knowing what your reader wants all, would eventually realize it’s not
identifying your book’s audience from your book will help you deter- meant for this book. Cliché as it is,
PEN ILLUSTRATION © GETTY IMAGES: MURIKA

before you start writing it, but mine what information they need, it’s called “killing your darlings” for
this can save you a lot of time and when in the book they need it (i.e. a reason.
energy in the long run. If you have what background information they But don’t throw those darlings
a seemingly brilliant idea for a book, might need first and therefore, an away just yet! Save them all and you
knowing that there is an audience organizational strategy for your may just discover you’ve got another
for it and who that audience is can chapters), and most importantly, book in you for a different audience.
not only provide motivation for you what you need to leave out. Many of my authors did.

60 I WRITER’S DIGEST I January/February 2021

FOR YOUR NONFICTION V7  ' W8ors I YZG [8 +\]d [8 ^:
BOOK PROPOSAL
As you put together your nonfic- (`E to 0a [8 ' bO 8at a +ory or f ‫פ‬g#h
tion book proposal, you’ll want to
get as specific as possible about
8at i 7jkl to 'm `ot not p qre
your target audience. This will help to 'v Ls.
your potential agent or editor make
a compelling case for publication. identified mystery/thriller writers as • Does your book present a new
But what kind of specifics should a large target audience for that book. way of thinking for this group?
you include? But we also listed writers of other • How does your book fill a gap or
genres like romance and YA because solve a problem for this group?
First, try to identify three size-
lovers quarrel and teenagers have
able, yet legitimate groups of people All of this information is very prac-
schoolyard fights. Those scenes need
who might benefit from reading your tical and pragmatic sounding. But
to be just as realistic as the heroine’s
book. Think about professional orga- keep in mind how your genre will
escape from her captor in a crime
nizations, hobby groups, disciplines, influence what you provide to
novel.
age or other demographic groups, readers. Nonfiction encompasses
Secondly, include information
social media groups, etc. This might
about how you are connected to inspiration and humor and essay
even include groups that you’ve cre-
these audiences. Are you part of collections and more. So maybe
ated. For example, if you’re think-
a specific demographic included what you’re going to provide read-
ing about writing an event planning
in your target audience? Are you a ers is something they didn’t know
book, don’t just say “event planners”
dues-paying member of a local or they needed, like new ways to laugh
would be interested. Instead, identify
national chapter of a professional about cats.
specific event planning organizations
organization? Are you a leader, If you’ve been reading this column
and associations to which event plan-
speaker, or instructor for one of for a while, some of this talk about
ners might belong.
these organizations? Do you have “filling a gap” or “solving a problem”
Once you’ve identified groups,
connections to leaders or others who might sound reminiscent of our con-
try to find reputable sources for
can help spread the word about your versations about comp titles (April
potential sizes of those groups.
book? You can probably guess that and May/June). You’re not wrong.
Sometimes, it’ll be easy and the
knowing who your target audience is Choosing comp titles and identifying
membership size will be listed on an
begins the process of creating a mar- your audience work together to pro-
organization’s website. Other times,
keting plan to sell your book. vide a complete picture of the poten-
you might have to dig into news-
Finally, identify why these people tial market for the book.
paper articles or industry studies.
would want to read your book. This is
Include a note if the group has seen
what we call “evidence of need.” What Just like any part of writing a book,
sizeable growth in recent weeks/
information are you going to provide identifying the potential audience
months/years because that can indi-
that people know they want or need? can be a time-intensive task. And
cate momentum for a topic.
Consider the following questions. in some cases, it might yield disap-
This is the New Perspectives issue,
pointing results. But when you do
so I’ll encourage you to get creative • Is the information you aim
find that sweet spot of a great idea
as you think about who might be to provide only available in
and a captive audience, that’s a book
interested in your book. Start with disparate places online, mak-
the low-hanging fruit (like in the ing it hard to find something worth writing. WD
example above) but then think about comprehensive?
adjacent audiences. When Fight • Are most other books on the
Write author Carla Hoch and I were topic directed toward a different
working on that book’s proposal, we piece of the audience? Amy Jones is editor-in-chief of WD.

WritersDigest.com I 61
NOTES
FROM THE MARGINS
BY AMY JONES

Welcome to Notes From the

Margins, WD’s new column about
the traditional book publishing
business. In this column, we’ll con-
sider the ins and outs of how books
are made and what book editors
really do all day. We’ll cover topics
such as comp titles, things your edi-
tor can and cannot fix, how long it
takes to make a book once it’s been
acquired, and much more.
There’s plenty I’ll share based
on my experiences with first-time
authors, but of course, in true WD
form, I want to hear from you.
What do you want to know about
working with an editor or publish-
ing a book with a traditional pub-
lisher? Send your questions my way
using the wdsubmissions@aimmedia.
com email and use “Notes From the
Margins” in the subject line.
Since this is The Beginnings
Issue and the start of this column,
let’s talk about questions every first-
These are the four questions how the publisher approaches fair
time author should ask their editor

PEN ILLUSTRATION © GETTY IMAGES: MURIKA PHOTO © GETTY IMAGES: GRABILLCREATIVE

every first-time author should ask use of copyrighted material, and
at the beginning of their editorial
their editor. requesting permission for reprint-
relationship. Your editor might
ing previously published mate-
very well answer all these questions 1. ASK FOR THE AUTHOR’S rial. It may also, though not always,
before you get a chance to ask them, GUIDE.
include contact information for
but if one person acquired the book If this document wasn’t given to you
other folks at the publishing house
and another person will edit the by your editor shortly after signing you can contact if you have ques-
book and another person worked your contract, ask for it before ask- tions not best suited for your editor,
with you on the contract, things ing anything else. The author’s guide plus a tentative timeline for future
may be overlooked. There’s also details the critical pieces of how parts of the editing process.
the potential that your editor may to best work with your editor and The key here is to read the author
assume you know something or depending on your publisher, the guide from front to back. It will
forget to mention something in the guide may be seven pages long or likely address questions you wanted
fog of working on a dozen or more 27 pages long. It will tell you things to ask, plus questions you didn’t
projects at once. like how to format your manuscript, know you wanted the answers

82 I WRITER’S DIGEST I January/February 2020

to. And if you pay attention to the
guidelines in the author’s guide, par-
It’s 12 to WË ÌÁt r ®'  (hKe D
ticularly when it comes to format- Í6•at¿n ) ½Îe  *¦ о  ®'. It Ä2
ting your manuscript and turning in
files, your editor with thank you.
Ï5;~F  r š„T ) ÐÎÑ r
2. ASK ABOUT THE TIMELINE.
J@оÒÓ  [ten@] (s. Ôd ’s no beÕ
In your contract, you’ll likely see a @~ to WË ÌÁt r ®' than ½ a `Rr _
due date for turning in your com-
plete manuscript, plus a clause stat-
R]× ) ½ ‹e-or/ _ ±ØJ6e.
ing the publisher will publish the
3. ASK WHEN WORK ON THE for example. The style guide notes
book within X number of months
COVER WILL BEGIN AND those choices, plus how phrases
after receiving and approving the WHEN PRE-ORDERING WILL common to the publisher’s par-
manuscript. But what happens during BEGIN.
ticular content ought to be writ-
those months and when? Ask your It’s great to talk about your book in
ten. For instance, the WD magazine
editor for a timeline of when you’ll be advance of publication and while you
style guide prefers that we not use
required to review edits of the manu- work on the book. It creates excite-
the phrase “kid lit” but rather use
script throughout the rest of the pro- ment with your audience and builds
“young adult” or the abbreviation
cess and how long you’ll be given to your relationship with potential read-
“YA” but only after the first reference.
do that. The timeline he offers may be ers. And there’s no better time to talk
If you ask for the style guide, you
tentative, but it will give you an idea about your book than when a cover don’t need to try to follow it (though
of how to manage your life beyond is revealed and when pre-ordering is bonus points if you do!). But, it will
working on the book. If you normally available. Getting an idea for when help you understand some of the
plan a jam-packed family vacation you’ll be able to share a cover image seemingly arbitrary changes your
during April but that will coincide and announce pre-orders may help editor might make to your manu-
with your first round of revisions, you plan your blog posts and social script as she edits it.
you might want to pick a different media calendar. One more quick tip about asking
time to schedule that trip, or opt for a A word of caution, though: Be questions of your editor: You might
quiet cabin getaway where you can sit prepared for the timeline to change be the kind of person who prefers to
down with the manuscript and work on this. Creating a book cover is talk on the phone rather than email.
for a few hours each morning. a long, complicated process with That’s great! Personal connection
You’ll also want to know when many participants who often have makes for strong, lasting relation-
the book is expected to be published, very strong opinions, so delays are ships. However, your editor might
but a smart first-time author will ask inevitable. not have all the information you
two versions of this question: When 4. ASK FOR THE HOUSE ask for at her fingertips if you call
will the book be in the warehouse, STYLE GUIDE. her unexpectedly. Send her an email
and when will it be published? The A house style guide tells how pieces noting the things you’d specifically
gap between these two dates allows of the manuscript are written. It like to talk about in a call. That way,
the book to be shipped from the ensures that words, numbers, and she can have all the information
publisher’s fulfillment warehouse punctuation are consistent through- prepared for you and the time you
to bookstores before it’s available to out your book and the many other spend on the phone is put to good
the general public. Usually this is a books an imprint produces. Most use. WD
period of waiting for authors, but if trade book publishers follow the
you have a special event or teaching Chicago Manual of Style but with
gig that falls between those two dates, slight deviations if the publisher or Amy Jones is a senior editor of WD and
the former managing content director of
your publisher might be able to get copy chief has opinions about things
WD Books, North Light Books, and IMPACT
copies early—but only with plenty of like the serial comma or using they/ Books. Find her on Twitter
notice and if you ask politely. theirs/them as a singular pronoun, @AmyMJones_5.

WritersDigest.com I 83
NOTES
FROM THE MARGINS
BY AMY JONES

E
ach week I do volunteer work
at a local cat rescue. Cleaning
the cat rooms and socializing
the cats is a great way to decompress
after a stressful day at the office.
When the other volunteers found
out I was a book editor, they asked
if I would help them make a book
about the shelter. It was a project
that had long been on their list to
raise awareness of and fundraise
for the shelter, but they didn’t know
where to begin. When I said I’d help,
the first thing I did was create a
schedule for our process.
Although we are self-publishing
the book, the schedule I created
for our volunteer group was based
entirely on the format of the sched-
ule Writer’s Digest Books, along
with other nonfiction imprints
under the same parent company,
used to create its books. This break-
down will give you an idea of what
you can expect if you’ve signed a script is already written, when we aren’t worried about grammar and

PEN ILLUSTRATION © GETTY IMAGES: MURIKA PHOTO © GETTY IMAGES: TOWFIQU PHOTOGRAPHY
contract with a traditional pub- want the book to be published, and punctuation at this point, especially
lisher, or you can use it as a guide therefore how much wiggle room if there are large-scale revisions
to keep you on track if you need we have left for the remainder of the that need to be made. Ideally an
accountability as you work on schedule. Essentially, start with the editor has about two months for
self-publishing. pub date you want, take the rest of this part of the process, though it
the schedule into account, and that can be done in less time if neces-
MANUSCRIPT DUE DATES
will show you how much time you sary. This is a good time to remind
When the contract is signed, it
have for this piece. you that the editor is also working
includes two manuscript due dates
on many other books at different
for the author. A partial MS is due CONTENT EDIT
stages at the same time and these
three to six months after the con- This is when the editor reads and
time periods all take that juggling
tract is signed and the remaining/ edits the manuscript to see if it is act into account.
full MS is due another three to a cohesive whole. Is it well-orga-
six months after the first deadline. nized? Is there information miss- FIRST AUTHOR REVIEW
These time frames are based on sev- ing? What needs to be revised to After the editor reviews the manu-
eral factors: how much of the manu- make it clearer for the reader? We script, she sends it back to the author

62 I WRITER’S DIGEST I March 2020

for revision. This time frame is a author disagree, the editor considers FINAL EDIT REVIEW
lot shorter than you’d expect—just what will most benefit the reader’s The editor gets one week to review
about two to three weeks. This is understanding. The manuscript is the book for errors one last time
why it behooves you to send the best then laid out in InDesign using the and to input the index and the
possible version of your manuscript template created by the designer. remaining author changes.
when it is first due. After that first The editor or the designer might do After the final edit review, the
due date, the process goes remark- this. This part of the process is allot- files go to prepress and then on to
ably fast (and yet takes an incredibly ted three to four weeks and can be a the printer. Time frames for print-
long time from start to finish)! very time-intensive process depend- ing and delivery of the books vary
ing on the number of graphs, charts, wildly depending on where the
COPYEDIT AND DESIGN
or images included. printer is located and what kind
When the author returns the edited
of deal the publisher has arranged
manuscript, the editor has a lim- EDIT REVIEW with the printer for printing time-
ited amount of time to review the After the book is designed, it goes lines. It is often a matter of months
changes before it goes on to copy- to edit review for three weeks. For to a finished product, though if
edit—usually less than a week, in
the first two weeks of this period you’re doing a self-published title,
fact. While we’re reviewing the edits,
the book is being proofread by two you could have a printed copy of
we are also pulling out examples of
people, usually the editor and a your book in as little as a week.
each type of text, called paragraph
proofreader who has never seen the The book editing process is neat
styles (heds, sample text, pull quotes,
book before. The editor can iden- and orderly for a reason. Publishing
regular paragraphs, lists, etc.) for
tify mistakes that were introduced books is an investment of time
the designer. The entire manuscript
during the design process based on and money so it’s important to
then goes to the copy editor, who
their knowledge of the book and get it right. That said, all of these
has two weeks to review the entire time frames are flexible and can be
the proofreader is looking at the
manuscript for sentence structure, adjusted, though it will impact the
grammar, and house style of the whole book with fresh eyes. During
the third week of this period the pub date. If a book is being “crashed
imprint. The designer gets the sam- in” to the schedule, meaning added
ples of each paragraph style and has editor makes the needed changes in
the digital files. in for a quicker release date, usu-
about one month to create a tem- ally to take advantage of a cultural
plate that matches the cover. FINAL DESIGN REVIEW moment or special event, weeks and
SECOND AUTHOR REVIEW During the final design review, the days are cut out from as many parts
After the copyedit is completed, the designer has one week to correct of the process as needed to get the
author gets the entire manuscript any design issues and start prepar- files to the printer on time to make
again for two weeks. During this ing the files for the printer. the specified pub date. On the other
time they review the changes sug- hand, if a book needs more revision,
INDEXING AND FINAL the pub date may be pushed out to
gested by the copy editor. If the AUTHOR REVIEW
change makes sense, they accept it. allow more time for the author. This
During this time, the indexer has
If they disagree with a change, they is all to say, book publishing is the
one to two weeks to create an index
add a comment explaining why. exact opposite of chaos—until it’s
for the book. At the same time, the
not. WD
DESIGN LAYOUT author gets to see the book in its
The author sends their second nearly finished form. The author has
review back to the editor, who then the same amount of time to make Amy Jones is a senior editor of WD and
the former managing content director of
rectifies the changes requested minimal corrections but nothing
WD Books, North Light Books, and IMPACT
by the copy editor and author. In that would impact the accuracy of Books. Find her on Twitter
instances where the copy editor and the index. @AmyMJones_5.

WritersDigest.com I 63
NOTES
FROM THE MARGINS
BY AMY JONES

H
ere’s my confession: Every
morning when I open my
email, I feel guilty. At the
end of the day, when I close my
email and turn off my computer, I
feel guilty then, too. No matter how
hard I try, I feel like I can never
answer emails as quickly as I want
to. I can’t remember if I heard the
following suggestion in a career
class, or if my first managing editor
shared it with me, but during my
first job as an editor, I set a rule for
myself to answer every email within
24 business hours. Years later, this is
still my goal and not hitting it is the
source of my guilt.
You’ve probably seen the guide-
lines on submission pages letting you
know it’ll be weeks or potentially
even months before an agent or edi-
tor will reply to your book proposal.
Why does it take them so long to get
back to you? And once you are their
author, why can it sometimes take
days to get an email reply or even information written in a certain items of note relating to the

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weeks to get edits back? way for the sales team. Different book or author or why the book
Even though the word edit is in publishing houses call these is being released at a particular
the job title, there’s an extraordi- papers different things—some time, a paragraph description
nary amount of things that are not are called title information of the book, an author bio, the
editing going on behind the scenes. sheets, others call them one- author’s social media, whether
Editing requires concentration and, sheets or sell sheets—but they the author would be willing to
for me at least, an uninterrupted contain basics about the book do events, etc.
block of time to focus on the project. and author in order to educate 2. WRITING MARKETING COPY, BUT

If you’ve ever been curious about the sales person about that title. DIFFERENT —Yes, that’s right.
The sales person can then use The first set of marketing copy
what an editor really does, here’s an
that information when talk- won’t work for all purposes; it
inside look.
ing to buyers at different book has to be rewritten or adapted
1. WRITING MARKETING COPY — retailers. It often includes details for other documents such as the
For each book an editor works about comp titles (including catalogue for that season’s books
on, they are asked to provide sales figures), bullet points about or a presentation in PowerPoint.

76 I WRITER’S DIGEST I September/October 2020

 Because the audience and pur- cover, many people at the pub- year, your editor might also help
pose for these documents vary lishing house have judged the to plan conferences or virtual
from the sell sheets, some infor- book’s cover and about a dozen events, or connect writers to the
mation may need to be omitted (or three dozen!) previous ver- organizers of the online educa-
or rewritten. sions. The meetings to decide tion platform for that brand.
Another version of copy that titles and covers are both fun
your editor will likely spend time and brutal—and there are lots These are all things that take an
writing is the back-panel copy, of them. Everyone from the editor’s time away from the actual
that text that appears on the back editorial team to the sales team work of editing. And most of them,
of the book or on the dust jacket to management and the design- those pesky company meetings
or its online product listing. This ers all weigh in, bringing their aside, are ultimately for the benefit
is some of the most important particular needs and concerns of books like yours. But, there might
copy your editor will write so to the table—what they believe be one additional reason it takes a
there will be rounds of drafts and to be in the best interest of the while to get edits back to you. There
revisions circulated among the book. have been times in the past when an
editorial and sales teams to make 5. MEETINGS —Aside from cover author has returned their pages back
sure it’s compelling, accurate to and title meetings, there are to me in two days instead of two
the finished book, and grammat- myriad other meetings that weeks, hoping that I’ll also return
ically correct. occupy your editor’s time. There them in two days. This will almost
3. WORKING WITH FREELANCERS — are production schedule meet- never happen.
For each book, your editor will ings to ensure each book is on Editing is like a scavenger hunt,
work with a number of freelanc- time and if not, why not. There or a hidden-picture puzzle, and
ers for things like copy edit- are meetings to look at sample sometimes you need to take a break
ing, fact-checking, proofreading, pages of the layout of a book, and come back to it with fresh eyes
indexing, illustrating, design- particularly if the book involves to see what’s missing or what needs
ing, and more. Although edi- images or illustrations. There are to be fixed. If a book is fresh in my
tors develop relationships with pub board meetings to discuss mind, I’m more likely to miss errors
freelancers and create a stable of the acquisition of new books. because my eyes skip over words
them to use on multiple proj- Not to mention the division- or since the text is familiar. If I work
ects, your editor isn’t the only company-wide meetings that on another project for a few weeks,
person the freelancer is work- occur right when you have a going back to the first project is like
ing for. Finding someone who is hard deadline! looking at it for the first time again.
available, explaining the project 6. BOOK-ADJACENT PROJECTS — Taking all of this into consider-
to them, negotiating a rate, and Depending on the type and size ation though, your editor should
creating a contract all take time of your publisher, your editor still be responsive to you. I lament
and often involves reaching out may also be involved in book- not always being able to reply in
to several people. Multiply this by adjacent projects. This includes 24 hours, but I try to make it a rare
the eight to 12 books your editor things like posting content on occasion when it’s longer than a few
is working on at any given time websites or social media (or days. If you’re actively working with
and things can get out of hand providing relevant information the editor, don’t hesitate to send a
quickly. Then, after the freelancer to the person who will post it) follow-up email after a few days. If
is finished with the project, your or helping to answer customer it’s a new pitch or proposal, heed the
editor has to check that the work service questions that are more submission guidelines and wait a
is sound, implement the changes, esoteric than the usual dam- few weeks before following up. WD
and process or request payment aged book type requests. If your
for the freelancer. publisher does more than pub-
4. COVERS —Before you get the lish books, as was the case with
chance to judge a book by its Writer’s Digest Books until last Amy Jones is editor-in-chief of WD.

WritersDigest.com I 77
NOTES
FROM THE MARGINS
BY AMY JONES

W
hen I first started work
in nonfiction book
publishing, one thing
surprised me more than anything
else: What goes into choosing a
nonfiction book title. I was (and
still am) a more avid reader of fic-
tion than nonfiction so my inter-
nalized knowledge was that book
titles were aesthetically pleasing
allusions to the story that would be
made clear by reading the book. I
quickly discovered this is not true
of nonfiction.
Many authors I worked with on
their nonfiction books were equally heavy lifting of telling people what’s or Mastering Plot Twists by Jane K.
surprised that we, the publisher, Cleland are great examples.
in the book. Here are a few exam-
didn’t automatically defer to their
ples from Writer’s Digest Books.
title of choice because they too, pre- STAKEHOLDERS
ferred a beautiful instead of func- • Fight Write: How to Write When we talk about titling a book
tional title. That was a hard conver- Believable Fight Scenes by with a traditional publisher, it’s help-
sation every time it happened. But Carla Hoch ful to know exactly how many peo-
nine times out of 10, those same • The Fire in Fiction: Purpose, ple are involved and more impor-
authors were pleasantly surprised by Passion, and Techniques to tantly, why they’re involved.
the resulting sales of their book. Make Your Novel Great by 1. THE EDITOR —The editor collects
The purpose of sharing these Donald Maass ideas from the author about

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tips is two-fold: 1) To prepare those • The Byline Bible: Get Published what the title should be or not
of you hoping for traditional non- in Five Weeks by Susan Shapiro be. The editor also brings their
fiction publishing contracts with
own ideas about the title to the
what to expect when it comes to In each of these, the main title
table. These two know more
working with your publisher on the (before the colon) is catchy and
about the book than anyone else,
title, or 2) To help those of you who attention grabbing, while the sub-
but since authors are not typi-
opt for self-publishing choose more title (after the colon) offers more cally invited to title meetings,
effective titles. about what the book will teach read- the editor has to speak up when
ers. Without those subtitles, it’s hard a suggestion doesn’t accurately
WORKING TOGETHER: TITLE
AND SUBTITLE telling what those books are about. reflect the content of the book or
For nonfiction books, the title Of course, there are exceptions is counter to the author’s brand,
includes a main title and a subtitle. in which the main title is catchy and while also negotiating what the
Often, the main title is more cre- tells what the book is without look- publisher wants.
ative or a bold statement to catch ing at the subtitle. How to Write a 2. SALES REPS —Since these are the
attention, and the subtitle does the Page-Turner by Jordan Rosenfeld folks who sell books to the store

78 I WRITER’S DIGEST I November/December 2020

 buyers, they have insight into the book. The title should be group came up with a clever
what those buyers are looking appealing (which is subjective), play on words. When we typed
for and what has sold well pre- but it should also accurately in the title to see if it had been
viously. They know what terms reflect what’s inside. For nonfic- used before, the majority of the
or phrases might be overused tion, that means the thematic top results were pornographic.
and on the down swing, or what subject matter, but also the Not quite what we had intended
terms are trending up. Book basic selling points. If you’re and not where we wanted our
titles aren’t and shouldn’t be writing a cookbook, the number book to be positioned.
totally decided by trends, but and type of recipes is important, 4. SALES —If an imprint focuses
they do play a role. or perhaps that they take fewer on a particular type of nonfic-
3. THE PUBLISHER —This person than 30 minutes to make, or tion publishing, chances are they
might not know each specific that they all have 10 ingredients know if certain words, phrases,
book as well as the editor, but or fewer. It’s also important not or titling tactics have been suc-
as the brand manager for the to mislead readers by overinflat- cessful in the past. For example,
imprint, they have a stake in ing what’s inside. Writer’s Digest Books published
making sure the title fits within 2. OTHER BOOKS —Another key a number of books of writing
the larger collection of works, or factor is whether another book prompts and it was clear to see
if it doesn’t, that there’s a specific exists with this title. If a clever that those with a higher number
reason for it. play on words is used, it’s worth of prompts listed in the title sold
4. THE DESIGNER —While the searching to see if someone else better than those with lower
designer might not care what had the same idea. If so, regard- numbers. Not including a num-
the title ends up being from a less of whether it’s on the same ber wasn’t even considered.
content perspective, they have a topic as yours, it’s worth find- 5. PERSONAL PREFERENCE —While
stake in how the title appears on ing a new title. While titles can’t the personal preference of an
the cover. We always included be copyrighted, using the same author is not always the first
the cover designer in our title one is poor form and doesn’t consideration for a publisher,
meetings because they could help sales. Your book should be it does factor into choosing a
weigh in on whether a title was unique and memorable, not to be title. The author’s name is on the
getting too unwieldy to look confused with another person’s. book and they represent it in the
decent, or if a certain arrange- 3. INTERNET SEARCH RESULTS — world so they should be proud
ment of words would allow While searching for book titles, to stand next to it or have it on
them to do something visually for nonfiction books it’s use- their website. Sometimes that
creative that could add to the ful to consider popular inter- means a compromise between
cover appeal. net search terms related to publisher and author.
your topic. If you’re writing an
FACTORS CONSIDERED If you’re self-publishing, you have
instructional book about art
I mentioned in the previous Notes the prerogative to ignore all factors
journaling, simply using the
From the Margins that title and cover except personal preference. But make
word journaling in the title isn’t
design meetings were often long, sure to consider your goals and target
going to be helpful because that
intense conversations. When you audience before you do. WD
will bring up results for all types
combine all the stakeholders men-
of journaling. But if you use “art
tioned above with the considerations
journaling” that narrows down
noted below, you’ll see why. If you’re
the results a bit.
planning to self-publish, your job is
This is also a good time to
to act as each stakeholder above as
consider inadvertent search
you think about the following.
results. I was once in a title
1. THE CONTENT —The first con- meeting for a book about body
sideration is the content in painting as an art form and the Amy Jones is editor-in-chief of WD.

WritersDigest.com I 79