editorial

Is It Wise to Pitch a Previously-Published Book to a New Publisher?

Irene Watson

I got this email recently:

I self-published my book several years ago but many of those that read the book think it should be published by one of the major publishing houses. How do I get the attention of a publisher?

Many self-published authors, or those using self-publishing or subsidy firms, feel they could get a great their break if they self-publish first and then get a traditional publisher. After all, many did.  Take for example Mark Twain, John Grisham, James Redfield, Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, Beatrix Potter and many others.  Their works have sold millions of copies and became best sellers.  Many were picked up by major publishing houses but many continue to self-publish.

I believe it's tough to re-sell a book that has been published already. Many traditional publishers feel that the self-published book has already reached its audience; in most cases this is less than 200. According to an article in The New York Times:

For many self-published authors, the niche is very small. Mr. Weiss of Author Solutions [iUniverse, AuthorHouse, Xlibris, and about 5 other imprints] estimates that the average number of copies sold of titles published through one of its brands is just 150.

In many other cases the book just isn't worth publishing or let alone reading.  The same article says:

Diamonds in the rough, though, remain the outliers. “For every thousand titles that get self-published, maybe there’s two that should have been published,” said Cathy Langer, lead buyer for the Tattered Cover bookstores in Denver, who said she had been inundated by requests from self-published authors to sell their books. “People think that just because they’ve written something, there’s a market for it. It’s not true.”

And, I can't help but wholeheartedly agree with Ms. Langer except the fact that I would say only 20% shouldn't have published at all; that is, from what passes over my desk and often straight into the recycle bin.  Those don't make the grade of being listed for review.  Many books aren't even worth donating to the library or charity.  Yes...really, they are that bad. My percentage is probably less because Tattered Cover gets more authors sending books in for consideration because the ultimate dream is to get the book into a bookstore.  Many authors don't even know there is such a thing as a review, let alone how to find a reviewer. Yes...really.

 Norm Goldman from BookPleasures.com, when asked how many books he rejects upfront, claims that about 10% are not readable.  He also says "Personally, I chuck the book aside if after the first 50 pages the book is a disaster, and this includes books received as part of my Priority Review Service."  I asked Ellen Feld of FeatheredQuill.com the same question and she said "Outright reject?  Not many, I'd say less than 5%.  However, about 40% of self-pub (slightly higher for subsidy - maybe 50/60% and guessing this is because the author assumes the subsidy is taking care of it) have some editorial problems that Joe Buying Public would find annoying.  We mention these problems in our reviews but don't outright reject the book - the quality isn't so bad as to demand rejection."

Back to pitching to a big publishing house.  If you choose to contact a traditional publisher, either major or a small press, one thing you can't hide is that your book was previously published.  I've heard of authors being advised (by so called experts) that if they change 10% of the content it becomes a new book.  Others advise 20 to 40 percent.  Not.  It's still the same book.  If the publisher finds out that you are being deceptive it is doubtful that you will get your second foot in the door. Your credibility will out the door along with you.
So, what do you do?

One thing is you can completely rewrite the book and actually make it new work.  But, ethically, you still need to let the publisher know about the first version. Or, you can be honest and admit that your book was published by an amateurish self-publishing firm that didn't support distribution, or you can admit that you self-published and didn't know what you were doing. 

That latter will have to be done from integrity and put the ego aside.  You could admit the sales were extremely low because of bad marketing strategies on your part. This would imply that, although the book has been published, it really didn't populate the market. However, you will also have to admit that you learned a lot and present the potential publisher with an extremely strong marketing plan with a substantial amount of marketing funds on hand - your funds, not the publisher's funds. The publisher has to feel confident that you can actually execute the marketing of the book, because, after all, publishers are in business and they make money from the sale of your book.  That's how they pay for their mortgages.  You have to prove to them that you are worth the risk to output money on their part.  They will be expecting a high return on their investment and you have to prove you can net this return to them. In the end, it ends up not about the book but how well you can market it.  If you weren't able to the first time around why would anyone assume you could the second time around?

I want to know your thoughts on this topic. Do you have any experiences to share?  Do you have advice for authors?  I'd like to hear from you here.

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