Proposing

Bitch Ph.D. was wondering about book proposals:

I'm not even going to talk about the other work I should be doing, except to say that my book proposal got turned down so now I need to either see if it's negotiable (I wanted to do a complete edition of a very long out-of-print thing, sort of to support the monograph I'm working on, and now I wonder if the press might be willing to do a shorter edition, with maybe some supplementary web stuff--they've done that sort of thing before, I believe) or whether I should just see if someone else might want it. Advice?

As someone pointed out in her comments, it's kosher to send out proposals to more than one publisher at once. However, as I soon realized when I was shopping my book around, you need to do a wee bit of tap-dancing. First, it's important to be honest. Given the hoops the proposal may need to jump through--getting past an editorial board, for example--the acquisitions editor really does need to know if the project is being considered elsewhere. Second, some publishers will demand right of first refusal if the book makes it to the next stage of consideration; if you have too many such publishers in the mix at the same time, you may find yourself inadvertently hamstrung. It's always a good idea to make it clear in your cover letter that you understand the publisher's positions on these matters. Third, even if the publishers don't demand right of first refusal, you'll still need to be open about what's happening at other houses. It may affect one publisher's calendar, for example, if another has sent your MS out to a referee.

Comments

[bitchphd]

Thank you!