What authors should do 1 year before pitching their book*

Part 1 in my No-Bullshit Guide to Book Publishing*

(*You may be able to circumvent this if you have been abducted by aliens or are Meryl Streep’s kid.)

I know what I’ll do to get published… Start writing! (Well, sort of.)

So, you’ve got a great idea for a book! Good for you!

This is about what you should do a year prior to pitching your book.

When pitching your book, publishers will want two things: your book pitch and your marketing plan. This article is not about how to start writing your book, or how to pitch it. It’s about what to do the year before you ever think of publishing your book.

Follow my advice for one year and you will significantly increase your chances of:

• choosing which publisher to go with, rather than feeling like you’re begging for whatever you can get.
• positioning folks to buy your book if you self-publish.

Your year prior to pitching, a no-bullshit plan of action

Create a body of work and get noticed.
This, in my mind, is the fun part. WRITING! (Isn’t this what it’s all about?)…