I've been rejected by a lot of publishers and literary agents. It’s been a long, unbroken string of polite emails, mostly form letters, letting me know they wouldn’t be moving forward with my book proposal — each of them absent of any specific reasons why.
But then I got this one:
“While the subject matter of your work is within the scope of our publications, I am afraid that the marketplace as it is right now demands a lot more of an author in terms of marketing presence. I am afraid we need our authors to be speaking three or more times a month nationally and have a robust media and social media following. I am afraid it appears you are still in the nascent stages of building your platform and so this would not be a good fit for us.”
My first reaction was entirely beside the point, which was that starting three sentences in a row with “I am afraid” is pretty bad writing. I wonder if this person has access to any sort of editorial services that could help them improve their writing.
But my second reaction was how backward this all felt.
If I already had a robust national speaking schedule and a massive social following, I wouldn't need a traditional publisher. I could self-publish and then sell the book directly to my audience (otherwise known as the core principle of content marketing).
They wanted proof I had already succeeded at the thing they’re saying they can help me do. I understand the business logic and the desire to reduce risk, but it’s an obvious catch-22: you need a platform to get your book published, but getting it published is often how you build a platform.
What irks me the most about this whole approach is that I doubt any of these publishers or literary agents are even bothering to read any of the actual book. In my career, I’ve always wanted to work with good writers, and within three minutes of reading their writing samples, I knew whether I would consider them good writers. That, I would think, would carry some weight. If I’m a publisher, some aspect of my approach would be allowing the work to speak for itself — which means reading some of the book and seeing if it’s any good — right?
Of course, I’m well aware the world doesn’t actually work this way. But I've always had this romantic notion about the truth, that it should be able to stand on its own, and if you're doing something genuinely good, building something real, or solving an actual problem then people will recognize it and the work will find its audience.
I’m not the only person to feel this way. In 1794, George Washington wrote to Charles Mynn Thruston in response to a faction of seemingly misinformed Kentuckians who wanted to separate from the United States and rejoin Britain. He wrote that while "it is not difficult by concealment of some facts, & the exageration of others, (where there is an influence) to biass [a] well-meaning mind—at least for a time—truth will ultimately prevail …"
There you go! Truth will ultimately prevail! If my book is any good then it, and the truths contained therein, will prevail! There’s no need for me to read to the end of that sentence Washington wrote, right?
" … truth will ultimately prevail where pains is taken to bring it to light."
Turns out he wasn't saying the truth takes care of itself. He was saying the truth needs someone willing to do the work of bringing it to light.
I believe in my book and my overall approach to marketing — that it’s grounded, useful, and genuinely needed. But the quality of the work and the reach of the work are two completely different things. And I do need to take more pains to bring it all to light. So I'm continuing to build the personal brand that publisher wanted me to already have, and I’ll continue doing it by following the principles in the book.
Boring, deliberate, process-first marketing. No gimmicks. No shortcuts. No manufactured virality.
The truth, as it turns out, does need help.
But when I do finally build a robust media and social media following, I’m definitely going to write the specific publisher back and say, “I am afraid your services are no longer needed.”
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