This week we’re talking to one of my greatest friends in the industry since 2007, Karen Ball.

Karen has been the executive editor and director of fiction at several publishing houses. She’s now an agent at the Steve Laube Agency. She has experience on basically every side of the desk. She’s been an agent, an editor, and one of the best editors I’ve ever been around. She trained my editor, Julie Schwarzberg.

Karen has also been a writer and is an author, so she has an incredibly well-rounded resume to talk about this industry. She spent years as an editor at major publishing houses where writers continually came to her at conferences and in submissions. So we wanted to ask her, how should writers market themselves to editors?

How should writers market themselves to editors?

Karen: They should do their homework. I can’t tell you how many times an author would come up to me, start a pitch, and get deep into the story while I’m thinking, I’m sorry, we’re not publishing anything like that. But they’d keep going because they were convinced that if I just heard the rest of the story, I’d offer them a six-figure advance. It was evident they had no clue what our house was about.

Even now, as an agent, I receive manuscript submissions from people who haven’t even looked to see that we’re a Christian agency dealing with Christian product. Reading the cover letter, you think, not really a fit. So do your homework. Know the editor. Know the publishing house.

Anyone who’s met me at a writers conference knows I love animals, especially dogs. My children have four legs and lots of fur, so they know to talk to me about my dogs. Treat editors like people, not like the bridge to your dreams.

How should you treat an editor?

Jim: You treat someone like you’d like to have a relationship with them and as if you’d like to get to know them.

In 2007, I sat down with Karen at this conference, on a picnic table near the field house, and we just started talking. We both discovered we loved Alias Smith and Jones, a show from the ’60s. When I got home, I thought it’d be fun, so I bought an Alias Smith and Jones DVD and sent it to Karen.

Karen: I got this package from Jim in the mail and thought, what has Rubart sent me now? I opened it up and was twelve years old again. I showed it to my dad, my husband, the dogs, and we started watching it that night. That told me you saw me for who I was.

I know you well enough to know you don’t try to curry favor or kowtow to people. It was just this little reaching out, saying, “I see you.” That’s one of the most powerful things you can do, Christian or not, you see somebody for who they are.

Thomas: I call this establishing humanity. It’s that moment when you roll down the window of your car and make eye contact with the driver trying to get over, and say, hey, can I let you in? It’s easy to think, that’s just a car. But when you see there’s a person in it, I’ve almost never had someone say no. Editors often aren’t seen as human in the eyes of authors, and authors can come across as not human in the eyes of editors. Establishing that humanity both ways is critical to getting a contract.

Are editors as intimidating as writers think?

Karen: Authors need to keep in mind that I’m an anomaly in Christian publishing. I’m an author, and I’m an off-the-scale extrovert, so I’m easily approached. I’m like the golden retriever, happy to be at the party, let’s play, let’s bounce around and have fun.

But a lot of editors are introverts who spend a good bit of their time isolated with their manuscripts, and they love that. Just like authors love to write and be alone with their computer or their pen and pencil, editors are the same way.

This is just as difficult for them. Many are terrified about these interactions, thinking, what if I have to speak in public? Editors feel the same way. They struggle with the same things, and they go home exhausted.

Even I, an off-the-scale extrovert, go home, and my husband and my dad don’t talk to me for two days. They don’t ask me anything; they don’t ask where I want to go to dinner, because they know I’ll bite their head off. They just tell me what we’re having for dinner. When we’re at a conference, we pour ourselves out. I’m not saying that to make us sound wonderful, but it’s the reality. If an editor has come to a writers conference, they’re there to serve the writers, and they do everything they can to do that.

Jim: These editors and agents are so often looked at as gods. I want to emphasize that you’re human too. You’re struggling through this existence just like anyone else, and you might be just as intimidated by the writer as they are by you.

What does a strong proposal need to include?

Karen: The most important thing is to do your homework about the publishing house and the editor. Don’t stalk them, don’t friend them on Facebook so you can find out everything about them, but remember they’re people, and many of them are terrific people with a real passion for words.

The other thing you can do is make sure you meet the guidelines for submitting a proposal. Some people put a proposal together according to another house’s guidelines and send it to me, so there’s information I don’t need and information I do need missing. Individual houses have individual needs, so make sure you follow the right ones. And make sure your personality shows in your proposal. If you’re writing humor, don’t send a proposal that’s dry as dust.

Should you bring more than one idea to a pitch?

Thomas: Many people are nervous about sitting across the table from an editor who has make-or-break power. I’ve heard some editors recommend that you bring more than one idea. Your first bullet is the least likely to land. The person who keeps trying with one idea does that because it’s their only idea, and they feel obligated to fill all fifteen minutes.

What actually wins an editor over?

Karen: What wins me over as an editor, and even as an agent, is the writing. I don’t want to hear your pitch first. I want to read what you’ve written. That’s what matters to me.

If someone hasn’t sent me their material ahead of time, I’ll say, “Bring at least a chapter of your writing. When we get together, I’ll spend the first two or three minutes reading through it so I know where you’re at.” Otherwise, it doesn’t make sense for you to pitch, because the story may sound great, but you can’t deliver on the promise, and I need to know that up front.

Take your strongest writing with you to these meetings, ready to hand over if the person wants to read it first.

Thomas: You’re a craft-first agent. Some agents are platform-first. They come from the marketing side and had to learn the editorial side as an agent. It’s important to know what to lead with, depending on the agent you’re talking to.

Karen: Absolutely, agent or editor. Editors looking for nonfiction want to know you have the platform, and they can help writers work with you on that. But in fiction, they want to see where you’re at in your craft.

Jim: That’s what matters. It’s like the show The Voice. You’ve got to have the voice, but at the same time you need some of those other intangibles that complete the package.

Karen: Maybe it’s a personality that can get on the radio, that kind of thing.

What makes the biggest impression on an editor in person?

Karen: It’s when somebody is calm and at peace, not when I look at them and feel like this person is desperate or terrified and really wants this, and I feel like I have to calm them. I once had a young woman whose hands were shaking as she handed me her pages, and she burst into tears. I spent most of the meeting telling her, “It’s okay, really, honey, it’s okay.”

Editors and agents don’t have the power to make or break a career. The only one with the power to make or break is the Lord. If his path for you is to get published, nothing will stop that. If his path for you is something else, nothing will get you published. So do the work of writing, refine your craft, write to excellence, and see where God takes it.

Thomas: And be at peace. Second to God, the person who can make or break you is you. You’re either your own worst enemy or your own best friend. It’s a shortcut to blame the publishing industry, or mean editors and agents, or a self-publishing company that took advantage of you. After a while, when several people are blowing it, the only common denominator is you. Sometimes you have to level up your writing and marketing.

Should you go to a conference looking for a contract?

Jim: When you’re in front of an editor like Karen Ball, think contacts, not contracts. It’s somewhat like speed dating. You wouldn’t walk up to someone and say, “I’ve read a little about you, I’ve done my research, would you like to get married?” You don’t do that. It’s awkward.

You’re getting to know people. It’s a long-term relationship.

Karen: I found author Ginny Weitrop at Mount Hermon 15 years ago, when she was writing devotionals. We clicked and became friends. I’d fly into San Francisco, and she’d pick me up and bring me down to Mount Hermon. We built a relationship, and I knew her writing well. I started talking to her about writing fiction, because she had such a lyrical voice in her nonfiction. As soon as she started writing fiction, I sent her to Steve Laube to be her agent, and I contracted the book for B&H because of our relationship. I not only knew she understood the craft, but I trusted her voice, her heart for God, and what she had to say, and I knew her writing was stellar. Publishers Weekly called her debut novel a masterpiece.

That relationship was built over fifteen years.

What should you actually do at your first writers conference?

Thomas: Most authors don’t have that calm, settled feeling at your first conference.

Authors often come to their first conference ready to pitch, when they should be there to learn. It’s your chance to learn from the greats in the industry and ask questions. If you leave your first conference with nothing but a bunch of questions answered and a bunch of friends made, that’s a hugely successful conference, and you’ll feel a lot better about yourself than if your goal was to get published. You won’t leave the conference with a check for an advance.

Karen: You will not make a million dollars if you get into publishing. Only 1% of authors, out of all those authors on the shelves at Barnes & Noble, support themselves with their writing. The rest of us, and I include myself, have day jobs. I’ve had seven novels published. It’s a long process, and there’s refinement that takes place along the way. Rick Riordan, who wrote the Percy Jackson series, wrote 10 complete novels before his first book was contracted.

So do the work, focus on the task, and spend the time you need to refine until God says now is the time.

What are the creative marketing attempts that go too far?

Karen: It happens when people get too focused. At a conference in New Orleans, I mentioned—back when I was an editor—that I loved Café du Monde coffee and had just tried beignets for the first time. One woman I’d talked to (I keep notes on conference contacts, so I recognized her name) somehow found my home address, not the PO box I use for business, and sent me a huge box of both.

My first thought wasn’t gratitude; it was how did she get my home address? I brought it inside and showed my husband. Call me paranoid, but I write suspense, so my mind went straight to worst-case scenarios. An author sending something like that to an editor who’d rejected them could turn out to be anthrax, or something meant to harm them.

The lesson is to not fixate on one person to the point that your good intentions come across as stalking.

Thomas: The difference between creepy and charming is permission. If she’d been a signed client with a long relationship with you, that box would have been like the DVD from Jim. Think of it like a dating relationship. A lot of authors act like, I’ve been following you for years, I want to marry you, and that just smells like a stalker. Stalking agents doesn’t work. That doesn’t mean you can’t write comments on their blog or do charming little things and slowly build a relationship, but moving too fast is what gets people into trouble.

What are your quick tips for pitching agents and editors?

Karen: Know your topic better than anyone else, so when editors ask questions, you can show you’re an authority.

Stay active online. A blog you haven’t updated in six or seven years (or even six or seven weeks) won’t cut it. And be careful what you post on social media. Every editor should be able to look at your feed without thinking, I never want to work with that person. I had a client once who posted something insulting to editors as a group. I told her: when we bring your proposal out, editors are going to see what you said—and they won’t want to work with you. The internet lets us broadcast our opinions freely, but be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.

Be willing to do the work. Come with more than one idea—we want to know you’re not a one-off, that you’re building a career, not just publishing a single book, and that you want a partner in that.

Recognize publishing is a shared risk. Publishers do their part; you do yours. I know authors just want to write, and I know marketing can feel like it’s entirely on your shoulders—because it largely is now. The landscape has shifted even in the last ten years. So prepare yourself: come to places like this podcast, listen to people like Jim and Thomas, and learn from them. Become an authority on marketing yourself, on your craft, and on the passion at the heart of your story.

Connect with Karen Ball

Karen Ball Publishing Services: I do freelance editing for publishing houses and individuals. I also do mentoring for individuals.