California Creative Writer's Conference 2021

1. You Don’t Have to Make It Up:
Breaking Into the
Non-Fiction Market
California Creative Writers Conference
March 2, 2021
George Galdorisi

2. You Don’t Have to Make It Up:
Breaking Into the Non-Fiction Market
“This lecture opens the door to the non-fiction market - a more
diverse and far-easier market to enter than fiction. It's all about
content and platform, and convincing a publisher or an agent
what you are selling is interesting, timely, and better than
looking up the same subject matter on Wikipedia. Attendees will
learn the secrets of success including: What subject areas to
pick, how to get started becoming an expert in a field, how to do
market research, how to structure a non-fiction book proposal,
and how to put together a query letter that will sell. Attendees
will be provided with online access to all workshop material.”

3. A Few Preliminaries….
• Three promises:
– This will be a fast-paced fifty minutes
– We’ll learn something…and we’ll have fun
– You’ll have access to these resources…take notes…or not….
• Three assumptions:
– You all are interested in the non-fiction market
– That includes articles of all kinds as well as books
– You didn’t wake up last Tuesday morning with this notion
• A word about Power Point…

4. ….by way of background….

5. Let’s talk about writing….

6. ….and isn’t this
the oldest profession?

7. “History is what the historians and writers say it is.”
Norman Polmar
(Forty books – and counting)

8. You Don’t Have to Make It Up:
Breaking Into the Nonfiction Market
• Some basics - and non-fiction in general
• Being - or becoming - the expert
• Pursuing a subject - or letting life happen
• Scratching itches - or entertaining
• Getting a publisher to buy your book
• Promoting your book
• Examples and resources

9. Some Basics:
Non-Fiction in General

10. ….the dark…and light…
side of writing….

11. “Now, if you’re getting all fired up and ready to pound the keys, I
might inject a word of caution. Actually, this word comes from
my wife. For most of us, writing is not a team sport. An article for
a trade journal or a short story is no big deal, but if you find
yourself writing a long piece or a book, you probably ought to
have a chat with your spouse. For most of us, writing means
closing off the other people in your life for several hours a day
and it’s something you may want to talk about before you
begin.”
Dick Couch
(Fifteen books – and counting)
Shipmate, April 1993

12. “If you have other things in your life—family, friends,
good productive day work—these can interact with
your writing and the sum will be all the richer.”
David Brin

13. I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.
Rudyard Kipling
The Elephant’s Child

14. Some Things to Consider Before You Write
• Who are you writing for?
• What are you going to write?
• Where are you going to write?
• When are you going to write?
• Why are you going to write?
• How are you going to write?

15. So Many Non-Fiction Outlets
• A wide array of online media
• Newsletters
• Alumni magazines
• Professional journals
• Popular magazines
• Newspapers
• Portions of non-fiction books
• Non-fiction books

16. Why Non-Fiction Books?
• It is a hungry market
• Relatively easy to enter
• Lower risk – sell then write
• Can be steady money
• Can query without an agent more easily
• Vastly more non-fiction published than fiction

17. Being – or Becoming – the Expert

18. “There are authors and artists and then again
there are writers and painters.”
Ian Fleming
How to Writer a Thriller

19. Being – Or Becoming - the Expert
• Some essential “first order” questions:
– Is this something you’re passionate about?
– Do you have enough “street creds” that you’re an expert?
– If not, is there a way you can acquire those street creds?
– Do you really want to spend several years doing this?
• If the answer is yes, then it’s all about the packaging:
– First stop – solo or with a collaborator?
– Next stop – the library and the internet – due diligence
– Is it a book – or an article?
– If it’s a book – packaging – query letters and proposals

20. What Should You Write About?
• Whatever you are passionate about
• “You’re in a bar with your friends”
• What my first agent always asked:
– What are you really passionate about?
– What do I wish I had more time for?
– How would I spend year as a “professional dilettante?”
– What do I think about when I’m alone?
– What do I worry about and what issues concern me most?
– What have I done that people seem curious about?
– Is there a topic where friends turn to me for advice?

21. Pursuing a Subject:
Or Letting Life Happen

22. “Being a comparatively successful writer is a good life.
You don’t have to work at it all the time and you carry
your office around in your head. And you are far more
aware of the world around you. Writing makes you
more alive to your surroundings and, since the main
ingredient of living, though you might not think so to
look at most human beings, is to be alive, this is quite a
worthwhile by-product, even if you only write thrillers.”
Ian Fleming
How to Write a Thriller

23. Pursuing a Subject-or Letting Life Happen?
• Beyond the Law of the Sea
• Leave No Man Behind
• The Kissing Sailor
• When the Killer Man Comes
• And this leads us to a question….

24. Are You Scratching Itches:
or Entertaining?

25. “I do not over-intellectualize the production process. I
try to keep it simple: Tell the damned story.”
Tom Clancy

26. Scratching Itches-Or Entertaining?
• Scratching Itches: Beyond the Law of the Sea:
– We had a mission
– We had a message
– We wanted people to do something
– It gave us a platform
• Entertaining: The Kissing Sailor
– We had a mission
– We were on a “Mission from God”
– In some ways, the day the book was published – we were done
– And…the book “percolated” into downstream goodness
• Leave No Man Behind – Both goals

27. How Much to Tell and What’s Next?
• Getting past: “It’s an article, not a book”
• A comfort zone and an “article to book ratio”
• One book – or a series
• Above all else – the purpose of the book (LNMB)
• At the end of the day – you decide, not the editor
• If you haven’t written articles – now you should!

28. You’re in the Starting Blocks!
• You know what you’re going to write about
• You know why you’re going to write about it
• You know who is going to write it (solo….or….)
• You know roughly when you’ll write
• You already have the where figured out:
– Solo
– With collaborator (the “how” question)
• Now all you have to do is get someone interested in
publishing the book!

29. Getting a Publisher
to Buy Your Book

30. “The toughest hurdle you must scale is getting a
publisher to agree to handle your book. You are a new
name, a new risk to them. They will judge you on what
you send, the thought behind it, the obvious
professionalism, how it reaches them, sometimes your
expertise or previous writing output, and always on
how your book will increase their profit line.”
Gordon Burgett
Before You Write Your First Book

31. You Must Do This:
Decide What Your Non-Fiction Book Is

32. What Is Your Non-Fiction Book?
• Narrative Non-Fiction:
– A book that tells a true story, often using the techniques of
fiction: biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs
• Prescriptive Non-Fiction
– A book offering information and advice, this includes
helping readers improve their lives or learn a new skill

33. Narrative Non-Fiction
• Most narrative non-fiction is produced by someone
who has some experience as a writer
• Most good narrative non-fiction entertains through
storytelling as much as it informs
• Biographies typically require an enormous amount of
research and need to “hook” if the subject is familiar
• Many aspiring non-fiction writers focus on memoirs –
the “art” is finding something new to say
• At the end of the day, narrative non-fiction will
succeed or fail based on the author’s writing skill

34. Prescriptive Non-Fiction
• Prescriptive non-fiction requires decent writing, but
the bar isn’t as high as for narrative non-fiction
• However, this kind of book is sold on the basis of the
author’s platform or visibility
• Readers don’t want to be entertained, they want to
learn from the wisdom of your experience or insights
• Most popular categories of prescriptive non-fiction:
– Religion
– Business
– Self-help: Diet, health, fitness, self-improvement etc.

35. “It’s already
been done, or
it’s on Wikipedia”
“It’s an article,
not a book”
“You don’t have
a platform”
You must
overcome
all three!

36. Getting a Publisher
to Buy Your Book
• Due diligence – with a vengeance!
• Finding the right agent or publisher
• The query letter – address those three circles
• Your book proposal – and some examples

37. Due Diligence – With a Vengeance!
• Once you get past the “It’s an article, not a book”
roadblock, the next one is…
• “It’s already been done before or enough
information on the subject is on Wikipedia”
• You have to convince yourself it hasn’t been done
and then you have to convince an agent or editor
• How to you do that? (Your “Mission from God”)

38. Due Diligence – With a Vengeance!
• Meet Your Two Best Friends:
– The library
– The internet
• The library
– Books
– Journals and magazines
• The internet
– Subject searches
– Writer searches
• Other friends
– Your colleagues and fellow travelers
– Bookstores – large and small

39. What is the End Game –
What Are You Looking For?
• Publishers who publish this kind of book
• Agents who agent this kind of book
• Once you know that, it’s all about the query
• Persistence on steroids!

40. The Query Letter
• There is a cottage industry of courses on how to write a
query letter
• There are a number of books on how to write a query
letter
• There is a cottage industry of experts on how to write a
query letter – and some of them are here!
• There is a massive amount of information on the internet
on how to write a query letter
• One source:
– Google: http://www.agentquery.com/writer_hq.aspx
– But this is only one, there is a universe of them out there

41. The Query Letter
The “Bell Shaped Curve” For Most
• The hook
• Mini-synopsis
• Your bio
• Your closing – “where’s the beef?”
– High Concept
– Outline
– Table of Contents
– Sample Chapters
• “Bound the problem” for how much time you’re
going to spend on getting an “A” in query letters

42. The Magic Words….

43. …Yes, I’d be interested in reading it

44. How long will the editor have to wait to
see your proposal?…

45. “Interest” has a half life….

46. Before You Write the Proposal
• Come up with a “purpose statement” for your book
and write it down in one sentence
• Then put this into a working question: This book is
the answer to….
• Two sources (there are a multitude of them in print):
– John Boswell – The Awful Truth About Publishing
– Jeff Herman – Write the Perfect Book Proposal

47. The Proposal – The 100,000-Foot View
• Who would read your book?
• Why would they buy it?
• Where would they use it?
• What else is available like your book?
• How does your book differ from others?
• When did you decide it’s better than Wikipedia?
Think about your competition today – not just books,
but the internet? Is your book better than Wikipedia?

48. Your Book Proposal
• This is not the time for humility
• Think back to when you wrote your first resume
• Advice from John Boswell: The Awful Truth About
Publishing
– Define the book’s audience
– Describe the book generally and specifically
– Show that your book fills a need for your audience
– Show that you are uniquely qualified to write this book

49. Today – You Are the Publisher’s
Marketing Department
• Part of your proposal must include how you are
going to do their work for them!
• What is your platform?
– Media of all kinds (talks, interviews, print, et al)
– Internet presence
• Facebook
• Twitter
• And more….
– How you are going to make promoting our book a
constant drumbeat

50. Let’s look at two examples….

51. Leave No Man Behind
• The “Hook” – Rescue Story (Clyde
Lassen – Medal of Honor)
• About the Book
• Table of Contents
• Chapter Summaries
• The Market
• The Authors
• Promotion
• Length and Delivery

52. Leave No Man Behind
“An important and comprehensive work on that most
American of military imperatives--going in harm's
way to get one of our own.” Dick Couch (NYT
bestselling author)
“Leave No Man Behind is a solid piece of history. Well
written, well told, well done!” Darrel Whitcomb
Author of The Rescue of Bat 21
“This story has never been told before! Leave No
Man Behind offers a unique blend of operational
experience and technical description.” Dr. Norman
Friedman – author of over 30 books.
“George Galdorisi and Tom Phillips have provided a
comprehensive, and well-written history of the
development of combat rescue up to the present,
including dramatic accounts of rescues, among them
many never before revealed.” Norman Polmar –
author of over 40 naval books.

53. The Kissing Sailor
Cover
Quote
Table of Contents
Concept (Why this book?)
Competition (Surely this story has
been told before?)
Timing (Why are we doing this
book at this time?)
Methodology (How are we going
to pull this off?)
About the Authors
Chapter Summary
The Market
Promotion
Length and Delivery

54. The Kissing Sailor
“What a wonderful detective story
about a kissing sailor and a beautiful
nurse – the most famous couple
celebrating the end of WWII. Famous
but anonymous - until now. I loved it.”
Tom Brokaw, author of The Greatest
Generation
“The Kissing Sailor is a whodunit that
provides once and for all the
identification of the world’s best-
known smoochers…You have to read
this book!” David Hume Kennerly,
Pulitzer Prize winning photographer

55. Promoting What You Write:
Establishing an Online Presence
Leveraging Social Media

56. Establishing a world-class online presence

57. What Makes Your Online Presence Unique?
• Are you providing something people can’t get
anywhere else or get as easily?
• Are you aiming at the right attention span of online
tourists?
• Determining the right level of effort in refreshing
your online content
• Balancing what you give away online and what you
want to sell to visitors

58. Beating the Competition for Online Eyes
• Above all else, when someone “Googles” your name
your website must pop up at the top
• It’s not just about getting that initial visitor – it’s
about getting him or her to keep coming back
• Most online visitors are taking a break from what
they have to do at work or home
• Think of your website the same way as what you
write – tell people a story

59. Balancing Content and Entertainment
• People will tire of the monotonous “professor”
telling them “like this damn you” (from Ian Fleming)
• People will tire of dancing bears, dwarfs throwing
rose petals and fireworks
• Achieving the right blend and balance is your online
presence style
• Take the same approach Urban Meyer has during his
coaching career

60. Doing It Yourself Or Having It Done
• Your website is “you” to people you will likely never
meet – but who you want to entertain
• There are cottage industries of books, seminars, tools
and coaches to help you build your own website
• There are legions of people and businesses who will
do it for you
• If you have the time and energy and want to use
your left and right brain – try doing it yourself

61. Some Ways to Find Examples
• “Google” writers you enjoy
• Go online for advice on going online
• Check with local businesses in your community
• Use your library for additional resources

62. Use social media to the extent writing is still first

63. Vote Early and Often
• There are no limits to how much you can use social
media
• This goes to the number of sites you use as well as to
how often you are on those sites
• However, as with your online presence (website) it
comes down to how you invest your time
• Most “practitioners” advise a Zen approach; “If you
don’t do it excellently, don’t do it at all”

64. Building a Following
• There are many ways to build a following – find the
one that’s right for you
• You can even “buy” a following on media like Twitter
– if this is really what you want to do
• Most people find that letting a following build
naturally conveys the best long-term benefits
• Remember that social media following is a very
ephemeral thing (Un-friending, Tweepie, etc.)

65. Sustaining Momentum
• Building a following on social media carries an
implicit obligation – to stay with it!
• As one indication, Twitter tells you when a person’s
last Tweet was – and Tweepie keeps score too
• You want to make social media your servant not your
master
• Recognize that there are dangers that come with this
http://www.georgegaldorisi.com/who-likes-you

66. Do You Really Want To Do This?
• It can be time consuming – or all-consuming
• It can be boring
• It can be distracting – to the detriment of your work
• It can be expensive in terms of missed opportunities
• Doesn’t have a definable return on investment
• At the end of the day it is ephemeral

67. …on the other hand…

68. Benefits of Social Media
• You can reach a global audience
• Social media is accessible to everyone
• Most social media tools are easily learned
• You control your content and periodicity
• If you have no Web presence, agents, reviewers and
readers are a lot less likely to take you seriously
• Publishers will ask: “What platforms are you on and
how many followers do you have?”

69. A Slice of Social Media
• E-mail
• Blogging
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Text Messaging
• LinkedIn
• Pinterest
• Instagram

70. A Slice of Social Media
• E-mail
• Blogging
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Text Messaging
• LinkedIn
• Pinterest
• Instagram

71. Like Many Things in Life Using Social Media
to Enhance Your Writing Reach Involves
• Organization and planning
• Knowing your target market
• Getting creative
• Staying consistent
• Picking some – but not likely all – types of SM
• Setting realistic goals–especially the time you invest

72. Some Iconic Non-Fiction Writers
and Helpful Resources

73. “There comes a time when you realize that everything
is a dream, and only those things preserved in writing
have any possibility of being real.”
James Salter
“All That Is”
NYT Magazine
December 27, 2015

74. Some Iconic Non-Fiction Writers
and Helpful Resources
• David McCullough
• Walter Isaacson
• Malcolm Gladwell
• Laura Hillenbrand
• Writers on Writing (I)
• Writers on Writing (II)
• NYT Book Review
• NYT Book Review – Last Page

75. A Summing Up of What We’ve Covered:
Whew – is it Worth It?
You Don’t Have to Make It Up:
Breaking Into the Nonfiction Market
• Some preliminaries - and non-fiction in general
• Being - or becoming - the expert
• Pursuing a subject - or letting life happen
• Scratching itches - or entertaining
• Getting a publisher to buy your book
• Promoting your book
• Examples and resources

76. Anticipating a question…
…What are you working on?

77. First book of the Rick Holden Thriller
Series - from Braveship Books
What if the most senior officers in
the United States military are so
dissatisfied with the President that
they concoct a scheme to have the
President direct a major military
operation, and then have that
operation fail in order to drive the
President out of office?

78. Second book of the Rick Holden
Thriller Series - from
Braveship Books
What if the Islamic Republic of
Iran is killing Americans in
terrorist attacks and other actions
and the United States is not taking
action? And what is a carrier strike
group commander with a wide
array of strike assets at his
disposal decides to create and
incident that has Iran’s
fingerprints all over it and uses
this as an excuse to extract his
own vengeance on Iran? Can he
be stopped?

81. CONFIDENTIALITY STATEMENT: THIS PRESENTATION CONTAINS INFORMATION THAT IS HIGHLY SENSITIVE AND CONFIDENTIAL. THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS PRESENTATION IS FOR THE CONFIDENTIAL USE OF ONLY THOSE PERSONS TO WHOM IT IS
PROVIDED.BYYOURACCEPTANCEOFTHIS INFORMATION,YOUAGREETHAT YOUWILLNOTTRANSMIT,REPRODUCE,ORMAKEAVAILABLETOANYONE,OTHERTHAN YOURPROFESSIONALADVISERS, THEINFORMATIONCONTAINEDINTHISPRESENTATION.
BRAVESHIP BOOKS
Braveship Books is an aggressive new publishing imprint created
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Collectively, our books have sold hundreds of thousands of copies,
garnered numerous awards, and several of them are in various
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Our lineup of authors is eclectic, from #1 New York Times
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Clancy—to promising newcomers who might become next year's
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We specialize in action adventure fiction, thrillers, and sci-
fi/fantasy, but our authors will delve into any genre to deliver
pulse-poundingreads.

82. CONFIDENTIALITY STATEMENT: THIS PRESENTATION CONTAINS INFORMATION THAT IS HIGHLY SENSITIVE AND CONFIDENTIAL. THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS PRESENTATION IS FOR THE CONFIDENTIAL USE OF ONLY THOSE PERSONS TO WHOM IT IS
PROVIDED.BYYOURACCEPTANCEOFTHIS INFORMATION,YOUAGREETHAT YOUWILLNOTTRANSMIT,REPRODUCE,ORMAKEAVAILABLETOANYONE,OTHERTHAN YOURPROFESSIONALADVISERS, THEINFORMATIONCONTAINEDINTHISPRESENTATION.
BRAVESHIP BOOKS RELEASES—HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS SOLD

83. CONFIDENTIALITY STATEMENT: THIS PRESENTATION CONTAINS INFORMATION THAT IS HIGHLY SENSITIVE AND CONFIDENTIAL. THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS PRESENTATION IS FOR THE CONFIDENTIAL USE OF ONLY THOSE PERSONS TO WHOM IT IS
PROVIDED.BYYOURACCEPTANCEOFTHIS INFORMATION,YOUAGREETHAT YOUWILLNOTTRANSMIT,REPRODUCE,ORMAKEAVAILABLETOANYONE,OTHERTHAN YOURPROFESSIONALADVISERS, THEINFORMATIONCONTAINEDINTHISPRESENTATION.
LEARN MORE
Pleasevisitusonlineat
www.braveshipbooks.com

84. A Word About Surveys:
Comments Typically Come in Three Types
• You rocked my world and my life is now changed forever
for the better – I’m a completely new person
• I’d rather have a root canal than have to sit through this
again – and I think you should pay for it
• I got something (a lot, a little) out of this talk, but if the
instructor does this next year, he should:
– Do more of….
– Do less of….
– Go faster….
– Go slower….
– ????

85. Slides and Resources Posted:
http://www.georgegaldorisi.com/
Email Address
george@georgegaldorisi.com

87. Questions?
87