David Cole has been in book publishing for almost 30 years. He has been involved in every aspect of the industry including stints in editing, production, publicity, marketing and management. In this interview, learn what David looks for before signing an author to a book deal.

How long have you been in the publishing industry?

Since the mid-1970s.

What is the name of your company?

Bay Tree Publishing

What genres do you publish?

We focus on nonfiction in the areas of business, psychology, health, and the environment. We also work with memoirs and recently published our first work of fiction.

What does a manuscript have to contain to be considered?

We look for intelligent writing that gets beneath the surface of a topic. We are also attracted to works that make difficult subjects more understandable for readers without a specialized background.

Do you work with first time authors?

Yes. For most of our authors, we are publishing a first book, though many have already published other kinds of works such as newspaper and magazine or journal articles.

Do the authors you publish have to meet a certain criteria?

Authors must be committed to marketing their work. A good book proposal should contain a solid, realistic marketing plan. Beyond that, we would like to see evidence that an author is truly committed to following through on that plan. Do you write regularly for a periodical? Do you blog? Do you have an established audience online or in print? These are all indications that you are serious, not just about a particular book, but about communicating with readers.

Do you work with authors directly or must they have an agent?

Since we don’t offer advances, we rarely work with agents.

Do you evaluate the competition to ensure that the manuscript can be marketed and advertised as a unique stand alone title?

Evaluating the competition is an essential component of every publishing decision. If there are already ten or a hundred books established in the market that address an issue or need, bringing out another will only be successful if it is twice as good as those already available. If it is only ten percent better, it is unlikely to gain market share unless the author is either famous or engaged in very aggressive self-promotion.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Good writing is essential, but passion sells. From a publisher’s point of view, the best author is already famous. Since Bay Tree is too small to attract famous authors, we look for those who are on fire to reach an audience and who are already actively pursuing that goal. These are the authors who will most benefit from our expertise and who will be of the greatest value to us.

For more information on David Cole and Bay Tree Publishing visit http://www.baytreepublish.com/

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Julie Barnes is a Freelance Writer focusing on her passion of entrepreneurship. Julie published “So You Want to Start a Business…Now What?” in December 2009. Julie lives and works in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park, KS with her husband Ron and lovable dog Hank. You can visit her site at http://www.onewhowrites.com.

Copyright © 2010 Julie Barnes and One Who Writes