No one likes rejection. Whether you’ve been rejected by a love interest, a hiring manager, or your dream publisher, it can be a painful experience.

When it comes to publishing, however, rejection isn’t something you should take personally. There’s nothing wrong with you, and as you’ll discover in this post, there isn’t necessarily anything wrong with your writing, either.

However, there are some common mistakes authors make that often lead to rejection.

Common Mistakes when Submitting a Book Proposal

There are many reasons why a publisher might reject your nonfiction manuscript.

Here are the most common reasons why we end up rejecting book proposal submissions at TCK Publishing.

Things You Can Control

Your nonfiction manuscript might have been rejected for reasons that you can control and improve, such as:

1. You didn’t follow the submission guidelines.

This is one of the most common reasons for rejection, but also the easiest to avoid. Always read the submission guidelines on a publisher’s website and review your submission several times before hitting ‘send’ to make sure you didn’t miss anything.

If you’re sending your book proposal around to multiple publishers or literary agents, don’t just do a mass, generic send-off and assume that the guidelines are the same for each.

Other reasons for instant rejection can be failure to include all the requested materials (such as an author bio, marketing plan, synopsis, book proposal, etc.).

Carefully read and follow instructions every time you submit your work. Just taking a few minutes to slow down and make sure you’ve got everything in order can save you the pain and frustration of a rejection letter.

Action Step: Read the publisher’s submission guidelines before you submit and make sure you follow them.

2. The writing needs improvement.

There are several common areas of writing mistakes that can cause an editor to reject a submission such as:

• Too many typos or grammatical errors
• The writing style or tone isn’t right for the market (too academic, too boring, or not sharing relevant information)
• Confusing language
• Poorly organized writing (if there’s no clear structure for your writing that makes sense, it’s a sign that you may need to revise your writing before submitting)

For tips on improving your writing, check out our post on how to improve your writing skills, or join our comprehensive course on how to write nonfiction like a pro.

Action Step: Reread your proposal and make sure your writing is easy to follow and understand. Ask beta readers, friends, other writers, or an expert to review your proposal and manucsript and give you feedback on how you can improve your writing.

3. Your book doesn’t add value for readers.

But I’m writing a memoir, you say. It’s supposed to be about me.

Well, not quite. Even if you are writing a memoir or autobiography, your focus should still be on offering something of value to your readers.

Memoirs of people like Michelle Obama and Amy Poehler sell fast, because readers are already interested in knowing more about their favorite celebrities and public figures.

But if you’re just an average Joe or Josephine, you need to give people a reason to read your book. Your book should feel relatable and offer insights and lessons that readers can use in their own lives, or at least be really entertaining.

This rule doesn’t just apply to memoirs. Sometimes authors of self-help or other nonfiction genres put too much of their own stories, emotions, and opinions into a book that is supposed to teach or guide readers to improve their own lives. It’s great and even helpful to sprinkle some relatable, personal anecdotes here and there, but a successful book is written for readers, not for the author’s ego.

Action Step: Revise your manuscript with your reader in mind. What’s in it for them? What do they need to know? What are their biggest problems and challenges? How can you help educate and entertain them in ways they haven’t been before?

4. You or your text lack authority.

This tends to be an issue especially for books that seek to teach and inform. Let’s say you want to teach people about a new diet, or a new way of dealing with their anxiety.

These are important issues, and readers need to be able to trust the author to provide accurate information and sound advice that will help (and hopefully not hurt) them.

Publishers will often reject authors who lack authority in their field. Now, by “authority” I don’t mean you have to be the Suze Orman or Dr. Oz of your field, but you should at least have real world experience walking the walk.

For example, Yuval Noah Harari wasn’t a household name in the way that someone like Michelle Obama is, but as an acclaimed historian and professor, he was more than qualified to write Sapiens, which made best seller lists upon its release in 2011.

Furthermore, if you’re making scientific or statistic-based claims in your manuscript, you should cite your sources to establish credibility.

Action Step: Revise your proposal and make sure your authority and expertise shines through in your bio, the introduction of the book, and throughout the text. Did you fact check every statement, claim, study citation, and statistic? Did you thoroughly research your topic? Have you read the top books and studies in this field and improved upon their ideas?

5. Your marketing platform isn’t strong enough

You don’t have to be a top influencer on TikTok to get a book published. However, publishers do like to see that you have a serious marketing plan put together and that you’ve already begun implementing your marketing plans even before the book is acquired.

If you don’t know where to start, you can at least start building your email list and creating a website.

One of the biggest myths in publishing is that the publisher will do all the marketing for the author. In today’s day and age, it’s almost always the author that must prove they can sell books through their own marketing.

Action Step: To learn more about what you can start doing now, check out our free guide to marketing a book.

6. The proposal failed to explain your book’s concept.

Another possibility is that your proposal or query letter failed to convey your book’s message or concept.

If you submitted a proposal (as opposed to a full, complete manuscript), you need to be sure that your synopsis and sample chapters really sell your book’s idea and accurately convey its message.

It’s hard for publishers to get excited about your ideas if you don’t even sound excited, or if you can’t neatly summarize and explain why anyone should care about the book.

Make their jobs easier (and show off your marketing copy skills) by writing a killer pitch in your synopsis.

Action Step: If you submitted a book proposal and it got rejected, read our guide on how to write a great book proposal.

Things You Can’t Control

Sometimes, the reason for the rejection is beyond your control. You might find luck with another publisher instead. (You can browse our list of nonfiction publishers).

7. Your book’s topic is too “niche” or isn’t marketable.

Many times, the problem isn’t your writing—you might have the loveliest prose, but the publisher determines that your book isn’t marketable enough for them to turn a decent profit (or even break even).

This often happens when your target audience is extremely narrow, or your topic only appeals to a small group of people with highly specific interests.

This can be hard for aspiring authors to understand, since they probably know how much people like them would love the book and find it valuable. However, you have to remember that this isn’t a personal matter. The publisher might have loved your writing, but simply couldn’t see a viable way to market it successfully.

8. The publisher isn’t looking for that genre right now.

Yet another possibility that isn’t really your fault is that the publisher simply isn’t interested in publishing your genre right now.

Hopefully they’ll add a note about that somewhere on their submissions page to save you some time, but that isn’t always the case.

We, for example, have a note about how we don’t publish picture books or books of poetry; however, that doesn’t always stop people from submitting them, to which I must answer with a rejection, no matter how good the writing is.

What to Do After Receiving a Rejection Letter

So, what should you do after receiving that dreaded rejection letter? Roll up your sleeves and get back to work!

The following steps will help you revive your manuscript so you can start your publishing mission anew, and pivot if necessary.

Read similar books and study their reviews.

Part of doing thorough book market research is studying books in your niche and reading their reviews. This will give you insight into what works, what’s in demand, and what gaps your book could fill.

Take those book reviews into account. They provide valuable information, because readers will be telling you exactly what worked and what didn’t, and you can use that information to guide the development of your book.

Revise, revise, revise.

You should be continuously revising and working to improve your manuscript, up until it’s time to hit “Submit.”

Review your manuscript and make sure you’ve swept for any typos, ambiguities, or underdeveloped sections. Put yourself in your readers’ shoes: You might be an expert, but your readers probably don’t know half as much you do. Explain things at a basic level, and try to foresee any questions they might have and make sure they’re clearly addressed.

Look at your outline and structure.

As important as it is to work through each line of your manuscript, it’s also important to “zoom out” and look at the bigger picture.

Is everything in the right place, or would some information be more helpful in other sections? Does your book follow a logical structure that will help your readers to understand a problem and solution? Does some information warrant its own chapter? Or, is some information irrelevant and better off cut from the manuscript?

Add action steps.

Most nonfiction books aim to teach readers something. Whether you’re simply informing or teaching them how to actually do something, make sure your book is clear and practical. What do you want readers to do with this information?

Including action steps or reflection questions is a great way to give readers the most value, because you’ll be helping them on their way to making change. There’s nothing worse than reading a ton of information but not knowing what to do next!

Get beta reader feedback.

Beta readers are people who look at the second draft of your work. Usually at this point, you’ve gotten so close to your work that you’re no longer able to take a robust look at your words.

They provide the fresh eyes when you need them and can tell you what’s wrong (and right) with what they see. Learn more about how to find and work with beta readers.

Talk about your book with others.

In addition to having others read your work, you should also have deep conversations about your project with as many people as possible.

You never know what kinds of insights or revelations you can come across by simply talking through your ideas and plans for your book!

Hire an editor.

If you haven’t already, consider hiring a professional editor. Passing your manuscript to a coworker with an eye for details and spotting typos can help, but finding the right editor to work with can dramatically improve your writing and help you improve your writing skills. It’s still a good idea to get feedback from people you trust around you, but a professional editor will be able to help you improve your manuscript from all angles, improve your writing, and help you develop a solid structure for your book.

Hiring an editor doesn’t have to be stressful—you can find qualified freelancers who will edit your manuscript at affordable rates.

Moving Past Rejection

If your novel has been rejected by TCK Publishing or another publisher or literary agent, you should use the information in this article to go back over your writing and revise any areas of your book or proposal that may need work. You can also review our post on how to write a great nonfiction book.

Even bestselling authors like J.K. Rowling received multiple rejection letters, so you’re in good company if your manuscript has been rejected.

The important thing is that you stay open to feedback, keep working to improve your skills, and never give up on your dreams.

They may have said “no” but that just means “not yet.” Keep on writing and you’ll be amazed how far you can go!

Did you find this post helpful? Let us know in the comments below!

 

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