There are two ways of getting commissioned. You may have an idea and propose it to a publisher, who may then offer you a contract in return. Or an editor may have an idea for a book and then ask you to write it. We can call the first ‘reactive’ commissioning (reactive on the part of the editor, that is) and the second, ‘proactive’. The bulk of this chapter will be about the former, but first let's look briefly at how you can increase the likelihood of an editor approaching you with an invitation to write a book.

PROACTIVE COMMISSIONING

There are many reasons why editors devise ideas for books. They are close to the market and receive many suggestions and requests (‘Why don't you publish a book on …?’; ‘Are you publishing anything on …?’). They watch their competitors, looking to imitate their most successful books or fill any gaps left in the market. They seek to make their own lists more coherent and consistent. They have annual commissioning targets that cannot always be met by relying on the flow of proposals from authors. And many editors are creative people in their own right and enjoy producing ideas for projects.