• Menu
  • Skip to left header navigation
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Books & Such Literary Management

A full-service literary agency that focuses on books for the Christian market.

  • Home
  • About Us
    • About Books & Such
    • Our Agents
    • Our Behind-the-Scenes Staff
    • Our Travel Schedule
  • Our Authors
    • Author News
    • Collaborators and Ghostwriters
  • Submissions
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Editors Select
  • Home
  • About Us
    • About Books & Such
    • Our Agents
    • Our Behind-the-Scenes Staff
    • Our Travel Schedule
  • Our Authors
    • Author News
    • Collaborators and Ghostwriters
  • Submissions
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Editors Select

Dive in to the Shark Tank

March 4, 2020 //  by Rachelle Gardner//  13 Comments

SHARK TANK – Barbara Corcoran, Daymond John, Mark Cuban, Kevin O’Leary, Robert Herjavec and Lori Greiner are the “Sharks” on Walt Disney Television via Getty Images’s “Shark Tank.” (Patrick Ecclesine/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images)

Blogger: Rachelle Gardner

If you’re a writer trying to wrap your mind around the business end of publishing, I hope you’re watching ABC’s Shark Tank. The show has nothing to do with publishing, but it has everything to do with understanding exactly what you are doing when you put your query or proposal in front of an agent or publisher. Whether you know it or not, you’re going into the shark tank.

The program features a group of six venture capitalists looking for businesses in which to invest. The contestants are entrepreneurs with small businesses needing capital. Each contestant stands before the “sharks,” pitches their business, and specifies the amount of money they’re asking for, and what percentage of their business they’re offering for that investment.

It’s fascinating hearing the pitches, the investors’ reactions and questions, and the negotiations. Then you get to see which businesses come away with an investment and which walk away empty-handed. I love it! I’m constantly noticing all the ways the whole scenario resembles publishing.

When you’re taking your art out of the personal realm of your home computer and into the public realm of commerce, you’re just like these entrepreneurs asking others to invest in them.

YOU are asking a publisher to invest in you. You’re asking them to put their time and money on the line, to share the risk, and you’re also offering them the opportunity to share in the reward. (You’re asking an agent to do the same thing.)

The entrepreneurs who appear on this program seeking investors are, like you, creative people. Many of them are inventors of incredibly unique products. Most of them have spent years developing their product and their company. (Probably longer than most of you have spent writing a book.) They’ve also spent a lot of money to develop the business, sometimes in the millions. Like you, they had an idea, and they worked hard to execute it. They’ve now reached the point where they feel they can’t go any further on their own. They want a partner—like when you get your book written and want a publishing partner to take it to the next step.

They work really hard to prepare an exciting presentation. They go before the Sharks and present their business idea, making sure they’re entertaining as well as informative. (This is TV, after all.) Woe to them if they’re boring. Kiss of death. (Good thing to remember.)

Once they make their pitch, the sharks grill them with questions. How many have you sold? Are you sure this is a good idea? Exactly who will buy this product? What are you doing to market this product? How will people get to know your name in this competitive market? What previous experience do you have in this business? How many hits do you get on your website? How can you possibly compete with the gigantic names that dominate this particular niche?

What questions will publishers ask about YOUR product? Make sure your proposal anticipates those questions and answers them.

On Shark Tank, after the investors ask all their questions, each one will either make an offer, or they’ll say “I’m out” (usually giving a reason first).

  • “You’ve done a fabulous job. But it’s a tiny market. I’m out.” (“Your book is terrific but the potential audience is too small for us.”)
  • “This is strictly going to be catalog, direct mail, Internet sales. I’m out.” (“You may want to try self publishing or POD.”)
  • “I just don’t think this is a good idea. I can’t see anyone buying it. I’m out.” (“Your book simply doesn’t appeal to us.”)
  • “There are five big brands that dominate your category and I don’t see how you’re going to compete with them. I’m out.” (The genre you’re writing in is glutted, not to mention dominated by household names.)
  • “This is a great idea, but I don’t think you’re ready.” (Keep working on your writing and building your platform, and try again in a year.)
  • “It’s a unique idea but not an investable concept.” This was one of my favorites, because I see this problem with manuscripts, too. Unique ideas come across my desk, but trying to determine which are sellable and therefore, worth investing my time… that’s the trick.

What’s really fun on the show is when more than one shark makes an offer to invest in the entrepreneur’s company. They’ll play off one another and even compete; the entrepreneur can then negotiate a better deal. (Kind of like a bidding war in publishing.)

Sadly, many of the entrepreneurs go home without an investor. The sharks tell them that this product on which they’ve spent all that time and all that money isn’t worth an investment. For some of them it’s heartbreaking, because they’ve put everything they have, materially and emotionally, into it. And it might fail. Sound familiar?

Most of these people will go on to find a way to make their business a success without the sharks. Others will cut their losses, quit that business or that product, and go on to something else. Each person will find the path that’s right for them, but I have to think that the chutzpah that got them this far will keep serving them well.

I have to think the same about you, too. The guts and courage that makes you sit in that chair and pound out those pages word by word, day by day… it will serve you well, whatever happens.

Are you watching Shark Tank? Whether you have or haven’t, how do you approach the business aspects of publishing? Do you enjoy learning about it? Would you just as soon pretend it doesn’t exist? 

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Email

Category: Blog, Business of writingTag: business, Shark Tank

Previous Post: « The Imposter Syndrome
Next Post: Six Unexpected Essentials Every Writer Needs unexpected essentials»

Reader Interactions

Comments

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  1. Andrew Budek-Schmeisser

    March 4, 2020 at 11:38 pm

    Today I had to fight to breathe,
    and really, now, I could care less
    about that which I might receive
    kowtowing to the Pub House mess.
    I write for those who have lost hope,
    for those the world has left behind
    without a life-ring or a rope,
    “out of sight and out of mind.”
    If Random Penguin deigns to call,
    I’ll answer (ha! I cannot speak!)
    but till then I will give my all
    in lending strength unto the weak;
    a contract pays for boutique beer,
    but my reward, it is not here.

    Reply
    • Morgan Tarpley Smith

      March 5, 2020 at 10:53 am

      Love this, Andrew. So true. Our reward is not here.

      Reply
      • Andrew Budek-Schmeisser

        March 5, 2020 at 11:03 am

        Morgan, thank you so much!

    • Mary Kay Moody

      March 6, 2020 at 1:34 pm

      Wise, kind, courageous, generous. Thank you, Andrew.

      Reply
      • Andrew Budek-Schmeisser

        March 6, 2020 at 8:07 pm

        Thank YOU, Mary Kay!

  2. Star Ostgard

    March 5, 2020 at 6:02 am

    I don’t watch the show, but in a similar vein, I did take an SBA course on starting a small business many years ago. Many of the same questions one is asked by an agent/publisher are dealt with in a business plan.

    If one looks at their learning center (SBA.gov), there are many courses available which would definitely be helpful dealing with the business end of publishing. And they’re free!

    Reply
  3. Damon J. Gray

    March 5, 2020 at 8:38 am

    HA!!

    Rachelle, this is a great analogy. I would never have thought to make this connection. Very well done!

    Reply
  4. Morgan Tarpley Smith

    March 5, 2020 at 10:52 am

    Great information and insight, Rachelle! Thank you!

    I’m preparing to pitch at the ACFW Conference this fall, and I have a lot of extra hard work to put in before then. I’m ready and excited for it though. I just don’t want to forget anything, so I need to make a detailed list. I want to do anything I can to help be ready and confident to pitch and to be seen as polished and professional to an agent or editor.

    This has all been years in the making as I’ve built my platform, connected with future endorsers, entered contests, been on launch teams, researched and determined my audience and brand, dove into more of the writing craft and wrote and polished manuscripts. And I’ll add importantly made lasting valuable friendships and had a great time!

    With pitching in person, what is the single most important thing that stands out to you outside of a fantastic premise and writing sample?

    Reply
    • Rachelle

      March 5, 2020 at 3:17 pm

      Just being able to speak naturally about your project, have a nice conversation. Not being too nervous or overly aggressive in trying to sell. Asking questions.

      Reply
      • Morgan Tarpley Smith

        March 5, 2020 at 6:54 pm

        Thanks, Rachelle! I will focus on doing exactly that. I appreciate the advice. 🙂

  5. Kathy Nickerson

    March 5, 2020 at 11:03 am

    This is facinating, Rachelle. Thank you. A farm girl from our tiny community actually got an investor on Shark Tank. It has been quite educational to watch what happened to her family-farm sourced meat subscription company once she walked through that door. Probably similar to the work a writer does after signing with a publisher.

    Reply
  6. Annie Riess

    March 5, 2020 at 12:21 pm

    Thank you, Rachelle. This is a great analogy. I also love to watch The Sharks whenever I can and I can see where this is much like the business aspects of writing.

    Reply
  7. Mary Kay Moody

    March 6, 2020 at 1:39 pm

    Fascinating comparison, Rachelle. And it highlights how competitive the marketplace is. Thanks for the helpful insight.

    Reply

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe to the Blog

Privacy Policy

Awards

Top 50 Writing Blogs









Site Footer

Connect with Us

  • Books & Such
  • Janet Grant
  • Cynthia Ruchti
  • Rachel Kent
  • Wendy Lawton
  • Barb Roose
  • Debbie Alsdorf
  • Janet Grant
  • Cynthia Ruchti
  • Rachel Kent
  • Barb Roose
  • Debbie Alsdorf
  • Cynthia Ruchti
  • Wendy Lawton
  • Barb Roose
  • Debbie Alsdorf
  • Debbie Alsdorf

Copyright © 2023 Books & Such Literary Management • All Rights Reserved • Privacy Policy • Site by Design by Insight