A Freelance FAQ= What Does "book excerpt" mean?

[Roey1275]

As I search for magazines interested in publishing my many article ideas, I have come across the phrase "need book excerpts."

What exactly does this mean? I have unpublished manuscripts for both a fiction and non-fiction book. Though recently, I published an ebook version of my non-fiction book through lulu.com. Would it be appropriate to submit an excerpt from this book to a magazine asking for book excerpts? Or should I pitch it as an article idea instead? Should I mention it is an ebook?

If you have actual experience as an editor or as a freelance writer who has published in consumer magazines very recently (past five years or less), I would appreciate your specific feedback on this.

Thank you

R. King

[mammamaia]

can't tell with it out of context like that... where was the term used?... what's the whole sentence?

if you're submitting magazine articles it doesn't make sense to be asked for 'book excerpts'... what kind of magazines have you seen this in regard to?... if it's from their submission guidelines, that whole section of the guidelines should provide some clue...

a 'book excerpt' is, of course, a section quoted from a published book... and i can't see why those would be needed unless they want book reviews... i can't imagine they'd want to see any part of your unpublished or self-published or e-books...

[Roey1275]

I guess I assumed anyone on this forum would be familiar with the Writers Market book. The "context" is in the description of the types of articles needed below dozens of listings of magazine publishers in this guide.

p516 "Yes! Magazine".... NONFICTION Needs book excerpts, essays, general interst, how-to, etc.

p.519 "Mamm Magazine".... NONFICTION Needs book excerpts, essays, expose, how-to, etc.

p. 510 "Shape Magazine".... NONFICTION Needs book excerpts, espose, health, fitness, etc.

p. 581 "Inkwell"... NONFICTION Needs book excerpts, esssays, literary essays, memiors, etc.

p. 603 "Symphony".... NONFICTION Needs book excerpts, essays, inspirational, interview, opinion, etc.

All of these from just flipping through the pages for Consumer Magazines. I am just puzzled that something listed as the first "need" for so many magazines, has no further clarification. There should be a glossary of terms provided with the Writer's Market covering these types of things as well. It should not be so difficult to determine what exactly this in order for us writers to decide if we can meet the need or not.

Please only reply if you actually have an answer, or if you have also been puzzled at this and would also like to know what it means. Thank you.

[mammamaia]

sorry, i haven't used wm since the late 80s, and i don't recall seeing that term there back then... i'm curious to see what it means, so i hope you get an answer...

have you considered asking someone on the wm staff for a definition?

[janemaldives]

email WM and ask them. Copy in link below and on this page is the email form for you to fill in.

https://www.writersmarket.com/ContactUs.aspx

[kankowitz]

I would recommend going straight to the source. Meaning, read the submission guidelines put out by the publication directly.

Writers Market is great, but for more complete information on what the publication is seeking then they should be your source.

I picked one, Yes! Magazine, from your list above...Googled them and found the writers guidelines...http://www.yesmagazine.org/about/writers-guidelines

Why a publication would ask for excerpts of books when you're not submitting a book for consideration is odd. The only explaination I can fathom is that when the pub provided the information to Writers Market (as a listing) they may have been required to fill in a form - a check list of sorts - where options may have been limited.

[EccentricKim]

that's weird. I just took a class for 2 years on writing for magazine markets and don't know what that would mean!

[wilbur4c]

I think I can help. Book except just means that the magazine prints excepts from books. It is common in a lot of non fiction periodicals and newspapers. It means if you have a non fiction book, you can send them a 2-5000 word excerpt (one of the juiciest sections) from the book which they will print and give you a nice little byline with your book, publisher and price on the bottom. Look in the Sunday paper magazines and you'll see loads of book excerpts. at first glance they appear like a feature, but they have just been top and tailed (edited to read like a standalone piece). Many magazines that include book excerpts as content don't pay the authors (unless its a best seller or big name) for the excerpt as the exposure helps sell books. In your case, 'need book excepts' is just letting you know they are desperate for book excerpts for copy (you've probably received a form letter); however if you are just trying to sell articles, ignore it and send them samples of your articles with relevant bio information.

[EccentricKim]

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

[Ben Reader]

An excerpt would be something taken from a literary work. It means a part of what you have written. When an editor asks for one, you just simply choose a short part of the book. This gives the reader an idea of what to expect when he reads the entire material.