When I finished my book, “The Plain Truth about Living in Mexico,” I sent queries to a number of publishers. On a lark, I queried McGraw-Hill. To my utter shock and awe, they wanted to look at the completed manuscript. The editor who read the manuscript wrote back and said that he wanted to take it to the final committee for possible publication. This meant that the book passed all the requirements except the final step in which it is determined, in a kind of crystal-ball reckoning, if it will be something that will make them moneythe bottom line.
Unfortunately, it did not pass that final step.
The main reason was the financial department thought the subject (expatriation to Mexico) occupied such a small niche that it would not make them money. They told me another reason they rejected the manuscript was that I had no platform.
In non-fiction (and, to an extent fiction), publishers take a hard look at who you are. They want to know why someone would want to buy your book from them. If you’ve written a book on weight loss, the publisher is going to look at what your qualifications are a selling point for your book. If you are a doctor with...