Give It All Away Before Your Book Comes Out
“Will you please sign this NDA before I talk to you about my book idea?”
No.
In the publishing world, wannabe authors who bring up NDAs are quickly cast as unprofessional.
When someone asks me to sign a nondisclosure agreement, I run. And I secretly laugh because I know I’ve dodged a bullet. I don’t think twice about it even if the author is famous and probably does have some great idea for a bestselling book. No exceptions. Anyone who dangles an NDA in front of me is, in my mind, naïve, arrogant, and likely difficult to work with. Does the person think I will abscond with their brilliant book idea and go write the masterpiece myself, be anointed as a hero, and make millions? Chances of that happening are nil.
Unlike other industries built on ideas, such as technology companies and start-ups, NDAs are not—and never have been—part of the traditional book publishing arena. Literary agents don’t sign them when courting potential new clients to represent, and acquisition editors and publishers won’t sign them no matter how badly they want to read a proposal or manuscript. In rare instances, they are used to prevent leaks, which was the case for the final Harry Potter novel, but even in that situation it was an NDA used by the publisher with everyone involved in the production and distribution process to keep the plot details secret. When sensitive material is involved, confidentiality clauses are in play. Traditional NDAs are generally discouraged. In fact, there are no publicly documented cases of individual authors using NDAs with publishers in the traditional sense—where the author requires the publisher to sign an NDA before considering their manuscript.
Can someone else steal your great idea? Yes, but let’s be honest: ideas are as “free as the air” and are not copyrightable (neither are titles). The execution of an idea is what matters and in the book industry, your writing style, platform, storytelling, and ability to reach an audience will determine if you can indeed execute successfully and profit from your idea by selling lots of books and leveraging that into other revenue streams (e.g., speaking engagements, new business partnerships, your next book deal).
I’ll take this one step further and suggest that you don’t “save” your great idea for the book’s release date. Go out and talk about your book’s chief lessons, stories, and takeaways long before publication day. Give it all away for free before asking someone to pony up the dollars to buy your book that contains the same wisdom and advice. Plenty of bestselling books are written by savvy authors who’ve already bared their souls and “proprietary” ideas on a stage, blog, vlog, or other outlet. They know that growing an audience and brand is hard but once they capture a following, people will buy their book (and recommend it to their friends). Contrary to what you might think, you don’t wait to sell your idea when the book is finally out. It’s the other way around: sell the hell out of your fabulous idea in the pre-publication phase and then let the book sell itself when it lands in the marketplace. Right now, the book stuck to the bestselling lists is Mel Robbins’s The Let Them Theory. Did she wait to start promoting her theory and strategies until the book’s official publication? No, by the time the book came out she’d already talked about it at length in public forums and media appearances—over the course of more than a year. The theory, according to her publisher, was “already loved by millions” prior to the book’s release. People who’d already learned everything they needed to know about the theory still ran out and grabbed a copy of the book.
Now, for a fun read about how pirating your own books online can boost sales, and which would give any NDA-pusher a panic attack, check out Paulo Coelho’s blog on his experience. Free downloads of books can ultimately lead to more bona fide book sales. Of course you need to stay within your legal bounds and not breach any contracts and publishing agreements, but there’s something to be said for free giveaways that translate to clever marketing maneuvers.
Credit: Photo by Ernie A. Stephens on Unsplash