One of the first big surprises on the road to publication may come after you submit your proposal. Here you are, all ready to write the book you’ve dreamed of and lovingly developed. Then you get a call from an acquisition editor, who likes your topic but not the treatment. “How about turning your book in a new direction?” she asks. “How about, say, turning your narrative into a how-to book?”

Yikes! After all that work and forethought, you’re supposed to turn a story into a guidebook?

As hard as you have worked on book development, acquisition editors may see another, more appealing approach. The reasons for this are many. A different treatment might dovetail better with other books on the publishing house’s “list” for an upcoming season. It might fit better with the publishing house’s marketing and sales expertise. It might address, in your editor’s eyes, a more promising group of book buyers.

As an example, when my agent submitted my book, Merchants of Virtue: Herman Miller and the Making of a Sustainable Company to publishers, several editors expressed interest in just the way I wanted to write it—as a narrative of the company’s 20-year journey to sustainability. But one top publisher wanted me to reposition it entirely. She suggested I partner with the company CEO and write the story from the CEO’s perspective.

I demurred. I sold the book in 2010 to Palgrave Macmillan, which published the book I originally proposed.

As another example, when my agent submitted a proposal for a narrative book on negotiation several years earlier, an editor suggested a how-to book approach instead. I was writing this book for an expert in negotiation who had no interest in a how-to, because he had already written one. We shelved the project.

When you submit a proposal, keep in mind other approaches that will serve your goals. Mull over your comfort with these alternatives ahead of time. Editors will suggest at least small changes. The right approach can vastly improve your book, promising you livelier sales and broader recognition. But sometimes you’ll get a big surprise: Be prepared for a counteroffer.

[Revised January 2020. Originally published July 18, 2011]