Working in publishing industry comes with a high expectation, especially from complete strangers. After causal ‘hello’ progresses to ‘what do you do,’ and my answer is ‘I am a publisher,’ words, like fairy dust, work magic; and in eyes of my conversation partner, I’m transformed into a glamorous Advice Goddess—would I mind reading this stranger’s book proposal?

Cornered in frozen foods at grocery, black-tie events or at bus stop, I’ve been ‘pitched’ as we say in business, with such book proposals as: A Cat’s Tale of Christmas; Old Testament Aphrodisiacs; Break Out (after being committed to a mental institution by jealous relatives, story of one man’s quest for revenge); and Suck it and See: A Guide to Tropical Fruits.

Admittedly, I chose to share with you more colorful examples. My point being that purpose of a proposal pitch is not to motivate publisher to love idea as much as you do. That’s misconception. The publisher is listening for signals that you understand process of transforming a book concept into a business plan. It’s not just about your passion for topic: it’s how well you filter your passion through publisher’s prism of marketing and distribution. That’s difference between a contract and a polite rejection letter.

Let’s take a look at five typical questions that an agent or a publisher will ask in their submission guidelines.

Question #1: Please provide title that best captures and conveys essence of your book and briefly explain why you chose it.

What publisher is really thinking:

Will book buyer for Barnes & Noble recognize section to shelve book by its title alone? Is title’s message succinct and snappy so publisher’s sales representative will remember it easily? How does rest of proposal support what title says?

The Encarta is extremely user-friendly, with its search bar and novel Visual Browser. It comes equipped with a dictionary, thesaurus, chart maker, searchable index of quotations, games, and an Encarta Kids interface. Installation is easy. The Encarta is augmented by weekly or bi-weekly updates and feature-rich online MSN Encarta Premium with its Homework Help offerings.

The Encyclopedia Britannica (established in 1768) sports Student and Elementary versions of its venerable flagship product - but it is far better geared to tackle information needs of adults and, even more so, professionals. Its 100,000 articles are long and deep, supported by impressive bibliographies, and written by best scholars in their respective fields.

The Britannica, too, come bundled with an atlas (less detailed than Encarta's), dictionary, thesaurus, classic articles from previous editions, an Interactive Timeline, a Research Organizer, and a Knowledge Navigator (a Brain Stormer). It is as user-friendly as Encarta. The Britannica, though, is updated only 2-4 times a year, a serious drawback, only partially compensated for by 3 months of free access to its unequalled powerhouse online Web site.

It seems that Britannica and Encarta cater to different market segments and that Britannica provides more in-depth coverage of its topics while Encarta is a more complete, PC-orientated reference experience. The market positioning of Britannica's Elementary and Student Encyclopedias is, therefore, problematic. Encarta has an all-pervasive hold on and ubiquitous penetration of child-to-young adult markets.

Both encyclopedias offer an embarrassment of riches. Users of both find wealth and breadth of information daunting and data mining is fast becoming an art form. Encarta introduced Visual (Virtual) Browser and Britannica incorporated Brain Stormer to cope with this predicament. But few know how to deploy them effectively.

Encarta actively encourages fun-filled browsing and Britannica fully supports serious research. These preferences are reflected in design of two products. The Encarta is a riot of colors, sidebars, videos, audio clips, photos, embedded links, literature, Web resources, and quizzes. It is a product of age of mass communication, a desktop extension of television and Internet.

The Britannica is a sober assemblage of first-rate texts, up to date bibliographies, and minimal multimedia. It is a desktop university library: thorough, well-researched, comprehensive, trustworthy.