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Copyright 2009 Gail Ross
In the old days, a publisher
needed to see a finished manuscript before offering
a contract. Luckily, at least for non-fiction, this
situation has changed. Most editors make decisions based
on a proposal summarizing the book, and perhaps a sample
chapter or two. This allows authors to have a guaranteed
(more or less) home for their book before they spend
all those years writing it.
The first thing to remember
when writing a book proposal is that it is an advertisement.
You are trying to convince an editor that
1)
there is a story that must be told
2)
the story hasn't been told
3)
there is an audience that wants to be told and
4)
you are qualified to tell it.
You are not trying to set in
stone the final organization of the book, since this
is impossible to foresee before you have gathered all
the materials. Your job is to give the editor a basic
picture of how the final book will appear.
Different topics demand different types of proposals,
but there are a few ingredients that every proposal
should have.
The Overview
Your proposal won't have much time to prove itself in
a harried editor's life, so it is essential that a reader
be riveted from the start. Often the best way to present
your book is as an answer to a problem. The overview
should convince your reader that there is a pressing
need that demands immediate attention, e.g., "Never
before has homelessness worn so many faces," "The
story had huge impact, but to date no one has traced
its effects," "Americans need a reliable source
of information on…" The overview should have
all the elements of a good short story; take your reader
from the initial problem to the exciting finish. You
may want to start the proposal with an anecdote or example
that draws the reader in.
Overviews can range from one
page to fifteen, depending on your subject. If your overview
is on the long side, you should add a brief summary
at the start.
Author Qualifications
This is your time to shine. Get out your best active
verb vocabulary from your resume and convince the reader
beyond doubt you are qualified to write the book. Of
course, it's not always possible to be 100% qualified,
so if there are areas where your experience sags, consider
forming a panel of experts who will read your manuscript,
or even finding a co-author who might be a good foil
for any weakness. You might also consider asking a well-known
expert to write a forward or introduction, or even provide
a blurb for the jacket cover.
If your qualifications are especially
important for the book's success, you may want to include
resume/curriculum vitae as well.
Marketing
This section should answer the questions:
- Who is the audience for your
book?
- Is it increasing all the
time?
- Have there been any recent
articles or television shows that suggest your topic
is hot?
- Have any well-known experts
told you (or anyone else) that more information is
needed in your area?
- Are there any special groups,
organizations or newsletters that might be interested
in your book?
- Do you have any special connections
with these groups?
Explain in detail your "platform"
for reaching as many potential readers as possible.
Include all your recent speaking engagements and media
appearances.
Competition
For this section, you'll need to research thoroughly
any other books that might compete with yours. Pick
out the ones that remain in print and look like the
most direct competition from major publishers only,
and discuss them in this section, carefully explaining
exactly how yours will be different. This is not the
time to trash other books (though you can politely point
out faults) but to demonstrate how yours will fill in
a gap. You may want to list the competition by title
and author, or you may want to refer to the competition
as a whole ( i.e.: "All the current books on recovery
concern x, while my book will…). If your book
will be truly unique in the marketplace, then you can
simply state that.
Chapter Outline
As best you can, give a chapter by chapter description
of your book.
Sample Chapter(s)
Not all proposals need sample chapters. Generally, the
harder your topic is to explain, the more a sample chapter(s)
is needed. A proposal on health quizzes you can take
at home, for example, is not a difficult idea to grasp:
a summary of the idea, a look at home test popularity,
the author's qualifications and a few sample tests should
be all that's needed to explain the concept; the information,
not the writing is what is important. A proposal on
violence in Latin America, however, would need more
explanation - there are many different ways of presenting
this material, and your writing style will be of crucial
importance.
Except for these basic ingredients,
book proposals vary widely. Some authors begin with
lengthy anecdote, some with statistics, some give extensive
chapter outlines, some just a sketchy summary, some
write in narrative form, some in straight, matter-of-fact
prose. Use whichever presentation style you think works
best for your particular topic.
Length
When Alice of "Alice in Wonderland" asks how
long she should read a story out loud, she is told to
start at the beginning, read through to the end, then
stop. The same can be said for proposal length: write
until you have said all you need to say, then stop.
In other words, how long your proposal is depends entirely
on how hard the idea is to explain: the more difficult
the idea, the longer the proposal. Generally, proposals
range from approximately fifteen to fifty pages.
Proofreading
This sounds basic, but it's amazing how many writers
skip this phase. After you read your proposal a zillion
times, the last thing you want to do is read it again.
Do it anyway. Spelling errors, missing pages and poor
printing can all hurt your cause. An editor won't turn
down a proposal because of misspellings, but a sloppy
proposal does beg the question "if they couldn't
take the time to proofread a proposal, will they take
the time to write an accurate book?" Usually, it's
best to let a willing friend or spouse do your final
proofread as your eyes start to glaze over mistakes.
Writing your book proposal may
be the hardest writing assignment you'll ever have.
Take heart. It often takes many drafts to get it right,
and we usually read and edit several versions of a client's
proposal before it is ready for an editor's eyes. You
only get one shot with each publisher, so it's essential
that the first one be your best.
Selling Fiction
With only a few exceptions, there is no such thing as
a fiction book proposal that works. Even great works
of literature couldn't be sold on a summary ("distraught
son sees ghosts after father's death" wouldn't
make an editor reach for the phone) and a novel that
is great in the first half often fizzles by the end.
So unless you're Tom Clancy or John Grisham, and can
sell your book with only a synopsis, you'll have to
finish the whole story before an editor can offer you
a contract.
If you have published any of
your writing in magazines, if you've won any writing
awards or if a well-respected writer is willing to endorse
your book, you should certainly add this to the submission.
All of this information can be used by a publisher's
marketing department to help sell the book, and it will
increase the chances that an editor will ready your
manuscript carefully.
Make sure yours is an original idea. Hundreds of books
get published each year. Do you have unique access
or documents? People buy books that will entertain,
educate or inspire. Make sure yours does one or all
of them. Do your homework. Check Amazon.com for similar
books. Check bookstore shelves or talk to local booksellers.
- Make sure your idea is worthy
of a book and not just an extended magazine piece.
In other words, will people pay $25 for it? Who is
your target market? Do you have ways of getting it
to them, i.e., speaking, Web sites, etc. Sometimes
the only way to be sure is to write a proposal and
find an agent who agrees with you, or who can help
you make what you have better.
- Writers shed blood, sweat and tears
on their books. Be sure it's the right time in your
life for this project. Do your employer, family, etc.
agree?
- Write a smashing book proposal.
Show off yourself and your idea, how well you have
thought out the chapters, your writing style, your
endorsements, how much you have thought out the audience
and marketing, etc. Publishers are looking for partners
to create breaks and get "impressions" (reviews,
mentions, TV, radio, word of mouth, etc.) of the books
in the marketplace.
- Find a great agent. Ask friends
for recommendations. Look at the acknowledgements
page in books that you admire. When you spark someone's
interest and they want to work with you, do your due
diligence: his/her knowledge of the genre, time to
devote, clout, etc. Believe it of not, it's better
to have no agent than a bad one.
- The phrase "publishing business"
is an oxymoron. It is up to you to remain informed,
vigilant and careful. Learn about the process, read
Publisher's Weekly, talk to more experienced
authors, ask questions. Write the best book you possibly
can, then be an unabashed promoter. Do all you can
to create breaks. Enjoy the small successes - Pray
for the big ones.
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