| So you've written your book. You've found an agent. | | | | too busy to read. Hit just the highlights. Who you are. |
| They loved what they saw. Now you've got one | | | | Why you are perfect to write the book. What the |
| question in mind "How to write a book proposal that | | | | book is about. What the market for the book is. If |
| will get you published?" | | | | you've hit a page, single spaced, you're being too |
| The key is to understand why you're writing the | | | | detailed. Rewrite it. Think rear cover copy. Quick, |
| proposal and to structure your proposal appropriately. | | | | specific, highlights. This is what really sells your book. |
| At one time there were two proposals. The first was | | | | Blow this and the rest of your proposal won't be |
| produced by the writer and really just expanded on | | | | read. |
| the query letter. What exactly are you going to | | | | 2. An overview and introduction. This is where you'll |
| write? Add a couple of lines for who you are and sit | | | | sell the idea of the book. Think in terms of what |
| back. The editor then researched the market for the | | | | you'll write and why you are perfect to write it. Keep |
| book and prepared the proposal to put before the | | | | it simple and high level. This is the section that will sell |
| executive publishers. | | | | editors and middle management. |
| That's not the case today. The economy has | | | | 3. The market and competition. Who has already |
| removed the luxury of having an insider prepare the | | | | published in this area? Why would people buy your |
| proposal. It falls on the writer to write a single | | | | book rather than theirs? How big is the market? Here |
| proposal covering both market and what the book is | | | | is where you're going to prove that there is a |
| about. | | | | market for your book and that you can get a nice |
| So the way to write a book proposal that will get | | | | slice of it. |
| you published is to write a proposal that will convince | | | | 4. Outline of the book. So now that you've gotten |
| the executive publisher to invest money in your | | | | the important part out of the way, back to the |
| book. And since most books lose money, that can be | | | | product itself. What's it going to look like? |
| difficult. | | | | 5. Two sample chapters. Here's where you're going |
| To do that you need to write a book proposal that | | | | to prove that you can actually write. |
| is part description of the book and part marketing | | | | 6. Publishing details. How do you see the book's end |
| tool. | | | | product? This is for those people that need to |
| You should always include the following sections: | | | | actually print the book. |
| 1. An executive summary, because executives are | | | | 7. |