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Whether you are going to self-publish your book or work with an agent or traditional publisher, writing a book proposal will help you organize your thoughts and ideas.
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St. Louis Publishers Association
January 12, 2011
Book Proposals
Kim WoltermanAuthor, Who’s Been Sleeping in My Bed(room)? Researching a St. Louis County, Missouri Homewww.myhousehistory.net
“Just as you wouldn’t set out on a road trip without a road map,
you don’t start a book without a plan.”
- Bobbi LinkemerHow to Write a Nonfiction Book
From Concept to Completion in 6 Months
But I am going to self-publish, so I don’t need a book proposal, right?
Not Necessarily!
Well, I write fiction so I don’t need a book
proposal, right?
Not Necessarily!
So what is a book proposal?
It is a marketing tool used to present your book to a
literary agent or publisher.
It communicates the overall book concept, identifies the market
value, and demonstrates your ability to write and
market the book.
And if you are self-publishing?
The proposal will help you organize your thoughts and ideas for the entire project.
With a fiction book proposal your sample chapters must
truly shine to capture an agent or publisher’s
attention. However it will look similar to a nonfiction
proposal.
Realize that the audience for your book proposal is vastly different from the audience
for your book.
Know Your Audience
The audience for your book proposal is not your readers.
It is a literary agent or a
publishing house.
Most book proposals will contain:
Title page
Brief overview
Table of Contents
About the author section
Discussion of the market
Author marketing plan
Competition
Details of the book
Chapter outline
Sample chapters
Contains the following:
Title Author’s name Contact information
Title Page
This tells a publisher in a succinct form what the book is about and defines the market for the book.
Brief Overview
Include a Table of Contents for the proposal itself.
Table of Contents
Why are you qualified to write this book?
What other books or articles do you have published? List sales figures if available.
For fiction, list any degrees or certificates in creative writing.
About the Author
Who is the market for this book? Why would they buy your book? How is this audience reached? What magazines and books do
they read? What radio, t.v. shows and
websites do they tune into?
Discussion of the Market
How are you able to reach your potential audience?
What steps have you already taken?
What contacts do you have?
What plans have you already made?
Marketing Plan
Give a general discussion of the marketplace on your topic.
List other books in print on your subject, or novels similar to yours.
Write a couple sentences on what each book is about.
Tell how your book is different.
The Competition
How many words will your book be?
How long will it take you to complete the book? (Fiction books should be complete.)
For fiction, have you included book club discussion questions?
Book Details
For nonfiction, you will need chapter titles and a small paragraph capturing each chapter’s theme.
Fiction proposals should include a longer synopsis.
Chapter Outline
For nonfiction, this is usually the Introduction, plus one or two chapters.
Fiction authors should include the 1st 40-50 pages of the book.
Sample Chapters
You’ve completed the book proposal. Now what?
If you are self-publishing, it’s time to write your book!
Next Step
If you are going the traditional route, it is time to research the proper agent for your
book, and craft a succinct and compelling
query letter.
But before you send the book proposal off to an
agent…
Edit!
Proposals containing typos
and grammatical errors are
not likely to be accepted
by an agent.
If you don’t respect your work enough to carefully
edit it, others won’t respect it either.
The proposal is much more than an exercise because nearly every word of it will be used in your book. Don’t
think of it as a waste of time!