Welcome to Course #8 – Writing the Book Proposal
Defining the Proposal and Why You Need One
Similar to a query, in which you’re selling the idea of your written project rather than the entire piece, a book proposal is a detailed overview of your manuscript that allows an agent or publisher to decide if they want to take the next step. That next step is asking for your entire manuscript, an edited, ready-to-go clean copy.
What they are looking for is a marketable book, one that’s high quality and will sell as many copies as possible. They are, after all, in the business of making money. So before you send a package proposal consider one overriding question: Why would anyone plunk down hard-earned cash for your book? Think like an agent or a publisher as you write your proposal. Put yourself in their shoes and look at your manuscript from their perspective.
Why is a proposal necessary? It serves the same purposes as a query: saves time on the receiving end, gives a look at your writing style and includes details not found in your actual manuscript, including marketing and author information.
What does it do for you as the writer? It gives you a chance to submit a portion of your work instead of the entire project, which allows you a chance to keep working on your book; sends out a feeler for how your book might be received; lets you make changes to the manuscript before the entire book is sent.
Tip: If you’re writing nonfiction, it’s usually expected you’ll have to provide a book proposal before you send the manuscript. If you’re writing fiction, you’ll normally be asked to submit the entire manuscript and skip the book proposal stage.
Why? Because with fiction, most agents and publishers want to see if you can continue the entire arc of the story in a complete manuscript as opposed to nonfiction where you have better control of the outcome with an outline. In other words, you have a pretty good idea of how your nonfiction book is likely to flow with facts, figures, quotes, etc. That may not be true with fiction where characters and plotlines can easily get away from you and cause the story to suffer. Either way – fiction or nonfiction – when pitching your book you are obligated to deliver whatever you promise. A book proposal helps you define the promise and then follow through on it.
Basic Elements in a Book Proposal
This is what you can expect to send in a book proposal package:
- A cover letter explaining the book’s concept. Your “elevator speech” will come in handy here. If you can’t explain the concept in one or two sentences, you may not have a sharply focused idea.(See Course # 3 re finding a slant)
- Cover page for the proposal – includes the working title, word count and agent or publisher contact information.
- Within the proposal itself:
- Overview – usually a paragraph or two on what the book is about.
- Marketing information – how and where you see the book selling.
- Competitive Analysis – what’s already out there and how your book differs from the competition.
- Author bio and other information – a paragraph or two about you and why you’re the right person to write the book. If you have a decent head shot, include it.
- Chapter-by-chapter outline – even if the manuscript isn’t complete you should have some idea of how it will be structured.
- Your best or strongest sample chapters (usually one to three chapters). These don’t have to be Chapters One, Two & Three. Select those you think best illustrate your writing strengths. The chapter outlines will explain where your samples fit into the overall book.
- Any attachments that enhance the book, from photos or illustrations you intend to use or high-profile interview names you’ve landed.
What Should I Include in a Cover Letter?
First, keep it short. No more than one page as most of your nuts-and-bolts information about your book will be found in the proposal.
Address it to a specific person – not “Agent” or “Editor” just as you would a query (Course #5). Make sure their name and title are spelled correctly.
Open with a brief paragraph that introduces the proposal.
Outline briefly what is in the enclosed proposal.
End with a polite “Look forward to your response” and “Sincerely,” (your name).
Make sure your contact information is included, either in a typed letterhead, an enclosed business card or at the top of the cover letter through customized stationary.
How Should I Format My Cover Page, Cover Letter and Proposal?
Put your name and address in the top left corner of the cover page if you’re submitting to a book editor. If you’re submitting to an agent, put the agent’s name and address in the bottom right hand corner and omit your name from the cover page. (Rules change over time and I’ve seen writers use their own name and contact information on a cover page).
A cover page should also include: Approximate word count of your manuscript, working title centered in the page and your by-line. At this point don’t worry about a title. If a traditional publisher buys your book, the title is subject to change anyway. A “working title” simply allows you to call it and refer to it with a name.
Use a standard font that’s easy to read. I prefer a 12-point Times Roman. I single space the cover letter and use double-space between paragraphs. Some writers double-space the proposal content but since it is not a submission designed to be edited, I generally single-space.
Use a one inch margin.
If you’re sending snail mail, always include a self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE) for the return of your proposal and outline. It’s double expense but it dramatically raises the odds that you’ll get it returned. Don’t use staples as they tend to get hung up in postal machines.
Don’t mention payments, royalties or copyright. That’s premature until there’s a strong interest expressed in your material. All of that information is included in a contract.
A table of contents is usually not required or requested. I’d leave it out unless an agent or publisher requested it.
Number your proposal beginning at the Overview page in the top right corner. On the upper left side include the tag: Proposal: (then your book title) followed by a slash/and your name. This header should be on every page of your proposal in case the pages are separated.
Center the heading about one-third of the way down the page.
Double-space your text and use one-inch margins.
What Should I Say In an Overview?
In no more than one page, you should be able to “tell your story.” The overview is a brief look at what your book is about including the “hook” – what draws the reader in and clearly explains your slant. This is your chance to convey to an agent or publisher that your book is worth taking a closer look.
Writing a concise, compelling overview takes time and practice, so don’t worry if you don’t nail it first time out. Write a draft, let it sit and then have someone else read it. Ask if, based upon the overview, they would want to read this book and why. What you’re doing is putting yourself in the agent’s or publisher’s seat and looking at the book from a marketing, big picture point of view: will it appeal to readers? Who? How many? Why would they buy this book?
Here’s an example of an Overview. See if the topic and the slant are easy to spot.
OVERVIEW
Using our personal story as the centerpiece of the book, No Compromise! takes the reader on an insiders’ journey that explores the why and how we made the jump into becoming dual entrepreneurs followed by what happened to others like us; what each of us learned along the way and how we hope our experiences will inspire all women partners regardless of their chosen profession.
The book’s elements include: An explanation of how male and female business partners differ; the depths and ranges of the wide variety of women partnerships in business today (found within the Introduction); real-life stories of women who chose to partner and why; pros and cons of female partnerships; what happens when partnerships fail; a summary recap statement and concrete tips at the end of each chapter. Every story including ours is written in first person from the business partners’ point of view and many stories will include powerful lessons learned. In that sense, our book is both a human interest series of stories plus a practical guide for potential and current female business partners.
Along with our own spa industry experience, other human interest stories will include female entrepreneurs partnered in businesses as diverse as retail clothing, food production, publishing, public relations, web design, law, medicine, finance and internet start-ups. To find these stories our ghostwriter will select and interview women we’ve met through the National Association for Women Business Owners, the Business and Professional Women’s Foundation, the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council and the National Women’s Business Center in Washington, D.C. In addition, we have local and regional contacts that we believe have a great experience to share. We’ll shoot for high profile women business partners but we also want to reach “average” working women throughout the country at different stages in their businesses and partnerships.
How many different businesses are owned by women across America? A lot says the current research, which also indicates that women-owned businesses are the fastest growing segment of today’s economy. We estimate that at least one-third of these businesses are run by women who are partners.
What’s a Marketing Analysis?
The marketing analysis answers that all-important question about how many copies the book might sell. To do that, you’ll need to:
- Describe your audience in terms of its potential selling base. Is this segmented market growing? Can you include projections or statistics?
- Are there any current trends that might affect your book’s sales? If so, point them out.
- Where would you expect the book to sell? Bookstores and online or both? Through direct marketing organizations or associations? Be specific, using numbers that can be translated into possible sales.
- What’s your book’s greatest appeal to readers in your view? Why would you say that?
- Does your book have special features that might draw attention – colorful graphics, call-out boxes, photos or other visuals that might pull the reader in?
- What are your sources for the information you’re providing? If the book is heavily researched, that’s a good selling point.
Tip: Put on your marketing hat and think like a sales rep. What makes this book unique? Why should anyone buy it?
According to the Center for Women’s Research, almost half of all businesses in the U.S. are now owned by women entrepreneurs. Women-owned firms in the U.S. employed more than 13 million people and generated nearly $3 trillion in sales by 2010.
On average, women business owners enter the world of entrepreneurship later in life, are between 40 – 60 years of age and better educated than women who serve as employees.
Internationally, female business owners comprise about one-third of all entrepreneurs. Those from higher income nations were more successful as establishing their businesses due to better resources and financial backing.
These statistics are helpful in knowing the estimated number and type of reader that will have a special interest in our book.
Affinity Readers:
- Women business owners with and without partners, national and international
- Potential business owners looking to partner with another female
- Women readers in general, particularly if their friends or employers are females
- Business audience in general
- Gender-specific instructors in classroom settings throughout high schools, universities and community colleges nationwide
- Members of women business networks and professional organizations worldwide – there are thousands of them! Within the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) alone, there are 7000 members and 70 chapters across the U.S.
Upon reading this book readers will:
- Be drawn into the human interest elements of business-related stories while obtaining knowledge on the how-to approach of setting up and growing a successful business partnership.
- As a potential business owner be informed on what to do; not to do through top five mistakes shared by women business-owners in partnering with another female.
- Gain insight into the motivations and driving forces of female entrepreneurs.
- If employed by female business owners, be more informed about the special challenges faced by women entrepreneurs.
- Be enlightened about future trends as it relates to women in business.
What’s a Competitive Analysis?
Similar to the Marketing Analysis, the Competitive Analysis allows you to define what makes your book different from the competition. That requires some research on your part in figuring what’s already out there (Course #4) and how to present your book idea if similar concepts have already been published. A great resource through your local library Reference section is Books in Print, and Forthcoming Books in Print. You can search by title, author or keywords for what’s already been published and what’s coming out in the next year.
Here’s an example of a Competitive Analysis:
THE COMPETITION
In looking through the content of prior publications related to the topic of businesses in which two women partnered, we found, of course, a large number of textbooks, manuals, and guidebooks aimed for business partnering in general, partnering as couples (men and women) and many articles on women in business, yet few books that devoted more than a brief paragraph or two addressing women partnerships, how and why they were formed and what made them actually work or not work.
For example, as early as 1993, author Carolyn Duff published a book titled When Women Work Together: Using Our Strengths to Overcome Our Challenges that we thought might come close despite its dated approach. However, on further look the book contains material on “creating competence, solving communication problems, why it is important to show empathy and other generic guidance on getting along in the work world – a very different world than what we live and work in today.
More contemporary is a book titled The Girl’s Guide to Starting Your Own Business (Harper Collins, 2010) written in a breezy easy-to-read style by two women partners in a public relations firm. Offering candid advice, frank talk and true stories for the successful entrepreneur with updates for social media, the book is a how-to directed at women going into business solo with brief references to taking on a partner (male or female). The “girl talk” segments of the book contain the personal stories of several female entrepreneurs but is handled in a question-and-answer format and not geared specifically to partnerships. These same authors have written a series of books on women in business but we found nothing slanted specifically toward women partnering.
Other books researched for topic comparison includes: Harvard Business Review on Women in Business, a compilation of targeted articles on business topics ranging from teamwork to management styles and Smart Women and Small Business: How to Make the Leap from Corporate Careers to the Right Small Enterprise (2006) with a focus on entrepreneurial alternatives to big business.
What Should I Say in my Author Information?
This is your chance to shine with prior work, or if you’ve never published, all the reasons you are the right person to produce this particular book. If you have a website, list it. If you’re a member of a writer’s organization, include it. If you have special expertise in the subject matter, don’t be shy. Add a good quality head shot in color if you can.
Here’s an example of Author Information:
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
By Marie Bartlett
As a member of the American Society of Journalists & Authors (ASJA), I have the qualifications and experience to produce a polished, professional manuscript that is well-researched and marketable. I also have the ability to work well with an agent, an editor and publisher, have marketing and public speaking skills, and understand the necessity of author promotion.
My published work has appeared in national and regional newspapers, trade journals, and magazines that range from Good Housekeeping to Seventeen on topics that run the gamut from business profiles to human interest features.
My first nonfiction book, Trooper Down: Life & Death on the Highway Patrol was published by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill in 1988, and reprinted by Pocket Books of NY in 1991. It is scheduled to appear as an e-book in 2012. The foreword was written by Washington D.C. columnist James J. Kilpatrick, who called the book “gripping.”
In 1993, my second nonfiction book, Flight for Life, was published by Pocket Books, an original paperback. In 2006 I published my third nonfiction book, Gifts from Shane, with Foreword by Winston Groom, author of the best-selling Forrest Gump, who referred to the book as “a remarkable story.”
My most recent book, The Frontier Nursing Service: America’s First Rural Midwife School & Service, was published in 2009 and is part of the Contribution to Appalachian Studies. The book was well received by librarians, literary critics and professional associations. The Frontier Nursing Service organization calls it “the missing link” due to its human interest slant coupled with intensive research.
This project is my second full-length ghostwritten work. McGraw-Hill is publishing my first ghostwriting venture, a marketing book that explores new trends in reaching “the best of the best” customers in retail establishments.
My full professional background and head shot can be found at www.onceawriter.com
What’s Left?
Your chapter outlines which can listed in chapter-by-chapter sequence with no more than one paragraph to describe each chapter’s content.
Sample chapters – one to three (check agent and publishers guidelines and follow their request)
Any attachments or supporting materials that help sell the book’s concept. These could be published articles, photos or graphics. Place at the end of your proposal on a page marked “Attachments.”
One More Thing
In today’s publishing world, authors are expected be marketers as well as writers with something called a “platform,” or a brand identity. If you have public speaking experience, a wide audience already established with a prior track record of published work and a fan base of people who read your work (including blogs) be sure to include this in your proposal. I would put it under a separate category titled “Commitment to Marketing.”
Here’s an example:
COMMITMENT TO MARKETING
Since the success of a book is dependent upon its marketing, I am committed to the fullest extent possible in market participation including public speaking engagements, press tours, interviews, book signings and self-promotion. I have a website and social media experience which I can utilize to help promote and sell the book. I also have an established platform in that I have a brand name already recognized on the Web.
Resources for Book Writers
There are tons of good books, writer periodicals, articles and web content to help anyone interested in writing a book; too many to list here. But I do have my favorites, including a wonderful book by Jack and Glenda Neff, Don Prues and the editors of Writer’s Market titled Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript, Writer’s Digest Books, 2000.
You’ll recognize some of the tips included in this course along with numerous samples they’ve provided and a practical, down-to-earth approach for beginning and advanced writers.
Best of luck!
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