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The Book Proposal: An Overview

The Proposal: An Overview

Books today are sold to a publisher on the basis of a proposal, a sample chapter or two and a query letter. You should not write the entire book before you sell it, nor should you send it to one publisher at a time. You also do not write the query letter until you have finished the proposal.

The Proposal consists of a title, a proposal summary or synopsis (4 to 20 pages), a section which establishes the market for the book (1 to 2 pages), a book comparison section (1 to 2 pages), the author's credentials (1) page and an outline. Let's take a quick look at each one, then we will take the sections a part.

We will look at the parts quickly in this lesson, then come back in the remaining lessons and detail each of these for you.

The Proposal Summary (About the Book)

The proposal summary, despite it's name, isn't a summary of the book, but essentially a sales brochure intended to convince an editorial board to invest $50,000 to $100,000 to publish your book. It's much like the blurb on the book jacket. You hook the editor, offer a three or four paragraph discussion of how you intend to put the book together, and give details and examples of what's going on in your book. You also explain how your book will benefit the reader. Here is a sample of a couple of paragraphs from a proposal.

Example:

: HOME FOR THE FAMILY OF ONE: The Single's Guide to Home Ownership

Once upon a time, "real life" began with marriage. Today, however, 40 percent of all Americans over eighteen years of age are single--twice as many people as were living alone ten years ago--and singles want the same things as couples: 92 percent want to own their own homes. And many are doing so with singles now owning more than one third (35 million) of all owner occupied homes. This year alone more than 800,000 single Americans will buy homes.

But many singles get knots in their stomachs when they consider buying a home. Why? Because they start thinking about the " what if's." What if they pay too much and the value goes down? What if they get transferred and can't sell the home? What if they discover a structural problem, such as hidden roof damage, and they can't afford to repair it? For singles, all of these "what if" issues are compounded because they must handle them by themselves. There is no one to fall back on for support and no one to bounce problems and potential solutions off of. Most singles must make this, the biggest decision of their lives, alone. And they must do it in a foreign language, the language of real estate law and mortgage financing.

Marketing Section

In the marketing section, pick out several target markets and explain how your book meets their needs. If the title of your book is Color, the Key to Harmony, you might explain that one target market might be college women, another reentry women, another professional women, and still another women executives who must constantly face the public, or are concerned with color in their office environment.

Book Comparison

For the book comparison, ask your librarian or bookstore which books on your subject are currently popular. I now use Amazon. Com. There I get a description of the book, reviews from readers, it's ranking, publisher, author and more. Pick three or four of the most popular books, then compare your book to these, explaining why your book offers information the others don't.

Author's Biography (About the Author)

You will also need a biography (the author's credentials) which lists your qualifications to write that book and explains what you can do to sell the book. If you have a column on Style Strategy in the local paper, stress this. If you regularly conduct seminars, explain how these will help sell the book.

Promotion Section

You didn't have to do much here a few years ago. But publishers now expect to see a well thought out approach. Include the magazines you think might review the book, personal appearances, media and more. This will be detailed in its own lesson.

Outline

Your book outline will be a table of contents with a paragraph summary for each chapter. Give the chapter title, then explain briefly what the chapter will do and include the reader benefits. After each Summary list 3 to 8 points or topics you intend to cover in that chapter.

To this you add 1 to 3 sample chapters

Going to Market

Write a letter of inquiry: A letter of inquiry is a one page letter which contains the book title, a one paragraph lead which promises the reader a solution to a problem, or information he or she can use, a paragraph which explains what the book is all about, a paragraph which details how you intend to handle the subject, and a final paragraph which explains your qualifications for writing the book. The final sentence asks if that editor would like to see your proposal and a sample chapter. You can send this letter directly to an editor or use it to find an agent who will represent you. All of this will be explained in detail later.

After you write your letter of inquiry, you make up a list of all possible publishers for your book from The Literary Market Place or Writer's Guide to Book Editors, Publishers, and Literary Agents: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0761537457/newcombnewcom-20 (Do not use Writer's Market). Include on your list, a senior editor from each house.

After this, if you have a computer, use mail merge to address the same letter of inquiry to each senior editor on your list by name. If the editor likes your letter of inquiry, he or she will ask to see your sample material. From the original letters, you can expect about 10 percent of the editors to respond positively. Send your sample material to every editor who asks to see it.

Editor's who like your book will take your material to an editorial board, which consists, at many houses, of the editorial director, sales manager, the subsidiary rights director, all the editors, the publisher and sometimes the business manager.

If the board approves your book, you will be given a contract, an advance ranging from about $2,000 to $20,000 and six months to a year to complete your book.

If you receive an offer from a publisher you can negotiate that yourself. If you receive an offer from more than one publisher you may want to have an agent negotiate for you.

When the book is published, do everything possible to publicize your book. The reason? Only 2 percent of all books published get any publicity help from the publisher beyond a news release.

By all means place yourself on local TV and radio. When you travel leave a day open to publicize yourself in each city you visit, and finally don't overlook telephone interviews from your desk with radio stations all over the country. The tools you need to do this effectively are

Bacon's Information Inc.

332 South Michigan Ave.

Chicago, IL 60604

312-922-2400

www.bacons.com

Radio-TV Interview Report

Bradley Media Publications

135 East Plumstead Avenue

Box 1206

Lansdowne PA 19050

610-259-1070

www.rtir.com