Propose Your Book

How to Craft Persuasive Proposals for Nonfiction, Fiction, and Children?s Books

Patricia Fry

• Publisher: Allworth
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9781621534679
• eBook ISBN: 9781621534778
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Authorship
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

Authors are the CEOs of their books, and their book proposals are their business plans. Most agents and publishers require a proposal before ever setting eyes on a manuscript, and it is a crucial element in getting published. Writing a proposal can also help an author to write the right book for the right audience, and to more successfully pitch a book to the right agent or publisher. Propose Your Book offers a clear understanding of the book proposal process in today's fiercely competitive publishing climate. It includes: The most up-to-date concepts in writing a book proposal
Insider tips from the agents and publishers
Examples of actual proposals from publishers' filesCovering proposals for nonfiction, fiction, and children's books, Patricia Fry provides a hands-on approach from an experienced writer's perspective. Propose Your Book, enriched with innovative and tried-and-true strategies, is a complete guide to perfecting contemporary proposals that will sell writers' books.Allworth Press, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, publishes a broad range of books on the visual and performing arts, with emphasis on the business of art. Our titles cover subjects such as graphic design, theater, branding, fine art, photography, interior design, writing, acting, film, how to start careers, business and legal forms, business practices, and more. While we don't aspire to publish a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are deeply committed to quality books that help creative professionals succeed and thrive. We often publish in areas overlooked by other publishers and welcome the author whose expertise can help our audience of readers.

Part One

The Book Proposal Explained

The first step in the process of writing a successful book proposal is to understand what it is and what it’s supposed to do. Don’t skip over or simply skim these four chapters. They are designed to teach you the basic premise of the book proposal and reveal all of the necessary elements. We’ll also suggest some impressive enhancements you can incorporate into your book proposal for both fiction and nonfiction.

What Is a Book Proposal and Why Do You Need One?

Before I confuse you with the particulars of a book proposal, let me provide some important essentials. If you plan to transition from writer to published author, it is critical that you understand something about the publishing industry and how to successfully navigate within its parameters.

While writing is a craft—a creative activity—publishing is a serious business. You may write from the heart, but a publisher will consider even a book of poetry from a business standpoint. A publisher is not interested in the fact that it made you feel good to write this book, that it took you ten years (or three months) to write it, that your great uncle was a writer, or even that you have an MFA degree. Well, he may be mildly interested at a human level, but the main thing he wants to know about your project is, will it make him some money?

A publisher (and a literary agent) will view your book as a product. And so should you. As an author, you must consider yourself the CEO of your book from the very beginning. Why? The answer is two-fold:

• Publishing is a fiercely competitive business. In order to succeed as a published author, you must adopt a business stance. And the earlier in the process you can do this, the better.

• You know more about your project than anyone else and you care more about it. Who is more qualified to take charge and make decisions on behalf of your book?

Being the CEO of your book means taking full charge of your project. Immerse yourself in a study of the publishing industry. To experience a level of success any other way is unlikely and unreasonable, and the proof is in the pudding. At last count, statistics showed that over seventy-eight percent of all books fail in the marketplace each year. Across the board, the reason is at least partially lack of author knowledge about the industry or a refusal to apply what he or she has learned.

A book can fail for many reasons. Maybe it’s poorly written, has no measurable audience, or no one bothered to promote it. No matter the reason why a fiction or nonfiction book doesn’t perform well in the marketplace, the author is always at fault. Here are some common mistakes authors make:

• They don’t take the responsibility as CEO of their books seriously.

• They don’t write the right book for the right audience.

• They don’t hire a good book editor.

• They don’t view their book as a product.

• They neglect to promote their book—in fact, they often don’t even realize they need to.

When authors study the industry and apply what they learn, they have a much better chance of succeeding.

What Is Success?

While we’re on the subject, let’s discuss the concept of success. What is your perception of success? What is your goal for your novel, memoir, children’s book, or informational book? Do you dream of retiring on the proceeds? Do you plan to use the book as a tool for expanding your accounting, marketing, catering, family counseling, graphic arts, or interior design business, for example? Or would you like to establish a career as an author? Maybe you simply have something to say and you crave an audience, or you are trying to prove something to someone through a book by showing them, “I am competent (talented, clever, smart)” —fill in the blank.

I tell people that I write books, articles, blog posts, newsletters, etc., because I can’t not write. My motivation for writing is passion. I’m addicted to the process. I justify the time I spend writing by producing useful and entertaining products that I can sell. Thus, I make a living doing what I love. My goal has always been to establish and maintain a career as a writer, while offering readers something of value.

People write for all sorts of reasons. What’s yours? Here’s an equally important question: What is the purpose of your proposed book? Are you writing in order to help people, to teach a concept or activity, to provide information, or is your book designed as pure entertainment? Some authors write books because they want to share something from their lives—a story of recovery or rehabilitation, details of a once-in-a-lifetime trip or experience, or a tribute to a remarkable family member, for example. Others want to make a difference through their writing. They hope to change lives and change minds.

Avoid the Bulldozer Book

I caution those of you with a desire to change others through your writing. Certainly, what we read can alter our way of thinking. The danger lies in the author’s expectations as well as his or her perceived readership. Address readers who are seeking greater riches, a fresh perspective on life, or help with anger management, for example, and you’ll sell copies of your related book. Try to force your ideas and values on those who don’t want to change, and you’ll miss the mark. The book might still fly—but you may have to alter your original marketing strategies to make it happen.

Some years ago, I wrote a book on fathering and fatherhood. It was designed to motivate disinterested and disengaged fathers to step up to the parental plate. Of course, I couldn’t find a publisher. And if I’d self-published, I probably wouldn’t have sold many copies. Why? First of all, statistics show that men purchase only something like thirty or forty percent of the books sold in the United States, and I’d bet that few of those are self-help books on parenting. Certainly, fathers who don’t want to take responsibility for their children are not going to read a book like this one. What was I thinking?

Before launching out to produce a book, clearly define your reason for writing it and the book’s purpose. And then consider human nature. You might want to help, but you won’t get very far if the targeted reader isn’t receptive. Even though you think people should stop smoking, eat more greens, think positive thoughts, or conserve water, some of them like things just the way they are. Your motive for writing the book might be pure and good. But, if you truly want to make a difference and make some money, you’ll need to look beyond your altruistic desires and perhaps design a book that’s more palatable to your target audience. It just makes good business sense.

Once you have an inkling that your perceived book’s purpose may be flawed, don’t give up. Take another look at your idea. Turn it inside out, upside down, and sideways. If you are attached to the material and the concept, maybe you can preserve it in another form—one that is more likely to attract an eager audience. In the case of my book on fatherhood and fathering, I might reinvent it as a celebration of fatherhood and fathering featuring lovely stories from devoted dads and charming photos of fathers with their children and package it as a gift book. I’d envision wives, mothers, and even grown daughters and stepdaughters buying it for the dads in their lives. I might not reach my original audience, but the book would certainly serve to reinforce positive behavior, and perhaps influence the future fathers coming up in these families.

If you hope to produce a successful nonfiction book, it’s critical that you review your reasons for writing it and the book’s purpose. Are they valid or frivolous? Are you being realistic or naive? Decide now, because these are some of the questions you’ll be asked by the literary agents and publishers you approach.

Educate Yourself

The next step in the process of producing a successful book has little to do with the actual planning or writing of it. This highly recommended phase is designed to educate and enlighten you—the hopeful author—with regard to publishing. Before entering this fiercely competitive field, you need to understand something about the publishing industry. And the best way to educate yourself is through the following:

• Read books by professionals in the industry. I recommend starting with Publish Your Book: Proven Strategies and Resources for the Enterprising Author by Patricia Fry (Allworth Press). There are other excellent books listed in the resource section of this book.

• Subscribe to appropriate publishing-related newsletters. Many of them are free. (See “Resources for Authors” in Part Seven of this book.)

• Join national organizations and local clubs related to writing, publishing, and book marketing as well as your book’s theme/genre. Then participate!

• Attend writers’ conferences. You’ll pick up a lot of information by attending workshops and networking with other authors.

When you know something about the publishing industry, you’ll understand what the agent or publisher is looking for when they review your book proposal and why. If you prepare a proposal from a writer’s perspective without considering the publisher’s position, you’re likely to miss the boat and lose out on the contract. If you forge ahead and self-publish without having developed a meaningful book proposal, you may flounder and fail in this fiercely competitive industry.

Here’s a reality check: the process of writing a book does not prepare you for the serious business of publishing. Sure, you know people from your writers’ group who have published books. You read stories in the daily news about local authors. You see authors appearing with their books on every TV talk show. There are ordinary people everywhere who have published books on a wide variety of topics and in all genres. This is no time to adopt an “if they can do it, I can do it” attitude. What you may not know is that the authors who appear to have become extremely or even somewhat successful probably did not make a haphazard leap from writer to published author. They did what I suggest you do—they studied the publishing industry before getting involved. And then they approached publishers from a more professional perspective.

Publishing is a business. Publishers are in business to make money. Across the board, they choose projects based on the book’s potential in the marketplace. Publishers accept books they think will sell—that large segments of readers will purchase. A publisher will look at your book from an entirely different angle than you do. That’s why I stress to authors, “Learn how a publisher thinks.” In order to be successful, authors must shed the emotional veil they wear during the writing process before entering into the business of publishing.

Certainly, publishers sometimes give in to intuition when choosing a manuscript for their lists—they occasionally go with a hunch. Most often, however, they’re calculating in their decisions. The acquisitions procedure has become almost a science for many publishers. While authors tend to follow their hearts where their books are concerned, publishers generally make decisions based on knowledge, statistics, and experience. While the author comes from an emotional place, the publisher uses his head.

It’s true that just about every publisher and every editorial staff has made mistakes. We’ve all read about hugely successful bestselling books being rejected by many publishers before hitting it big. And publishers have been known to invest in books that bombed. So the science of acquisitions isn’t fail-safe, but those publishers who stay afloat in these precarious, changing times do so mainly because of their business sense.

If you are seriously seeking a publisher for your marvelous book, you’ll have a better chance of acceptance if you strive to understand the business and comply. One way to comply, of course, is to write a strong book proposal, because most publishers and agents today will request one for fiction, nonfiction, memoirs, and even children’s books. Not only that, you, as CEO of your book, will gain a much more secure foothold within the industry once you’ve gone through the process of writing a book proposal.

Your Business Plan

So what is this mysterious book proposal, exactly? Ever hear of a business plan? Potential business owners typically prepare one before buying a restaurant, opening a smoke shop, or starting a computer repair business, for example. When you launch a book, you are entering into a highly competitive business. At that point, your book is no longer your baby—a beautiful creative tome, a heartfelt memoir, or a solid self-help treasure. It is now a product that requires keen marketing strategy in order to make those coveted sales. It’s no easy task to shift from writer to businessperson, but developing a book proposal (or business plan) can help.

Think about this: You wouldn’t open a hardware store, gift shop, or pet grooming service without creating a business plan. You’d want to know, for example, who are your customers, what services/products do they want/need, where do they reside/shop/hang out, and who are the major suppliers in this field? You’d want to know something about your competitors—what do they offer, what do they charge, who are their customers, and how do they attract them?

If you’ve ever established a business, you may be familiar with a business plan. If not, this could be a new concept for you. Developing a business plan is sort of like investment planning or event planning. You have a goal in mind and you insert the information pertinent to reaching that goal. In this way, a business plan and a book proposal are similar, although a business plan has a slightly different style and focus than a book proposal. The business plan is more of a fact-finding and number-crunching exercise designed to prove or disprove the viability of a proposed business or product. The book proposal, while there’s a similar objective, has a more personal edge—it’s designed to make a case for your book as well as for you, the author.

If the task of developing a book proposal seems a little intimidating, just stay focused on the fact that you’re the CEO of your book, and your entry into the world of publishing should be somewhat successful. If you reject this title and this concept, you could be in a world of hurt.

We’ve already established that your book is a product. When you approach traditional publishers, you are asking them to invest in your product. Naturally, before making a decision, they want to see your business plan.

There’s certain information a publisher needs in order to help him determine the potential for your book. He wants evidence verifying that this book is wanted/needed by a large segment of readers. He’s keenly interested in who they are, how many of them there are, where they are, and how they can be reached. He wants to know something about you as it relates to the topic/genre of your proposed book. Why would anyone buy a book on this topic or in this genre written by you? He wants proof that you understand and accept your responsibilities as the author of this book, especially when it comes to promoting it.

The fact that you are reading this book and that you have made it this far indicates that you’re either quite savvy when it comes to the book proposal or you’re willing to learn. Because understanding and acceptance are of primary importance, you, dear author, are on the road to publishing success. Keep reading.

What’s the Purpose of the Book Proposal?

The majority of publishers request a book proposal as a first step in their potential relationship with an author, and they have certain criteria for authors to follow. While these criteria are generally ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Introduction
• Part One: The Book Proposal Explained
• Part Two: The Nonfiction Book Proposal
• Part Three: The Personal Book Proposal
• Part Four: Book Proposals for Fiction
• Part Five: A Book Proposal for Your Children’s Book
• Part Six: It’s Time to Submit Your Amazing Proposal
• Part Seven: Resources for Authors
• Index
• Adcard