Book Proposals

"How do I get an agent? How do I find a publisher?"

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The answer to both those questions is the same: A book proposal. A book proposal is a sales document that’s used to convince a literary agent to represent your book or get a publisher to buy the rights to publish it. It can run from 40 to 80 pages and consists of the following sections:

 

• An overview of the book

• Bio of the author or authors

• Your marketing platform and strategy

• A review of comparable titles in your genre

• A detailed outline of the book

• 1-2 sample chapters

 

Writing a proposal that lands you an agent AND scores you a publishing deal is one of the hardest, highest-level tasks in the publishing world. But a proposal is also a tool for developing the crap out of your book idea before the market sees it.

     Is it original, or are you rehashing ideas that 10 other authors have already covered? Do you have the platform to reach a substantial audience consistently, and have you worked to build up an existing fan base that's hungry for your book? Is your outline fully fleshed out or are you not really sure what you will write? Have you thoroughly researched the books already on shelves to make sure there's nothing like yours already on the market? 

​     Your proposal is your testing ground for rooting out dead-end ideas and determining what you need to do with your marketing platform. It's also a terrific tool for test-piloting different voices and styles before you commit to one for your final manuscript.

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