Category: Book Proposals

13 Misteaks That Turn Your Book Proposal into Chopped Liver

If you are a traditional publishing holdout, a nonfiction writer who sees the benefits of having their work produced by a publishing house, who does not want to become a self-publisher (for any number of reasons) or who simply has always dreamed of receiving a contract and advance for your book, you will need a [...]

Tuesday November 15th, 2011 in Agents, Book Proposals, Finding an Agent, Proposals, Traditional Publishing | No Comments »

How to Sell a Book by Answering the Essential Questions

More often than not, aspiring authors who send me nonfiction book proposals for editing haven’t included all the information required. They think they know what should be in the document’s pages. They may have read books on how to write a book proposal or found helpful articles on the Internet, but they still don’t understand [...]

Monday November 14th, 2011 in Agents, Book Proposals, Finding an Agent | No Comments »

13 Misteaks That Turn Your Book Proposal into Chopped Liver

If you are a traditional publishing holdout, a nonfiction writer who sees the benefits of having their work produced by a publishing house, who does not want to become a self-publisher (for any number of reasons) or who simply has always dreamed of receiving a contract and advance for your book, you will need a [...]

Saturday November 5th, 2011 in Agents, Book Proposals, Finding an Agent, Proposals | No Comments »

Demystifying the Nonfiction Book Proposal: The Outline

The second part of the nonfiction book proposal is called The Outline. If you recall, the first part of the proposal is called the Introduction, and included all the sections I’ve discussed in the previous 10 posts. (Find the first post in the series here.) The Outline includes three sections: List of Chapters, Chapter Summaries [...]

Monday August 29th, 2011 in Book Proposals, Finding an Agent, Proposals, Traditional Publishing | No Comments »

Demystifying the Nonfiction Book Proposal: Platform

The Platform section constitutes the final one in the Introduction of a nonfiction book proposal. Here you prove you have done what it takes to create a built-in readership for your book. The Platform section can make or break an aspiring author’s chances of getting a publishing deal. Thus, be sure you not only have [...]

Friday August 26th, 2011 in Book Proposals, Finding an Agent, Proposals, Traditional Publishing | No Comments »

Demystifying the Nonfiction Book Proposal: Mission Statement

These days many book proposals include a mission statement after the About the Author section. Here you answer the question: “Why do I feel compelled to write this book?” Or answer these questions: “What’s my purpose in writing this book?” “What’s my mission in writing this book (or how does writing this book fit into [...]

Wednesday August 24th, 2011 in Book Proposals, Finding an Agent, Proposals, Traditional Publishing | No Comments »

Demystifying the Nonfiction Book Proposal: About the Author

At this point in the proposal process you must write down all the reasons why you are the best person to write your book. This section is called “About the Author.” It, again, falls under the Introduction. Sounds pretty simply, right? It actually is. Write a biography of your expertise and experience in the third [...]

Monday August 22nd, 2011 in Book Proposals, Finding an Agent, Proposals, Traditional Publishing | No Comments »

Demystifying the Nonfiction Book Proposal: Necessary Resources

The next section in the Introduction is called “Resources Needed to Complete the Book.” Here you will detail all costs related to completing your book and discuss when you will complete your book. Here are a few resources you might consider including : Photos Art Permissions Foreword by a celebrity In this section of a [...]

Wednesday August 17th, 2011 in Book Proposals, Finding an Agent, Proposals, Traditional Publishing | No Comments »

Demystifying the Nonfiction Book Proposal: Complementary Books

Sorry I didn’t post the next part in my series on writing a nonfiction book proposal last Friday. I’m in New York for the whole month of August with my son, the dancer, and things got a bit crazy. (For the last two weeks I thought I might actually  be moving to NYC for 10-11 [...]

Monday August 15th, 2011 in Agents, Author Coaching, Book Proposals, Finding an Agent, Proposals, Traditional Publishing | No Comments »

Demystifying the Nonfiction Book Proposal: Competiting Books

Now we come to the Competing Books section of a book proposal. This is still part of the Introduction. Here you take a long hard look at what books already have been written on your topic and how your book compares to them. The reason for this is simple. You want to convince a publisher [...]

Wednesday August 10th, 2011 in Agents, Author Coaching, Book Proposals, Finding an Agent, Proposals, Traditional Publishing | No Comments »