How to write a book proposal for a nonfiction book. How to write a nonfiction book proposal writers write. When it comes to fiction, few agents or editors expect or require. Most book agents call this section of a nonfiction book proposal the competition section, but i prefer to call is the competitive advantages section. The anatomy of a compelling book proposal the bindery. It acts as a business case or business plan for your book that persuades a publisher to make an investment. By wendy keller, literary agent and nonfiction book proposal expert. What is the accepted way of preparing and submitting a proposal for a nonfiction picture book, say for the middle grade market.
How to write a nonfiction book proposal with template. Book proposals are used to sell nonfiction books to publishers. Contains the title, author byline, and contact information proposal contents. Have you got a nonfiction book idea and dream of securing a. How to write a nonfiction book proposal writers block party. Make sure your proposal is as polished as possible by including the following. It is not unusual for an editor to skim the first part of a book proposal and decide on that basis alone whether to reject the proposed book or read further. The bukowski agency nonfiction proposal guidelines.
Oct 25, 2016 a book proposal is a document most commonly associated with pitching a nonfiction book. Sample new book proposal below is a sample of a complete and exhaustive book proposal for a christian nonfiction manuscript. Nonfiction book proposals can top out around 5075 pages, not including sample chapters. If you are writing your overview in paragraph form i would suggest you write no more than one or two pages. This is an updated version of a story that was previously published. We update our posts as often as possible to ensure theyre useful for our readers. In the process of writing my own nonfiction book proposal earlier this year thanks to my year of amazing pledge, i searched everywhere i could for tips and advice on how to write a nonfiction book proposal. Writing proposals for nonfiction books how to write a book now. Instead of writing the entire book, then trying to interest an editor or agent which. Write your nonfiction book proposal webinar creative. I found this advice once offered by former writers digest publisher jane friedman who rejected and approved proposals over. To get your nonfiction book published, put together a strong proposal.
Sep 10, 2017 for nonfiction book proposals, two chapters of your book will suffice. How to write a nonfiction book proposal mary mackey. Instead, you write the proposal that describes what the book is about, why its interesting, and why it has an audience. Nov 12, 20 it should include a description of the main features of the book, a category, your photo and a brief bio, the publisher, an isbn number, a library of congress number, a bar code, and the price. When it comes to fiction, few agents or editors expect or require book proposals, but its an incredibly useful tool. Nonfiction book proposal outline the following are some guidelines to help you. Since they receive dozens of submissions per week, editors and agents need to be highly selective. I found this advice once offered by former writer s digest publisher jane friedman who rejected and approved proposals over. Youre going to have to essentially sell them your book, sending them a document that contains details about your qualifications, a chapterbychapter outline, and most importantly, how your.
Different rules apply to writing a book proposal for fiction books, so make sure to do more research if youre writing a book proposal for a fiction book. How to write a nonfiction book proposal writers digest. Use the proposal to sell your book to potential literary agents, editors, and publishers. In the process of writing my own nonfiction book proposal earlier this year thanks to my. Its usually at least 20 pages long, often much longer. How to write a nonfiction book proposal wolf literary services. A book proposal argues why your book idea is a salable, marketable product. Add in those samples, and youll have a complete proposal ready to be considered by a literary agent. How to write a successful nonfiction book proposal the importance of the book proposal.
For most acquisition editors, this is a very important part of the proposal. For fiction, include several chapters in the book proposal, and the entire manuscript in a separate file. The six parts of a nonfiction book barbara mcnichol. This begins with a brief dramatic anecdote which is meant to get the reader, in this case the editor at the publishing company, interested in the material. The truth is the nonfiction book proposal is an entirely different beast. How to write a book proposal that agents will love jericho writers. At its root, this is the purpose of each section in a book proposal, so be clear and persuasive. To aid us in our presentation of your book project, we ask authors to prepare a carefully detailed and compelling proposal regardless of whether you have a completed manuscript. Mar 06, 2018 the proposal was for my nonfiction pop culture book about the history of black women on tv. A book proposal is essentially a business plan for your book. Klems june 28, 2012 in the process of writing my own nonfiction book proposal earlier this year thanks to my year of amazing pledge, i searched everywhere i could for tips and advice on how to write a nonfiction book proposal. How to write a nonfiction book proposal with examples. If you want to traditionally publish a nonfiction book, a completed manuscript usually isnt enough to land you a book deal.
That reinforces the idea in your mind and in the mind of publishing agents that your book is different and in some ways better than similar titles in your genre. The best model for a kickass book proposal is the nonfiction proposal. Writing a great book proposal is the beginning of the publishing process and the only way to get a publisher to look at your material. I also sold a book off the back of a nonfiction book proposal that had multiple publishers bidding for the rights, and ended up being sold to harpercollins for. In my opinion, this is the most important part of a book proposal. In no particular order and definitely in your own voice and style, a nonfiction book proposal should contain the following elements. It needs to persuade its reader that your idea has enough commercial potential that the publisher should take the risk of putting money and resources into your book. Writing a winning nonfiction book proposal 32 30 from my experience, a great book proposal needs to include five distinct elements see fig. It needs to persuade its reader that your idea has enough commercial potential that the publisher should take the risk. A proposal begins with a title page followed by a table of contents page listing the parts of the proposal and the pages on which they begin. Many were great, but super lengthy and time consuming to read. The finished document is typically between 25 and 60 pages long, depending on the length of the sample chapters. Last week, i was feeling really good about how much i had accomplished a sample chapter and prologue, an overview of the book for a book proposal until i decided to really map out what it is going to take to get this project done. I m deep in the thrill of starting a new project right now, an 80s memoir about houses.
Agents are looking for something more specific when it comes to nonfiction. The 5 parts of a nonfiction book proposal keller media, inc. You want to demonstrate that you know your stuff and that you are the right person to be writing and promoting books like this. Nonfiction book proposal outline here is a basic template for a book proposal, which many of our clients have used successfully. It includes information on the content, the author, the market, and the salability of the project. How does it differ from a standard magazine article query. A nonfiction book proposal most often contains some form of the following, although many publishers and agents have specific guidelines for submitting nonfiction proposals. That was a twobook deal, admittedly, so you can divide the numbers by two to get a per book amount. Lets go through all the elements youll need one by one. A great nonfiction book proposal will show that you have thought through your idea, and more importantly, it will show that you know how to turn this idea into a book. A book proposal is a document intended to convince a publisher that your project is economically viable for their publishing house.
The 8 essential elements of a nonfiction book proposal by. Nonfiction book proposal outline ted weinstein literary. Ill start with the must haves and then explain the optionals. Unlike a work of fiction, which must be completed before you send the query, a proposal is the correct way to approach a publisher for a nonfiction book. The most important aspect of the submission of a nonfiction book to publishers is the book proposal. Michael larsenelizabeth pomada literary agents proposals usually range from 35 to 50 pages, and they have three parts. In the bottom right corner, put your name and contact details address, email, phone number. Most nonfiction is sold via a book proposal a structured outline of the book you. And the process of writing a good book proposal is a great exercise, because you become focused on what you want to write.
If you are submitting a requested proposal for fiction also unusual, you may use the same elements. Below are the various sections you will typically include when writing proposals. Aug 11, 2017 instead, you write the proposal that describes what the book is about, why its interesting, and why it has an audience. This section of the book proposal can be anywhere from 12 of a page to 2 pages. Overview the overview tells the editor, in brief, what your book is about.
If youre querying literary agents with a nonfiction project, theres a good chance that youll be. Those who have a concept or idea for a nonfiction book, for which they want to explore the market potentialand ultimately write a book proposal for. I read a book about how to put together a proposal. Online shopping from a great selection at books store. What follows is a list of those parts in order of their appearance and what each one contains if you choose to include it. Last week, i was feeling really good about how much i had accomplished a sample chapter and prologue, an overview of the book for a book proposal until i decided to really map out what it. This is the section where you lay out the basic idea of the book and discuss.
The parts of a nonfiction book proposal by michael larsen. Andy warhol, saint apollonia suite 1984 for all of these reasons, quite a mouthful will make a perfect gift for any general interest nonfiction reader. Fiction book proposal for literary agents literary agencies. How to draft proposals to childrens book publishers dummies. Although nonfiction writers must always submit a book proposal, today fiction writers benefit from submitting a proposal, too. Ive written and published several nonfiction books, so i had to study many articles, white papers, and books about how to write a book proposal along. Every proposal has to have a standard set of sections, and then there are some that are optional. It is by david sanford, a published author, editor, and literary agent for more than 300 books who now serves on the leadership team at corban university. For nonfiction book proposals, two chapters of your book will suffice.
However, if you create a proposal thats divided into the following four sections, in the following order, every agent or publisher that you submit fiction book proposal to will be happy. How to write a book proposal the creative independent. Immediately after this anecdote, you should describe in two or three sentencesno morewhat the book will be about. Elements of a successful nonfiction book proposal dummies. What is a book proposal for nonfiction writers blogger. The 8 essential elements of a nonfiction book proposal. A book proposal should include each of the following sections, in this order. If you successfully execute this, the sum of the proposals parts will convince a. Those who have a completed memoir and want to write a book proposal as part of the pitch process to agents and publishers. Include two of the chapters you feel best represents your writing style and the content of the book you are writing. In the middle of the page, put proposal for title of book. Jun 28, 2012 the 8 essential elements of a nonfiction book proposal by. How to write a successful nonfiction book proposal jeanne.
As much as you love writing, this is not designed to be an epic. Jun 28, 2012 in the process of writing my own nonfiction book proposal earlier this year thanks to my year of amazing pledge, i searched everywhere i could for tips and advice on how to write a nonfiction book proposal. A book proposal consists of 5 crucial parts, as well as a few sample chapters. In this comprehensive yet accessible guide, you will learn exactly what a proposal is, what it must contain, and how to pull yours together into an informative, persuasive selling package. I offer a selfstudy course on nonfiction book proposals. Thats important, because those comparable books will form an important part. Much of this will already exist in your book proposal and can easily be converted to the appropriate language if the book is being translated. Between the covers of your nonfiction book bookbaby blog. A book proposal is a document most commonly associated with pitching a nonfiction book. It should include a description of the main features of the book, a category, your photo and a brief bio, the publisher, an isbn number, a library of congress number, a bar code, and the price.
A nonfiction book proposal is the key document that allows an agent or publisher to determine the viability of a project. This article walks authors through what a book proposal is, the purpose they serve. Sample book proposal from a professional literary agency. You are also welcome to listen to free audio recordings of teds book proposal bootcamp and other workshops and media appearances. Elements of a nonfiction book proposal greenleaf book group. What are the major parts of a nonfiction book proposal.