Thinking Outside The Word Document: The Usefulness of Fiction Book Proposals Week

Thinking Outside The Word Document: The Usefulness of Fiction Book Proposals Week

I've had the occasion in my editing projects to do work with non-fiction proposals. I'm not anywhere near an expert on them, as I don't edit non-fiction, but I can see the benefits of having all of your information organized.

Unlike queries for fiction books that are all about the book and the writing, non-fiction book proposals focus more on the outside stuff like how you plan to market the book and what makes you the expert to write the book in the first place (tho the writing has to be good too!)

This week I'll be breaking down the non-fiction proposal and using it to help fiction writers think outside the Word document. Non-fiction writers can follow along too if they want, as a sort of primer. 

A note: There is no one way of doing non-fic proposals. There are as many forms as there are publishing houses. This is just the basics. 

The Non-fiction Proposal

General Information

Concept Statement: (Your pitch.)

Category: (Genre.)

Audience: (Who will read/buy it?)

Overview: (What's the main gist of the project? How did you come to write it?)

Benefits: (What does the reader get out of reading it?)

Features: (What makes your book stand out? What features does it have that others don't?)

Length: (Estimate or actual)

Status: (Where you are in the writing process?)

Authors: (Did you write it yourself, or did anyone help you? Is this a pen name? If so, what is your real name?)

Overview

Now you really get to dig in deep on what makes your book special. Don't be coy here, really sell your book.

Talk about you as the author, what makes you the one to write this book and not someone else? What are your credentials? Keep this to the major points as you'll have another full page later for your author bio and to describe all the fun stuff you're doing online to build platform/brand.

Is this book one that will be around for a good long time or will it need updating as years pass? (I'm assuming no, but you might mention that in lieu of an updated version you could do a follow-up on how you've kept the weight off 1-5+ years down the road.) Is your topic in the news at all? Have any major markets explored the topic before? If so, why is your POV special and different?

Go in depth on who you are marketing to. This bit is tricky as you'll want to be specific but not so specific that your market ends up being 12 old ladies in northwest Ohio. (Okay, that's a bit dramatic. Basically you'll want to show them that you've got a target audience, but it'll appeal to a large range of people [more buyers = more money, that's what they care about])

Lastly, try to find one major thing that really makes you book stand out from all the others on the ‘shelf’ and drive it home. Make them think that if they pass on you and your book then they’re really going to be missing out.

And you should do all this in one page, two at the very most.

Author Biography

This is the chance to really sell yourself and describe all the awesome stuff you’re doing on your blog, website, twitter, etc. Give a brief overview of your life and try to keep it on-topic but if you deviate a bit it won’t matter. As long as you sound like a decent person and not some crazy out to brainwash people, you’ll be okay. Insert a small headshot if you have one, but it’s not required.

Then go in depth into your credentials. Emphasize everything that makes YOU particularly right to write this book.

Mention if you have a speaking schedule, how large the audiences are, what subjects you speak about, etc.

If it’s experience, use that. Give details about any media exposure you have had. Describe the things you have done, any leadership positions, fairs, galas, conferences that you’ve attended, etc.

If it’s schooling, describe that. Emphasize classes or placements in your field. If you’ve worked under a well-known person, mention it. If you can include a snippet of a recommendation from them, put that in too. Are you an active member of the alumni club? Do you serve on the board of directors or are you a trustee? Do you head any groups associated with your school? They won’t care if you went to Harvard unless you’re still active there and can sell a lot of books.

Non-fiction books are mostly about the author so really sell yourself. Don’t be shy or modest, really put yourself out there in the best light that you can. Limited platform is the #1 reason editors/publishers give for rejecting a proposal. Don’t give them an out. 

For fiction books, platform is not something that really matters. What does matter is your intent. Do you write everyday? Do you participate on twitter and blogs and facebook? This is a great place to list those social media places that you belong to and how you are building your platform there. 

If you belong to book groups or are active in your local library, these can be listed as well. Mention anything that you can think of that has you interacting with people that might want to buy your book.  This list will come in handy later on when you lay out your marketing plans.

This should be one page.

Competition

Go in depth here about other books that are out there. Explain how your book does the same thing better or if none of those books do what you do, emphasize that.

What good books have you read in your genre lately? What parts of those books did you like most? Did you include parts like that in your book? Why or why not?

What did you not like about those books? What did you think could be done better? Did you include those kinds of things in your book and did you improve them?

This section is a lot like the "My book takes the fantastical magical fantasy of The Wizard of Oz and mixes it with the murderous rampages of a country girl like in The Wizard of Oz."

Think about what sets your book apart from all the other books out there and emphasize that.

Marketing

How do you intend to market this book? Do you homework here and find out what the authors of your competitor books did to market their book and try to do that better. List all the places that you have available to sell your book like your blog, website, websites that you contribute to, newspapers that you’ve worked for, magazines that you’ve published in, TV shows that will interview you, radio shows that will feature you, popular podcasts, conferences you will attend/show in, any large gatherings when a bunch of eyes will be on you, etc. Don’t say Oprah unless you’ve already got the interview. These need to be things that you already have. The more the merrier.

If you’ve got a speaking schedule, give a few of the major events, how large the audience is expected to be.

If you teach at Yale, mention it. Anything and everything to let the publisher know that this book has the potential to sell MILLIONS and you have the opportunities to show it off so it can do just that.

Don’t just give a list of things that are possible, mention the things you are doing NOW. What are you doing NOW that will get you noticed and will make people want to see more of you and buy your book.

Mention statistics, how many hits your blog gets a day or week or month.

Mention that your market is GROWING and that more people will continue to want to read your book even after everyone that is currently interested has their copy.

Do you have a big-name forward writer already? Mention him/her.

Is there an organization or company that has already agreed to buy a large number of your books? Mention this.

Do you plan to use book tour sites? List them. List the types of promotional posts that you will put out. Will you guest post?

Will you send out author newsletters? Have you already begun building your list?

Will you have twitter and/or facebook promotions? What will you be doing?

Will you be promoting your book as a book club pick? Do you have any materials created for this?

Will you update your blogs/websites with new links and new cover art?

Will you Redesign your blog to fit in with the new cover (or your “brand”)?

Do you have plans for giveaways/contests? What are those plans? Do you have your wordage picked out and your rules decided on?

WIll you buy ads on popular blogs/websites for your genre/topic?

What local newspapers/magazines will you contact to let them know about your book?

Will you visit libraries/schools? Will you offer Skype visits?

Will you have bookmarks or postcards made to hand out?

Will you check into getting on radio shows or podcasts?

Will you go to readers/writers conventions?

Do you have a system in place for asking everyone you know to "like" your books and author pages, tweet about your book and contests, etc? People are more apt to look closer at a self-published book if someone else has already given their opinion, than one that is blank or unreviewed. 

The more you can do to promote your book, the better. Get these things set up and ready to go now, because later on you're only going to be busier than you are now. It's easier to update something you already have than to start from scratch. 

Sequels

Do you plan on writing sequels? If so, give short synopses of them here. Even if you think your book is a standalone, try to come up with other books that could come out of this book even if they are just retellings from another characters POV. Something like that could help jumpstart your subconscious into thinking about what happens after.

Sample Pages

Table of Contents (Synopsis)

For non-fiction books, you would normally list your chapters and chapter headings if available. Make sure the topic of each chapter is clear and the editor doesn’t have to guess what it’s about. If you have rough page numbers you can include them but that isn’t required. (It does look good though, assuming that each chapter is roughly the same size. It infers that you are consistent and dependable.)

Insert chapter-by-chapter summaries along with the headings; a paragraph about each chapter. Make these read like your book. If your book is funny, make these funny. Keep them in your voice rather than a boring outline. 

List how many photos or illustrations you plan to have in the entire book, and where they will appear. Mention if these are already created high-quality photos/illustrations or if they will need to be created by you or an outside source. If an outsider, mention that you're on the ball with these.

For fiction, this is where you synopsis would go. Create several; one page, two pages, three pages, five pages, seven pages, ten pages, etc so that you have all of them ready to go should an agent or promoter want to know what happens in your book.

Sample

For non-fiction, this is where you would insert your writing sample, usually three chapters. They don’t have to be the first three chapters. Pick ones that really drive home the point that this book is YOU and this book is so amazing that the publisher has to rush out now and get a contract in your hands. If you’re including pictures, include them. 

For fiction, these should be your first chapters. Your entire book should be presented in the best way possible, as clean as you can get it, but these chapters really need to shine. Try ending them on a great cliffhanger to entice the agent/query reader to request the full.  

NOTE: These chapters must be absolutely stellar. This is what they will judge you on. If they think these sample pages are just ‘ok’, that won’t instill much confidence in them about you. Really make them shine, make them sparkle, make the pages Edward in the sunlight and the publisher Bella who can’t tear her eyes away. (Or, you know, Jacob without his shirt, whichever way you roll.) (Or Mr. Darcy in a wet clingy shirt if you’re not into vampires.) (I think you get the idea.)

For your convenience, this information is available as a .pdf via box.net here.