so you want to write a book proposal
or maybe you've got one written
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In an alternate universe, I’m a literary agent.
I love the business side of being an author so much. It’s like doing a puzzle and playing poker at the same time. If you know the rules and speak the lingo, the opportunities for innovation are endless.
The problem — as is apparent in so many conversations I have with other writers — is that so many of the rules and expectations of traditional publishing are opaque and difficult to find. It can take a long time to get enough experience to be “in,” and it can take a long time to learn enough to understand what the fuck is actually going on.
The book proposal is one of the first places where this lack of transparency negatively impacts nonfiction writers.
Hell, the top Google search result for “How to Write a Book Proposal,” which promises to teach you how to structure your proposal, doesn’t even include key sections of the proposal, let alone basic information like how long different sections should be (!). There isn’t so much misinformation about book proposals as a marked lack of comprehensive guidance out there. Too many folks trying to help forget to translate Publishing Speak into actionable steps for writers trying to break into traditional publishing.
I’m not an agent, but I am an author who has written half a dozen book proposals for both narrative and prescriptive nonfiction, and, in so doing, learned a lot about this process. I also used to own my own retail business, and I worked in content and marketing for tech startups for years. That experience, which helped me better understand how to position and market my book, paid off: I sold my first book on proposal at auction for six figures. In the years since, I’ve advised dozens of former students and friends on their own proposals, and on the business of writing, more generally.
The thing is, a book proposal isn’t just a document trying to convince a publisher to buy your book. It’s a full-tier business plan.
Shifting gears from working on your book to writing your book proposal is the moment where you step into your official role as small business owner, in addition to author. Because that’s what being an author is: your writing is a business, you make products, and you try to sell them. Not especially romantic, that. But if you want to be a published author, at some point, the business hat has to go on, and you need to learn to distance yourself Google Earth-style from your art so that you can understand how the industry movers and shakers are going to see it.
This can be an intimidating process — but trust, the medicine goes down easier when you have a spoonful of sugar that is a person to talk it all out with. And in the case that you don’t already have an agent (or a best friend who is one), the next best thing is a book proposal coach.
Friends and former students have been asking me to formalize the kind of business support I already give them for years, to put my experience and knowledge into a structure that can support other nonfiction writers. So here we are:
I’m thrilled to offer all of you a full suite of Book Proposal Support & Coaching, for all stages of the process (and at all price points!) — from a self-paced independent study to a full 3 months of high touch consulting, editing, and help with the agent query process. There is, truly, something for everyone.
If you’re thinking about doing a book proposal, and want to understand more about what would go into it, my self-paced independent study, based on a popular class I used to teach, is for you:
If you’re looking for regular accountability in the writing process, then join next 6-week session of Showing Up to the Work to kickstart your word count (starts April 29th):
If you’re stuck halfway through your proposal and need to talk it through, or aren’t sure how to keep building the proposal out, then let’s get on the phone.
If you’re looking for substantive edits on your proposal, then let’s have a call and do a round of developmental edits.
And if you have a draft and are looking for 3 months of full-scale support — multiple calls, edit rounds, ~plus~ an edit of your agent query (and more)? — then splurge and book me as your personal book proposal coach.
Bookmarking this page!
love the tiered aspect of this! brilliant!