- TITLE PAGE.
Keep it simple. Put your title and subtitle in the middle, centered. Put your personal contact information at the bottom right.
- TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THE PROPOSAL ITSELF (WITH PAGE NUMBERS).
A nonfiction book proposal has several sections and can run many pages. This is where you explain everything an agent can find in the proposal, in case she wants to jump around to peruse different sections on different pages.
- OVERVIEW.
This section gets its name because it’s designed to be an overview of the entire proposal to come. It’s something of a “greatest hits” of the proposal, where you discuss the concept and content, the evidence of need for this new resource in the market, and your platform. Overviews typically run one to three double-spaced pages and immediately make the case for why this book is worth considering and is timely for readers
now
. Another way to think about this section is to imagine it as an extended query letter—it serves the same purpose. If an agent likes your overview, she will review the rest of the document to delve deeper into both you and your ideas. The overview is arguably the most important part of the proposal. “Your overview is the sizzle in your nonfiction book proposal,” says agent Michael Larsen of Larsen-Pomada Literary Agents. “If it doesn’t sell you and your book, agents and editors won’t check the bones (the outline of your book) or try the steak (your sample chapter).”
“An author must address why there is a demand for her book and why she is the best person to write it. These two questions should be answered very early on in the proposal and stressed throughout.”
—Andrea Somberg (Harvey Klinger Inc.)
- FORMAT.
This quick section (usually running anywhere from a paragraph to one page) explains how the book will be formatted. Remember that your finished, completed product does not physically exist and all nonfiction books look different from one another in terms of appearance. So spell out exactly what it will look like. What is the physical size of the book (if the content dictates a particular size)? What is your estimated word count when everything is said and done? How long after the contract is signed will you be able to submit the finished product? Will there be sidebars, boxed quotes, or interactive elements? Will there be photos, illustrations, or other art? (If so, who will be responsible for collecting this art?)
- SPIN-OFFS (OPTIONAL).
Some nonfiction projects lend themselves to things like sequels, spin-offs, subsidiary rights possibilities, and more. For example, when I pitched my political humor book for dog lovers,
Red Dog/Blue Dog
, this is the section where I mentioned the possibility of a tear-off calendar if the book succeeded, as well as a possible sequel,
Red Cat/Blue Cat
. Unlike other sections of a proposal, this one is optional, as some ideas will
not
lend themselves to more variations.
- CHAPTER LIST.
While you will be turning over only a few completed, polished chapters, agents still want to know exactly what will fill the rest of the book. So list all your chapter concepts, with a paragraph or so about the content of each. This section is important because it shows that, although the book is not complete, the author has a very clear vision of the exact content. It also gives the agent a sense of the book’s flow and organization.
- SAMPLE CHAPTERS.
Although you do not have to finish the book before pitching nonfiction, you do have to complete two to four book chapters as an appropriate sample. The goal is to write chapters that you believe give a great representation of what the book is about, whether that takes up a few pages or fifty. Typical sample chapters include the book’s first chapter and one to three more from different sections of the book. Your goal is to make these chapters represent what the final product will be like in both appearance and content. So if the book is going to be funny, your sample chapters better be humorous. If the book will be infused with art and illustrations, insert what images you can into the pages. The sample chapters are the one place in a proposal where the author can step out of “business mode” and into “writer mode,” focusing on things like voice, humor, style, and more.
- TARGET AUDIENCES.
You’ve probably heard before that “a book for everyone is a book for no one,” so target your work toward small, focused audience groups. This section is your chance to prove an
evidence of need
. Or, as agent Mollie Glick of Foundry Literary + Media says, “You want an original idea—but not too original.” You want your book to bring new, engaging information to a defined group of people.
For example, when I was listing audiences for my humor book,
How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack
, they were (1) garden gnome enthusiasts, (2) gardeners, (3) survival guide–parody lovers, and (4) humor book lovers. Note how I resisted the urge to say, “Everyone everywhere loves a laugh, so I basically see the entire human population snatching this bad boy up at bookstores.”
When I was pitching a book on historical theaters around the country, my audiences were (1) theater lovers, (2) historical preservationists in the regions where featured theaters are located, (3) nostalgia lovers, and (4) architecture buffs and enthusiasts. Again, the audiences were concise and focused. I proved I had done my research and homed in on the exact pockets of people who would pay money for what I was proposing.
Since you identify these audiences, you must
quantify
them. If you want to write a book about the history of the arcade game Donkey Kong, a logical target audience would be “Individuals who currently play Donkey Kong”—but you must quantify the audience, because an agent has no idea if that audience size is one thousand or five hundred thousand. So tell her what it really is, and explain how you came to find that number. You can find these quantifying numbers by seeing where such audiences get their news or information, or where they interact with each other. For example, say Donkeykongnews.com has a newsletter reach of twelve thousand individuals or the official Donkey Kong Twitter account has 134,000 followers—you can use those numbers. If
Classic Games Magazine
has a circulation of fifty-two thousand, that number can help you as well. “Use round, accurate numbers in your proposal,” says Larsen. “If a number isn’t round, qualify it by writing
nearly
,
almost
, or
more than
(not
over
). … Provide sources for statistics.”
“Know your market. This is a business, and the more time and effort you expend in studying and understanding the demands of your [niche], the more likely you’ll meet with success.”
—Gina Panettieri (Talcott Notch Literary Services)
- COMPARATIVE TITLES.
This is where you list any and all books that are similar to yours in the marketplace. You want to show that many books similar to your title exist and have healthy sales but no one book accomplishes everything yours will. If you can show that, you’ve made an argument that your book is unique (and therefore worthwhile) and also that people have shown a history of buying such a book (and therefore the book is even more worthwhile). You’re essentially trying to say, “Books exist on Subject A and books exist on Subject B, but no book exists on Subject AB, which is exactly what my book, [
Title
], will do.”
You can find comparative titles by searching through the appropriate bookshelf in Barnes & Noble or any local bookstore, as well as by scouring Amazon. Once you have your list, it’s time to lay out the details of each, such as the publisher, title, year, and any signs of solid sales (awards or a good Amazon sales ranking). After you explain a competing book’s specifics, you should quickly say why your book is different from it. At the same time, don’t trash competing books. Since your book is similar, you don’t want your own work to come under fire. Here is an example of what a comparative title breakdown could look like.
The Dirt: Confessions of the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band
By Motley Crue
Paperback: 448 pages, HarperCollins Publishers, 2002, 9 × 6, 9780060989156
This tell-all features perspectives from all four members of the iconic and wild eighties metal band. My book will be similar to
The Dirt
in that it details the realities of life, music and debauchery on the road—but whereas their story is primarily told from approximately six different people, our band’s tale will be told by fifteen people, thus rounding out a larger story.
“Nonfiction authors need a good grasp of the competition. An author needs to know the category inside and out and be able to explain how his book fits in. I always get a sinking feeling in my stomach when I find similar books that the author didn’t know about. Also, avoid saying, ‘This book will appeal to everyone!’ That’s never true, and it doesn’t help publishers figure out how to position and sell your book. An author needs to understand who her audience is and how to reach them.”
—Laurie Abkemeier (DeFiore and Company)
- MARKETING/WRITER PLATFORM.
This massively important section details all the many avenues you have in place to market the work to the audiences you’ve already identified—it’s so important that we’ll delve more deeply into platform in the next chapter. This section will list your social media channels, contacts in the media, personal marketing abilities, public speaking engagements, and much more. An agent needs to be assured you can currently market your book to thousands of possible buyers, if not more. If you can’t show that proven ability, the agent may stop reading the proposal. “Develop a significant following before you go out with your nonfiction book. If you build it, publishers will come,” says Jeffery McGraw of The August Agency. “How visible are you to the world? That’s what determines your level of platform. Someone with real platform is the go-to person in their area of expertise. If you don’t make yourself known to the world as the expert in your field, then how will [members of the media] know to reach out to you? Get out there. Make as many connections as you possibly can.”
- AUTHOR BIO/CREDENTIALS.
Now is your chance to explain what makes you qualified to write the content in this book. Tell the agent things such as your degrees, memberships, endorsements, and more. Anything that qualifies you to write this book but is not technically considered “platform” should go in this section. For example, if you want to compose a book on how to make sure you dog lives a happy, healthy life, this is where you explain your degrees and certifications in veterinary medicine.
“I think that it’s important to remember that book publishing is a professional as well as creative business. Most agents are inundated with submissions. In order to stand out from the crowd, therefore, everything about your submission must be outstanding, from the way it reads to the way it looks to what you bring to the table in terms of credentials. It is increasingly important to educate yourself about the publishing industry and to understand the importance of selling and marketing yourself and your ideas.”
—Deborah Grosvenor (Grosvenor Literary Agency)
THREE COMMON BOOK PROPOSAL PROBLEMS
by Russell Galen (Scovil Galen Ghosh Literary Agency)
- LACK OF A STORY ARC.
Many failed nonfiction proposals are mere surveys of a subject. The books that sell have strong characters who are engaged in some project that eventually is resolved. Don’t do a book about slime mold. Do a book about the Slime Mold Guy who solved the mystery of slime mold.
- SKIMPINESS.
I like big, fat proposals. Writers worry too much about how much reading editors have to do, and they self-defeatingly try to keep proposals short. Busy editors are not the problem. A great proposal will hook a reader within a few pages and keep that reader spellbound until the last page, no matter how long. Short, skimpy proposals often quit before they can get me, or an editor, truly immersed and engaged. You aren’t just informing us about your book; you are recruiting us to join you on what is going to be a long and expensive expedition. If crazy, fire-eyed Christopher Columbus wants me to join him on his trip to the “here be monsters” part of the ocean, I’d like to inspect his ships very, very carefully before I set sail. Editors are scared to buy books because they are so often wrong. Thoroughness builds confidence.
- EXTRAPOLATION.
Many proposals say, in effect, “I don’t know all that much about this subject, but give me a six-figure contract and I will find out everything there is to know.” I understand the problem writers face: How are they supposed to master a subject until after they’ve done the travels, interviews, and research? Nevertheless, unless you are already an established writer, you can’t simply promise to master your subject. Book contracts go to those who have already mastered a subject. If you haven’t mastered your subject but you really think you deserve a book contract, try to get a magazine assignment so that you can do at least some of the necessary research, funded by the magazine. But if you’re just winging it, I probably can’t help you unless you have a superb platform.
CHAPTER TWELVE
NONFICTION INTENSIVE: PLATFORM AND MARKETING
If you’re writing nonfiction, a damn good book won’t cut it. You need to demonstrate a comprehensive ability to market yourself through different channels such as social-networking sites and traditional media. In other words, you need to prove that you can sell your book. If you can’t do that, a publisher probably won’t even consider your idea. I’ll repeat that for emphasis: If you don’t have a proven ability to promote your work and sell books, then editors won’t even consider your idea, no matter how clever or timely it may be.
What it all means is this: If you want to write a nonfiction book, you
must
have a platform before your work will be considered. If you’re writing fiction or memoir, a platform isn’t mandatory, but it will certainly help your chances (especially with memoir)—and it translates to more book sales and money for you once your title is released. And with the way things are trending, in five or ten years, it may be mandatory to have a writer platform for
any
book—who knows? That’s why it’s so vital to start thinking about platform
now
, if you haven’t already.