Tips on writing a book proposal
Here’s what I wish I knew when I first tried to write one
A book proposal is a marketing document that nonfiction authors write to sell a book idea to literary agents and book publishers. Book proposals take most authors months to complete and are unpleasant to write. It’s spec work — you do not know if the effort will pay off in a book sale. I have written about ten nonfiction book proposals, and most evolved into published trade books.
Many guides to book-proposal writing are available online and in published form. Look them up if you want overall direction on how to write a book proposal. In this article, I offer specific tips for particular aspects of the book-proposal process. Most of this advice is idiosyncratic; these tips have worked for me, but others may disagree with them. There are no firm rules for writing a book proposal. What’s right is what sells the book.
What to do when you have an idea for a nonfiction book
Refine your topic. Many book authors, especially those new at it, cast their story-net too wide and too shallow. I made this mistake when first conceiving the proposal for my book The Lobotomist. I originally envisoned a book about patients who had undergone lobotomies, a type of brain surgery common during the…
