A Good Proposal Is a Must...

First-rate proposals lead to first-rate sales at good advances on the best contract terms in the shortest time. It’s impossible to overstate the importance of this to you as the author, to us as your agents and, most of all, to the editors we submit to.

Editors are deluged with submissions. They’re vexed by—and inclined to reject—proposals that (a) don’t sell them on the book in the first few paragraphs; (b) don’t anticipate and answer basic questions or allay obvious concerns; (c) aren’t ready to go to their pub board or editorial superiors; (d) require them to do work the author should have done; (e) raise any doubts about the author’s commitment to the project or ability and resolve to deliver a well-written manuscript on schedule and in apple-pie order.

Your proposal forms the editor’s first impression of you. If the proposal is top-drawer, the editor will think of you as a pro. If it’s inadequate, you probably won’t get a chance to make a second impression.

Occasionally, an idea is so compelling it can overcome a weak proposal. Even in those rare cases, the negative impression left by a poor proposal hurts the author. The editor will hesitate to give the author the benefit of the doubt when there’s a problem, will read the manuscript with a more critical eye when it’s delivered and will be less inclined to drum up in-house enthusiasm for the project. Strong proposals raise the author’s credibility; weak ones undermine it.

The process of writing a good proposal is as important to you as the finished product is to the editor. Writing a strong proposal forces you to think out what you want to say, how you’re going to research the book, how to organize the material and, most importantly, to decide if the subject really holds your interest. To deliver a good proposal, an author must think deeply about the needs of the book’s audience, which is exactly what determines whether the book succeeds after publication. Finally, a clear and comprehensive proposal is your best insurance against rejection by a fickle publishing house. Grounds can always be found for rejecting manuscripts based on vague proposals. A manuscript that reflects a clear proposal is tough to reject without breaching the contract.

As agents, we’re handicapped without a strong proposal. We decide which houses and editors your book will appeal to on the basis of your proposal. It tells us how to "position" your book and how to answer questions or refute objections. It gives us the confidence in your work to push for the maximum advance and the best terms. It enables us to press editors for prompt decisions. Weak proposals put agents on the negotiating defensive, and good editors use that to strike a harder bargain.

General Purpose

A proposal is a sales document. Your job is to convince the editor that by acquiring your book he or she will (1) certainly make money for the house; (2) look smart and professional in the eyes of his/her boss, co-workers and the industry; (3) have a pleasant experience working with you. Accomplish these three goals, and a successful sale is nearly assured.

Grab the editor by the lapels, by using the book’s most compelling justification—from the publisher’s perspective—right up front, in an introductory paragraph or the concept section. Often this is a statement about the size of the market or the need for your book. But if you’re the head of an organization that will commit to buy 20,000 copies, or your last book sold 100,000 copies, or you have unassailable proof that Elvis is alive and well in Argentina, say so right away. One way or another, convince the editor she risks passing up a winner if she stops reading.

Parts of The Proposal

Concept: 50,000 plus new titles are published in the U.S. every year--and that doesn't count self-published and print-on-demand titles. What can you, the editor or the field rep say to distinguish this title from the other 49,999? Whether it’s called the "sales handle," "the hook," or "the keynote," every book needs a pithy (25 words or less) description that tells the target reader why to buy your book. If you can work the handle into the title, great. If not, begin the concept section with it.

Unless you have some heart-stopping alternative, the best approach is to begin with 2-3 paragraphs defining your audiences and stating why they will buy your book. Then describe in 2-3 paragraphs what your book will do and how it will do it, as if you were writing flap copy. If they are crucial sales points, mention special features (illustrations, charts, etc.). Remember the question in the editor’s head is: "Will it sell?" Keep this section short and to the point.

Market & Audience: Flesh out whatever you said in your introductory paragraphs or the concept section about WHO will buy your book, WHY they will buy it, WHERE they’re likely to buy it and HOW they can be informed about its existence. You can define your market by common interests or problems, membership in associations, magazines or analogous books read, job requirements, etc. Be specific and quantitative. Be realistic. Explain specifically how your book uniquely meets the needs of the market.

Competition: Identify the books closest to yours but, above all, show how yours will better meet the needs of the target market. Include title, author, publisher, year of publication, current price and, if you have solid information, sales figures. Do not overwhelm the editor with a list of every book ever published on the subject, but make sure you cover all titles the editor might be familiar with. Check Books In Print; your editor will. Also talk to your local public librarian or the buyer at a well-stocked, independent book store. Remember the purpose of this section is to distinguish your book from the others. Be truthful but merciless in exposing the weaknesses of the perceived competition.

The Book: This should amplify the concept section. Cover organization, structure, themes, key elements, newsworthy information, conclusions, and features in one or two pages.

Methodology: This section is optional, depending upon the nature and complexity of the book. The more ambitious the project, the greater the need to convince the editor you’ve carefully thought out how you’re going to research and write the book. If you’re writing a biography, explain here how you will gain access to private papers or whom you will interview. If the preparation of the book requires costly foreign travel, put your budget here. If your book requires contributors, how will you recruit them and what will you pay them? If the book requires maps, where will they come from? If it’s an entry-based reference book, what are your criteria for selection? How will you compile your headword list? Don’t go into unnecessary detail or go beyond two pages.

Chapter Summary: Unless you’re writing a reference book, the bulk of your proposal will be an annotated chapter-by-chapter summary. Make each chapter title as enticing as possible. Begin the annotation with a specific anecdote, story or statement that illustrates or sums up the theme of the chapter. This should be followed by no more than one or two brief paragraphs explaining what the chapter will cover or what questions it will answer. It should be clear to the reader not only what the chapter contains but also how it advances the story and fits into the whole. If your book is a reference book, the equivalent to a chapter summary is a tentative headword or entry list.

Author’s Qualifications: This section is in the proposal solely to answer the two questions every editor thinks about when considering a submission: Should I risk my company’s money on this writer? What are the author’s special credentials to write this particular book? Focus your biography on answering those two questions, keeping this section under a page and on target. Unless your book is a personal story, write in the third person.

The best way to address the risk issue is to prove you’re a tested writer: list your published works with the name of the publisher, year and sales figures (if they’re good). Review extracts or awards also reassure the editor. If you’re an academic with scores of published articles, say so but don’t list them all, only those specifically relevant to the proposed book.

Explain what makes you an authority on this subject. Why should readers trust what you have to say on this topic? The research you’ve done or plan to do may be mentioned, if it’s impressive. Certainly, cite any previous articles or books you’ve written on the subject—and explain how they differ from the one proposed. Family status and personal details should be excluded unless they are germane to the book’s topic.

Promotion or "Platform": Publishers want to know what YOU are going to do to promote and sell your book both immediately upon publication and thereafter. You should put as much thought and effort into this part of the proposal as you do into the annotated outline. Be precise and concrete. If you are prepared to spend a significant amount ($5,000+) of your own money to promote the book, by all means mention that at the beginning of this section, but back it up by stating how: e.g. "by matching the publisher’s contribution to an author tour up to $5,000" or "by covering my own travel and lodging expenses on a major market tour arranged by the publisher," or "by hiring an social networking and/or online marketing specialist to boost traffic to my web site and blog about my book and post on "X" number of relevant bulletin boards and listservs" or "by splitting 50/50 the cost of a ‘satellite tour’ with the publisher." This section should be as detailed and as persuasive as you can make it. If you need inspiration, check out the titles we recommend on marketing. Be creative; if you say something that will seem off-the-wall to publishing people, we’ll tell you to drop it or rephrase it. Remember: What makes sense for one book, won’t for another: each book’s promotion plan must be customized.

Delivery: This brief section says when and how the manuscript will be delivered. Most publishers want delivery within 12 months of contract unless the book is unusually long or requires a great deal of research. But never promise what you can’t deliver; at the very least, your editor will be embarrassed by the delay; at worst, your contract will be canceled and repayment of the advance demanded.

Nearly all publishers these days insist that the manuscript be delivered in electronic form as well as on paper. Indicate the word processing software and operating system you’ve used. (You will still have to deliver a legible hard copy of the manuscript.) If your book will contain artwork, state the form in which you will deliver it.

This section should also indicate the word count for the manuscript and note how much is already written, if a significant section has been completed.

Sample Chapter: Almost all proposals should include one or two complete and polished sample chapters. (If this is impossible, you will certainly have to include a sample of your previously published work—preferably on the same topic.) Make your sample chapter(s) as representative of the whole book as possible.

Format & Presentation

Appearances are important. Your proposal’s presentation will be seen as indicative of the form in which your entire manuscript will be delivered. Moreover, a clean, easy-to-read proposal encourages an editor to put it on the top of the "to do" pile. Here are some tips:

• Many editors these days prefer to receive proposals as e-mail attachments. So we will need your proposal in electronic form, preferably, an MS Word.doc with any illustrations included as jpeg files. The text for your manuscript should be all be in one file, with all illustrations in one zip folder.
• Barring exceptional circumstances, your entire proposal (excluding sample chapters) should be 20-30 pages long. Don’t forget the editor will duplicate and circulate it to several colleagues. You also have to be wary of boring your readers.
• Double-space and use reasonable margins on 8 ½ x 11 pages.
• In your header, include your Surname_BOOK TITLE IN CAPS
• Page numbers should be in the footer on the right.
• Don't use faint printing. Editors to whom we submit may make copies for colleagues. Faint printing drives editors nuts.
• Unless the prior section fills less than half the page, start each section of your proposal on a new page.
• Eliminate all typos and misspellings by carefully proofreading your proposal at least twice.
• Do NOT include original, irreplaceable art work without discussing it with us in advance. Editors, the post office, and even agents have been known to lose transparencies and other precious items.
• Caption any illustrations and submit ten copies so we do not have to photocopy a photocopy.
• Make sure you keep an original copy of what you’ve sent us.