Book proposal

MJRevell

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I'm putting together a narrative non-fiction book proposal for the first time, and feel a bit like I'm wading through fog. Does anyone have an example of a successful non-fiction proposal they'd be willing to share with me?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Mike
 

Torgo

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I'm putting together a narrative non-fiction book proposal for the first time, and feel a bit like I'm wading through fog. Does anyone have an example of a successful non-fiction proposal they'd be willing to share with me?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Mike

I do not have such a thing, no, but I'm thinking of a narrative non-fic book I once worked on for kids, all about the history of chocolate. The author came to us with essentially that pitch and a lot of research. We needed a bit more of a way in to it, though - the trick with narrative non-fic is to find a story and an interesting angle to tell it from, in such a way that you can sum it up in a sentence.

Have you ever noticed how a lot of these books have a subtitle that does that trick? What we came up with was the story of 'the bean that conquered the world'. Telling the story from that angle - like it's a bio of Napoleon or something - is an appealing conceit to frame the information.

Narrative non-fic relies on storytelling skills as much as research. When I see a proposal for a book like this, what I think I'd want is a sketch of the story you're going to tell.
 

Cathy C

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I don't have an example, but here's the McGraw-Hill guide that might help you know the things that should go into the proposal. You can always switch around the categories when you send it to other publishers or agents, but most of the NF pubs I've subbed to for a couple of projects had a similar list of requirements. :)
 

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I've read a very good book on writing a book proposal, but some of my books are packed up and I can't find it right now. I think it's by Susan Page, and it's called something like, "How to write a book proposal and make a lot of money". I'm sorry I can't be more exact, but it really is good: it walks you through the whole process, and is very clear and easy to follow.
 

Literateparakeet

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Sure, but you don't need mine, you just need Bulletproof Book Proposals by Pam Brodowsky and Eric Neuhaus. They have several very helpful samples of book proposals in there. I also highly recommend Elizabeth Lyon's book NonFiction Book Proposals Anybody Can Write. Those were my two "go to" books when I was writing mine.

Writing a book proposal, the first time, is a daunting task (as you well know) but so worth it. I learned a lot about my book, the direction it needed to go, and the market. I would definitely do it again.

Though I wasn't able to find an agent for my book, the information I gleaned from writing the proposal gave me the confidence to go ahead with self-publishing i.e. I know the market and I know how my book is different from what is available.

So hang in there, this step of the process is very valuable.
 
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Siri Kirpal

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One suggestion: A really good independent editor who specializes in non-fiction can help fine tune your proposal once you've done your basic work. I worked with one for my Sikhism book and ended up with a publisher the very first try (after lots of rejections on the unrevised version). I'd share the proposal with you, but the publisher wanted it in bits and pieces scattered across an online form so it'd be real hard to reassemble.

For non-fiction, make sure your title or your subtitle really tells the reader what your book is about. Short title and longer subtitle is the usual formula.

Best of luck.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal
 

atthebeach

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Ditto on the publisher template.

If you are not sure which publisher guidelines to follow, as a start, you might find a book that is close enough to your type of book to have the same publisher interested, and look up the guidelines of that book's publisher.

You can still use the general guidelines in the referenced books from posts in this thread, and usually you will capture what they are wanting.

But, if you do have a specific publisher in mind, it would be great to fit exactly into what they want to see, if possible.