Member-only story
Getting Your Book into Print: Writing a Catchy Proposal
A well-crafted book proposal grabs a prospective publisher’s attention and might lead to a publishing contract.
You launched your book-writing project with an exciting idea, a possible title, an elevator pitch, and a preliminary outline. Then you carefully targeted a market niche and identified some publishers who might be interested. Next, you drafted several chapters, maybe even the entire manuscript. Perhaps you enlisted some beta readers to review what you’d written and give you feedback. Now you’d love to get a contract from a publisher.
If you want a publisher to give your idea due consideration, you’ll need to submit a full proposal, whether your manuscript is still in preparation or fully drafted. Peruse your candidate publishers’ websites for templates or suggested outlines for their preferred proposal format. If you’ve already spoken to an acquisitions editor or other contact person there, they can describe what they want to see in a proposal. Whether dealing directly with a publisher or with a literary agent, follow their requested submission form and content carefully. They’re all a little different.
Regardless of the exact format, a book proposal should contain some standard information, which I describe in this…
