I’ve held tightly to a personal belief for many years: I believe that you can learn just about anything short of brain surgery from a well-crafted book. So, I immediately rushed out and bought anything I could find on writing book proposals. These days, all a would-be author has to do is visit one of the online mega-bookstores, search “How to write book proposals” and voila! Hundreds to choose from. Back in the day…I had to go to a bookstore and see what was around.

But over the years, I’ve learned a thing or two about book proposals to the point where a couple of years ago, one of my publishers (who said “Yes” again) told me I should teach other writers to write proposals – mine were so well crafted. I was flattered, of course, so here are my personal pointers that I have honed since that first proposal.

Book proposals are essential to any non-fiction (and sometimes fiction) writers who want to be published by “traditional” publishers. What I mean by traditional publishers is publishers who themselves take on the financial risks associated with publishing your book (they edit, design, market etc). In fact, they might even give you money upfront (an advance against royalties). If you want to publish it yourself, then you don’t need a proposal – you’d be the only one who would read it! Of course, we’ll talk about self-publishing versus other-publishing later on in this blog. For now, we’re going the route of the traditional publisher which is the route I’ve been taking. This route requires you to understand that you have to be able to sell your book three times:

• First, you have to sell it to a publisher through an editor. The editor might even become very excited about your book. When this happens, he or she will then have to sell it to the marketing department (publishing is the only industry on the planet where the marketing department has so much sway over the products. In other industries, marketers are given products and told to use all of their considerable marketing skills to find a way to create a market – but not so in publishing – don’t get me started!). I was going to have to persuade this editor to whom I had spoken on the phone that she should take the next step with me.
• Second, you have to sell the book to the book retailers. Make no mistake, both you and your publisher will eventually have a role to play here.
• Finally, you have to sell the book to your readers.

But, we are going to concentrate for a bit on the first time you have to sell a book because that’s what your proposal is for: to sell it to a publisher. That said, the other aspects of selling are important to the development of this book proposal.

I had an idea that I’d use my experience in the transplant and organ procurement business to write a book that would ask a lot of questions. It wouldn’t necessarily go so far as to answer them – since many of them were up until then unasked. I wanted to make people think about the way organ transplantation was approached. So, I had to ask myself a few important questions:

1. What was the real purpose of this book? What did I want to accomplish?
2. How would I approach the topic? Did I have a theme?
3. How would I organize the book? Would it have sections? Chapters? Stories?
4. What kind of voice & style would I use? Would I use first person? Third? What reading level would I use?
5. Why was I the best person to write this book? Would I have any credibility?
6. What other books would be competitors?
7. Who would actually read this book when it got to the book stores?
8. How could this kind of a book be promoted to readers?

If I could answer those questions, I could write a detailed proposal whose purpose would be to persuade the editor (the acquisitions editor to be precise) that this was a terrific book that I could write well and that readers would buy. Here’s what my proposal looked like:

Then I wrote a description of every chapter I planned. It was ready to go to the publisher. Would she buy it based on the proposal? Would she ask to see the completed manuscript on spec? I had no idea. I just knew that I’d have to do a lot of work before I had an answer.

If you’re interested, you can read more about my writing & teaching at www.patriciajparsons.com.

You have a great idea for a nonfiction book. Your wife thinks it’s a great idea. Your parents think it’s a great idea. Even your neighbor who hates to read thinks it’s a great idea.

But will a publisher think it’s a great idea-enough to pay you an advance, commission you to write it, and publish and sell it?

That will depend largely on your book proposal. Here’s where you demonstrate persuasively that your idea has merit. Of course, even a solid idea and a great book proposal can’t guarantee success, but they surely can tip the odds in your favor. But if either the idea or the proposal is weak, your chances of a sale are slim to none.

It’s no secret what book editors look for when reviewing book ideas and proposals. You’ll improve your chances of winning a publisher’s contract by testing your book proposal against the five key questions editors ask. Let’s look at those questions and the best ways to answer them.

Is there a large enough audience interested in this topic to justify publishing the book?
The major New York publishing houses aren’t interested in highly specialized books written for small, narrow interest audiences. If you want to write the definitive work on LAN/WAN internet working, for example, seek out a publisher of technical books.

Big publishers are primarily interested in “bookstore books” that is, books that appeal to a general audience or at least to a large segment of the general population. Examples of such audiences include parents, small business owners, corporate executives, fitness enthusiasts, movie buffs, users of personal computers, teenagers and other large affinity groups.

A book aimed at a major publisher must appeal to an audience of hundreds of thousands of people, if not millions. To sell your idea to the editor, you must demonstrate that such an audience exists. In our proposal for How to Promote Your Own Business (accepted and published by New American Library), Gary Blake and I cited statistics showing there are more than 10 million small businesses in the US and 250,000 new businesses started each year.

One excellent source of market data is Standard Rate and Data Service (SRDS), a book listing US magazines that accept advertising and their circulation’s. SRDS is available at your local library or from the publisher (tel. 847/375-5000). If you’re proposing a book on freelance writing, for example, you could look up writers’ magazines and find that the two largest publications in the field have a combined circulation of more than 300,000; this is the potential market for your book.

But only a small percentage of the intended audience will actually buy your book. And a major publisher hopes to sell at least 5,000 copies of your book. So if you’re writing a book that appeals only to the 44,171 branch managers working at banks nationwide (say, How to Manage Your Branch More Efficiently), and 2% can be persuaded to buy the book, you’ve sold only 883 copies not nearly enough to make the project worthwhile for either you or a publisher.

Is this a book or a magazine article?
At the onset of the 1991 recession, I came up with an idea for a book I thought would be a strong seller Recession Proof Business Strategies: Winning Methods to Sell Any Product or Service in a Down Economy. It was timely. It had strong media appeal. And it contained vital information readers desperately needed.

But, as my agent pointed out, there were two problems with the book. First, its timely nature. From conception to bookstore, it can take 18 months to two years to write and publish a book. If the recession was over by the time Recession Proof Business Strategies came out, the book would bomb.

Second, my agent was concerned that there wasn’t enough material to fill a book. And he was right.

The average nonfiction book is about 200 pages in typeset, published form, with approximately 400 words a page. That’s 80,000 words; about 320 double-spaced typewritten manuscript pages. Your book might be longer or shorter, ranging from 35,000 words (a slim, 100 page volume) to 200,000 words or more.

Trouble was, when I finished writing everything I knew about recession proof business strategies, I had 5,000 words–too short for a book, too long for an article. The solution? I self published Recession Proof Business Strategies as a $7 booklet and sold several thousand copies. So a booklet not a book was the right vehicle for this material.

Many book ideas seem strong initially, but wilt under close examination.

For example, a (to me) wonderful book title popped into my head a while back: How to Survive a Midlife Crisis at Any Age. My co-author loved it and wanted to do the book. But when we sat down, we couldn’t think of anything to put in it! We soon abandoned the idea.

How do you know whether your idea is a book, article or booklet–and how do you convince a publisher that your concept is a big one? Here are some guidelines:

First, see if there are other books on the topic. The existence of a few similar titles indicates that this idea is big enough to deserve a book, since other publishers bought and published book length manuscripts on the topic.

Second, go to the library and see what else is written on the topic. If you feel overwhelmed by all the magazine articles, newspaper stories, booklets, pamphlets, surveys, reports and statistics on your topic, that’s a good indica­tion the topic is ‘meaty” enough to justify a full-length book.

For example, I heard a public service announcement describing a toll-free number you could call to get safety information about any car you were thinking of buying. I thought, “There seems to be a lot of these free consumer hotlines; why not organize them into a reference book?”

I researched the subject and discovered there were indeed hundreds of such hotlines. New American library bought the book and published it as Information Hotline USA. If I’d uncovered only a few such hotlines, New American Library would have rejected my proposal.

The third step to convincing a publisher that your topic is broad enough to warrant a book is to organize your information into chapters. Think about how you would logically explain your topic or present your information, and organize it into major categories. These will become chapter headings.

A full-length nonfiction book typically has 8-15 chapters. If your outline has fewer, the publisher may think there’s not enough information to fill a book on your topic. Shoot for an outline with at least nine chapters.

On index cards, organize all your research material by chapter. Then add the most important or interesting items as bullet points in your chapter outline to create a complete table of contents for your proposed book. Here’s how my co-author and I described Chapter 15 in our proposal for How to Promote Your Own Business:

Chapter 15: On With the Show-Trade Shows and Displays

· Why do people attend trade shows?
· How to select the shows at which you will exhibit
· Creating effective trade show displays
· Five things you can do to attract more prospects to your exhibit: demonstrations, product samples, free gifts, contests and entertainment
· Other uses for your display materi­als: retail point-of-purchase, malls, lobby displays

This type of detailed table of contents proves to the publisher that your topic is appropriate for a book, not just a magazine article.

What’s different or better-about your book?
The first page or two of your book proposal must contain an overview of your idea. This describes what the book is about who ifs written for and what’s in it.

Your overview must also tell the editor why and how your book is unique, different or better than other books already published on this topic. And you must do this within the first two paragraphs (if you don’t, the editor probably won’t read further).

The hook the angle that makes’ your book different-can take many forms: It might be a slant toward a different audience, a better way of organizing the material, or inclusion of topics not covered in other books. The key is to make your book seem both different and better.

For instance, if the other books aren’t illustrated, say that your book will be-and explain why that’s important. If the other books are lengthy, promise to write a more concise book. If the other books are incomplete, describe the topics they omit-and tell how you’ll cover them in your book.

When planning How to Promote Your Own Business, my co-author and I hoped to write a book on advertising that would appeal to small business owners rather than advertising agencies, PR firms and other advertising professionals. We used this as our hook; our proposal began:

How to Promote Your Own Business is not a book for the professional publicist, promoter or advertising professional. Rather, it is a practical working promotion guide for the 10.8 million Americans who own their own businesses, and the 250,000 entrepreneurs who start new businesses each year.

We wrote a previous book, Technical Writing. Structure, Standards and Style, because we believed the existing technical writing books were too lengthy and dull to be suitable as references for working technical writers. We wanted to create a handbook for technical writers that emulated the concise, to-the-point style and format of The Elements of Style, William Strunk and E.B. White’s popular style guide for general writers.

Our proposal called our book “the Strunk and White of technical writing,” which instantly communicated the key appeal of the concept. Our agent sold the book-within three weeks-to the first publisher who looked at it. Interestingly, McGraw-Hill also used the phrase “the Strunk and White of technical writing” in publicity and promotional materials describing the book.

Another section of your proposal that positions your book in relation to others on the same subject is the “Competition” section. Here you list and describe competing books; each listing should emphasize how your book is both different and better. Here is an example from our How to Promote Your Own Business proposal:

1. How to Advertise and Promote Your Small Business, by Connie McClung Siegel, John Wiley & Sons, 1978, 128 pages, $4.95 trade paperback.

This book is part of John Wiley’s “Small Business Series.” The author neglects several vital areas of small business promotion, including mail order, sales literature, trade shows, and displays, contests and newsletters. There are very few examples of actual promotions, and the author gives no indication of the costs involved or the results achieved. The book does not provide step-by-step instructions for selecting and implementing promotions.

Include in the “Competition” section those books that cover the same-or very similar-topics as your book; that are published by a major publishing house; and that are no more than five years old. How many books you list in this section will be important. ‘Me presence of two to six competitive books shows there’s a market for this type of book, while still room for one more. On the other hand, if there are seven or more books a publisher may think the field is overcrowded, and you’ll probably have a difficult time making the sale.

Will people pay $22.95 for this book?
The average hardcover nonfiction book sells for $22.95 or more; the average trade paperback for $12.95. Your book must be interesting or valuable enough to make readers part not only with their money (remember, they can always read your book for free at the library), but with their time as well (many people would rather watch TV, go to the movies or nap than read a book).

When it comes to nonfiction, readers typically buy books to learn something, for reference or to be entertained.

A how-to or reference book proposal should stress the benefits readers will get when they buy the book. Will it help them save time and money? Make money? Look beautiful? Feel young? live longer? If your book will make readers’ fives better and easier, say so. In our proposal for How to Promote Your Own Business, we said:

How to Promote Your Own Business is unique because it goes right to the heart of the problem: How can the owner or manager of a small business-a person with little time, money and promotion expertise-promote his business as effectively as his bigger, wealthier competitors?

If your book is biography, journalism, history, or any other form of nonfiction written primarily to entertain, your proposal should highlight some of the more fascinating details of the book. Your aim is to make the editor want to read the whole story.

Why should the publisher hire you to write it?
Your proposal must show why you’re uniquely qualified to write the book. Such qualifications fall into two categories: writing credentials and expert credentials.

Writing credentials establish your expertise as an author. In an “About the Author” section of your book proposal, write a brief biographical sketch of yourself, being sure to include such information as:

· titles, publishers and dates of publication for any books you’ve written
· total number of books and articles written (if the number is impressive)
· names of major magazines and newspapers in which your work has appeared
· excerpts from favorable reviews about your work
· sales figures for your best-selling books (if they’re impressive)

Expert credentials establish your position as an authority in the topic of your proposed book.

Actually, you don’t have to be much of an expert The trick is to make yourself seem like an expert to the publisher.

For instance, author Wilbur Perry wanted to write about mail order. To make himself more appealing as a potential author for a book on the subject he started and operated a small part-time mail-order business from his home. This gave him the credentials he needed to convince John Wiley & Sons to publish two books by him on the topic.

In my experience, your expert credentials don’t need to be in-depth. Editors understand you can research the topic, and they don’t require you to know everything about it before buying your book. They just want to convince their editorial board-and buyers-that you know what you’re talking about.

Of course, having a published book to your credit is one credential that always impresses publishers. And that’s a credential I’m sure you’ll soon have if you follow the five key points covered in this article.

This article appears courtesy of Bob Bly‘s Direct Response Letter. Learn more and get your free subscription at www.bly.com.

Title Page
A cover sheet. The book’s title and the name of the author are centered in the middle of the page. In the upper left corner, type Book Proposal. In the bottom right, type your name, address and phone number (or, if you have one, your agent’s).

Overview
Summarize what your book is about: the topic, who will read it, why its important or interesting to your intended audience, and what makes your book different from others in the field.

Specifications

Specify approximate word length, number of chapters, types of illustrations or graphics to be included, and any unique organizational schemes or formats (for example, is your book divided into major sections or do you use sidebars?)

Market
Tell the editor who will buy your book, how many of these people exist, and why they need it or will want to read it. Use statistics to dramatize the size of the market. For example, if your book is about infertility, mention that one in six couples in the US is infertile.

Promotion
Is your book a natural for talk radio or Oprah (be realistic)? Can it be promoted through seminars or speeches to associations and clubs? Give the publisher some of your ideas on how the book can be marketed. (Note: Phrase these as suggestions, not demands. The publisher will be interested in your ideas but probably won’t use most of them.)

Competition
List books that compare with yours. Include the title, author, publisher, year of publication, number of pages, price, and format (hardcover, trade paperback or mass market paperback). Describe each book briefly, pointing out weaknesses and areas in which your book is different and superior.

Author’s Bio
A brief biography listing your writing credentials (books and articles published), qualifications to write about the book’s topic (for instance, for a book on popular psychology, it helps if you’re a therapist), and your media experience (previous appearances on TV and radio).

Table of Contents/Outline
A chapter-by-chapter outline showing the contents of your proposed book. Many editors tell me that a detailed, well thought-out table of contents in a proposal helps sway them in favor of a book.

This article appears courtesy of Bob Bly‘s Direct Response Letter. Learn more and get your free subscription at www.bly.com.

Though you can certainly self-publish a book without a proposal, this is where many new authors make some big mistakes when releasing their first books. Writing a proposal helps you differentiate your work from the competition, identify a need in the market for your materials, develop marketing plans, and create a concise and compelling manuscript.

Elements of a Book Proposal

Overview

This is typically two pages that summarize the book, the market demand, and why you’re the best person to write the book. Even though it’s the first section in a book proposal, I usually write the overview last because it is a summary of the rest of the elements of the proposal.

Synopsis

This is a compelling summary of your book, typically in two or three pages. It should hook the reader and compel him want to read more. You can also view this as an extended version of the sales copy used on the book jacket. If you’re pursuing an agent or editor, this is where you can really get their attention. The exercise of writing the synopsis helps you position your book as a must-read, while developing key talking points about why your book is great. (And it is great, right? If not, then use this opportunity to go back to work and make it great!)

Market Demand

Here is the place to identify your specific target audience. Better yet, quantify that market. Look for statistics on how many potential readers are out there. For example, if you have written a business book for women, find stats on how many women business owners are in the U.S.

Competitive Analysis

Identify five or more books that are potential competitors of your book and explain in detail how your book is different or better than each title. There are many benefits to this exercise. First, competing titles demonstrate that there is a need in the market for your subject matter. Second, this is where you can focus on differentiation for your book. You will want to understand the competition so that you can ensure that your book stands out. If you do nothing else, make sure you spend time analyzing the competition so that you can answer the question, “How is your book different from the rest?”

Marketing Plan

Every author needs a marketing plan, which should be in motion long before the book is in print. Agents and editors look for authors with a “platform,” which means that the author should come to the party with a built-in audience of people who are ready to buy the book. A platform can include speaking to thousands of people each year, running a high-traffic blog or website, maintaining a large mailing list (thousands of people) or having other networks that can generate impressive book sales.

Another important consideration is that agents don’t want to see what you will do, they want to see what are doing–the marketing efforts you’re making long before the book becomes reality. And remember, even if you’re self-publishing, there is an important lesson here. If you want your books to sell, you should begin building your audience early. Book marketing requires ongoing effort. Some tactics to consider for your marketing plan include blogging, social media engagement, professional speaking, writing articles, working with joint venture partners, building a mailing list, conducting media interviews, and spending time in communities where your target audience can be found.

Chapter Outline

Even if your manuscript is still in progress, a solid chapter outline demonstrates the flow of the book and the materials covered. Below each chapter heading, include a brief synopsis of the content within the chapter. A chapter outline should have a logical flow of information with compelling chapter titles.

About the Author

Here is where you should convince the reader that you are the right person to write this book. This should not be an extended biography about where you grew up and what schools you attended–unless theoe details are relevant to the book. Instead, it should focus on your experience as it relates to your book. Mention any previous media coverage you have received or involvement in any groups or associations that reach your target audience.

Sample Chapters

When reviewing non-fiction books, most agents and editors want to see two or three sample chapters. These don’t need to be in order, but they should represent your best work.

The truth is that writing a book proposal is hard work, but the exercise of doing so will inevitably help prepare you for success–whether you plan to pursue a traditional book contract of self-publish your work.

Stephanie Chandler is the author of several books including “Booked Up! How to Write, Publish, and Promote a Book to Grow Your Business” and “From Entrepreneur to Infopreneur: Make Money with Books, eBooks and Information Products.” Stephanie is also founder and CEO of http://AuthorityPublishing.com, which specializes in custom publishing for non-fiction books, and http://BusinessInfoGuide.com, a directory of resources for entrepreneurs. A frequent speaker at business events and on the radio, she has been featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, BusinessWeek, Inc.com, Wired magazine, and many other media outlets.

Most nonfiction books are sold before they are written, based on book proposals. A book proposal is a document that shows a publisher why your book is a great idea and why you are the perfect person to write it. Your proposal says, in effect: “I have an idea for a book that lots of people will want to buy, and here is why I am qualified to write it. Do you want to publish it?”

A book proposal is not unlike the business proposals submitted by consultants and others when they are trying to get hired for a project. It is a sales document that demonstrates the worthiness of you and your idea.

Most book proposals follow a standard format. You may deviate from this to some extent, but keep in mind that it is the standard for a reason—it works.

Your nonfiction book proposal should contain:

• The title page with the title, subtitle, author name, estaimated word count of the completed book, and estimated time frame for completion. For example: “75,000 words, completion three months after contract.”
• An overview: a description of the book. This can be as short as a paragraph, or several pages long.
• Author bio. What makes you qualified to write this book?
• Competing titles. What similar books have already been published? How is your book different from those books? What need does your book fill that the others do not? That might mean that you are addressing the needs of a subset of the market that has been ignored (give numbers indicating the size of this untapped market) or that existing books are now out of date and there is a need for current information. Claiming that there is no competition makes it sound as though there either is no market for this type of book, or you do not understand the market.
• Marketing plan. What are you going to do to promote your book? The publisher expects that you know your market and the best way to reach it. Do not expect them to do all of the marketing. They will do very little. They will also want to know about your platform: Do you have a large following on your blog, YouTube channel or podcast? Do you regularly speak before large groups? Are you well-connected to opinion leaders and influencers?
• A chapter-by-chapter outline. List each chapter with a brief summary of what it will contain.
• One or two sample chapters. Most book proposals include the first chapter. You may also wish to include another chapter that is strong and represents your book idea well.always
• Optional materials. You may wish to include articles you have written, endorsements or blurbs you have received from celebrities or influential people in your industry, or other items that will show why they should publish your book.

Learn more about writing, publishing and selling books here at SellingBooks.com.

Since the corporate imprint and the need to be profitable dominate most publishing companies, the unique nature of most publishing company personnel often gets overlooked.

So as you navigate the publishing waters, keep in mind that:

1. Industry personnel tend to be highly dedicated individuals who love the written word and literature. Few work for publishing houses just for the money. Those who are entranced by publishing’s glamour or cachet generally don’t last long, but those who love language and books often do. Somehow, some way, they find ways to remain.

Dealing with kindred spirits who are committed to quality books and writing is a bonanza for writers because it can improve their work and enhance the entire publishing experience as well as their lives. Few experiences are as satisfying as working with people who share your vision and values! It’s exhilarating.

2. Since publishing company employees are not highly paid, many leave.

The editor who championed your book and fought for it in the editorial board may move on to another publisher or end up selling kitchen fixtures. Suddenly, you may feel alone, abandoned, and discouraged. Hang in there because chances are that a good or even better replacement will emerge.

When these situations occur, the value of a good agent takes on heightened importance. Your agent can intercede with the publisher on your behalf to get you a top replacement. Your agent can also serve as your advisor and confidant and provide much of the support that your editor lent.

Action Steps

1. Become a proposal-writing authority. Consider your proposal the business plan for your book. You wouldn’t open a business without a plan. The same goes for a book.

2. Begin! Write a page or two a day. No excuses. If you can’t make time to write at least a page or so a day, what makes you think you will be able to write a book?

3. Be critical. Avoid falling blindly in love with your own ideas. Run them by people you trust. Don’t go too far on your book without talking to people in the know.

4. In writing your proposal, think like your readers. Is your book interesting? A great read? Life changing? Think like an editor. Is your book clear and written well? Who will buy it? When you review what you write, ask lots of questions.

5. Check out examples of proposals. Is your proposal convincing? Is it your best shot? Does it include third-party endorsements? What can you add to it to make it a heavyweight proposal? Lightweights don’t sell.

Remember:

Check whether agents or publishers accept unsolicited submissions.

Address your initial submissions to specific individuals, not generally, or they may not be delivered. Most agents and editors want the first contact from writers to be by query letters, and most of them now welcome e-mail inquiries.

Individual editors initially process proposals. If they feel a proposal has promise, they take it to committees where it will be examined in great detail.

Editors, their assistants, sales and marketing people, and the top brass generally review proposals. At most houses, the final acquisition decision is made by the editor in chief, the Chief Operating Officer, or an executive committee, and it is invariably financially based.

By Rick Frishman
Reprinted from “Rick Frishman’s Author 101 Newsletter”
Subscribe at http://www.author101.com and receive Rick’s “Million Dollar Rolodex”

Query letters enable literary agents to determine four things about you rather quickly:

1. That you have a compelling book concept

2. That you have the platform that will attract a marketable audience

3. That you have the credentials to write the book

4. That you can write, effectively

When to Write a Query Letter

Before you even consider sending out a query letter, you should have a complete book proposal ready to send to the literary agent. Moreover, never write the manuscript for a non-fiction book until you’ve written and pitched the book proposal. And never send a book proposal to an agent unless you’ve been asked to do so as a result of the interest generated by your query letter.

How to Write a Query Letter

A well-written query letter contains five basic elements:

1. The hook

2. The pitch

3. Supportive elements

4. Your credentials

5. The close

The Hook

The hook or lead paragraph is the most important part of the letter with each paragraph maintaining the interest generated in these first few sentences. Consider opening with:

- An anecdotal lead sentence or short paragraph that tells a story

- A surprising statistic that supports your premise

- A thought provoking quote by a public figure, celebrity, or authority relevant your subject

The Pitch

This second paragraph summarizes the premise of your book in no more than 50 to 75 words. Think of your pitch as the cross section of three elements: your book’s uniqueness in relation to your competition, the benefit to your readers, and your credibility as an author.

Supportive Elements

The supportive elements paragraphs comprise the body of your query letter and expounds on the three elements of your pitch:

- Is your book an ‘only’ or a ‘first’? Do you offer a broader, more interesting, more controversial, or more comprehensive approach to the subject?

- How does your book address the wants, needs, expectations, or desires of your reader? What problem(s) does your book resolve?

- What knowledgeable, intellectual, or emotional strengths do you bring to the topic that others have been incapable of providing?

Your Credentials

The credentials paragraph is an expansion of the third supportive element and should be written in the third person to sidestep the difficulty in writing about yourself. Briefly highlight all your relevant experience, including professional work experience, consulting engagements, media, and public speaking appearances.

As a guide, look at the back flap of a few dust cover jackets of non-fiction books to get an idea of how a third-person biography reads. Many of these short bios are 75 or so words in length, a perfect sound-bite length for the last paragraph of your query letter.

The Close

Close with a self-confident, upbeat tone. Thank the literary agent for his or her time and consideration and mention that you’re prepared to send a complete book proposal upon request.

Acceptance and Rejection

If you’re solicited, congratulations! You wrote a query letter that broke through and generated interest. The agent will ask for your book proposal and your journey has begun.

If your query letter is rejected, don’t feel offended. Occasionally, an agent will offer constructive advice, but never modify your book concept or book proposal based on the first or second negative response. Look for patterns of responses before considering making any changes.

Visit http://www.TheLiteraryCoach.com for more information and support on developing your book concept, preparing your book proposal, and achieving your dream of becoming a published author.

John Fayad
jfayad@theliterarycoach.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Fayad

Despite instructions on their Web sites etc., a large majority of the contacts agents receive are surprisingly not about books or subjects they handle.

“For all authors, first time or established, what it all comes down to is having a marketable book idea,” according to Jill Alexander, senior acquisitions editor at Adams Media.

“A marketable idea is something that fits with the house and is something that can be positioned and sold. Authors should focus narrowly. Is it saying something new to an established demographic, or, conversely, is it finding a new audience that is out there that hasn’t been addressed that’s actually pretty sizable? Many first-time authors mistakenly try to be everything to everyone. Instead, find out who your audience is-men or women, what age group, where do they work, what is their income level, what is their lifestyle, do they go to bookstores, how do they get their information, do they buy books or magazines, do they get their information from TV? Think about those questions,” Alexander suggests.

The first thing agent Edward Knappman looks for is “a grabber in terms of the topic. Something that really grabs my attention in the first few lines or a topic that interests me personally. The grabber should excite me and be the same kind of hook that you would use in a proposal. Other important items that I look for are the writer’s credentials, writing history and platform. For business books, first-time writers need to have a platform,” Knappman continues, “because the field is so competitive and it’s hard to break out a business book when the author doesn’t have a platform. Publishers want to know that they have some kind of following.”

When agents receive submissions from writers they’re interested in, they send them their author/agent agreement, which they ask the writer to sign and return. Most agents try to get the author/agent agreement signed early in the relationship, before they perform a great deal of work.

By Rick Frishman
Reprinted from “Rick Frishman’s Author 101 Newsletter”
Subscribe at http://www.author101.com and receive Rick’s “Million Dollar Rolodex”

I was very lucky to team up with Berkley, but I must say that I worked very hard to find an agent and publisher. I thought it might be helpful to other aspiring authors to provide a brief discussion of how I made my dream a reality.

In order to become a successful author you must, first, get your attitude in the proper zone. You must believe that you are an author. You must think, eat, and drink as an author. You must believe that you will be successful; for if you do not believe in yourself, you won’t have a snowball’s chance in Hell of convincing anyone else. Once you believe that you are a writer, you must start building your team.

I could never have done this on my own. The first professional you need to recruit to your team is an agent. Acquiring an agent takes preparation and hard work. Literary agents make a living representing good authors. They are the gatekeepers of the literary domain. So, what can you do to attract a good agent?

Good agents receive queries, proposals, letters, manuscripts and just plain gimmicks by the truckload. There are not enough minutes in the day for agents to read all the crap they receive, so most of it is pitched. If I were an agent, I would pull out each one-page query for review and discard the rest.

There is a science to writing queries. They must be clean, crisp and concise. They must convince the agent that he or she needs to look further into your work and they must do it in a paragraph or two. I am not going to attempt to tell you how to write your query, suffice it to say brevity will get you everywhere. I will provide an additional piece of wisdom – convince the agent that you can make them money by selling your book.

Once you have written the perfect agent query, you need to decide whom you will send it to. I simply Googled “Literary agent list,” and more hits popped up than I could have ever looked at. The first website alone had contact information for hundreds of agents. Here is where you need to become restrictive. I used several factors to narrow down my personal agent query list.

1. I only picked agents who were in New York City. I reasoned that NYC is the center of the publishing universe. I also believed that the publishing world works like all other businesses. People do business through their personal connections. It is much more likely that an agent in New York City will know the right editor at the right publishing house for you, than an agent in Dallas, Texas. So I focused on the Big Apple.
2. Only select an agent who belongs to a major trade organization: Association of Authors Representatives (US) or the Association of Authors Agents (UK). Agents in these professional organizations adhere to strict ethical standards.
3. Never deal with an agent who asks for a reading fee. Legitimate literary agents earn their fees through commissions.

Those are my three hard and fast rules. Also, it might be helpful to select an agency that deals in your genre. If you are writing a gardening book, don’t pick a military history agent. You may also think of creative ways to narrow down your own list.

Send your queries out all at once. I used email and snail mail. Some agents love their computers and others avoid them like the plague. So, it is wise to query everyone on your list with a letter and an email.

Then wait. Rest assured, if an agent is interested, he or she will contact you. There is no need for repeated follow-ups. A single follow up telephone call after about two weeks could be helpful. Ask if they have received your query and be prepared to deliver the query over the telephone. If the agent remembers your query and politely rejects your work, ask for constructive feedback.

NOW LETS PREPARE

Stop writing and direct all your attention to your query and proposal.

I found Guerrilla Marketing for Writers to be a great resource. It has a section on queries and proposals and much, much more. Let me try to excerpt it and add in a few other hints I have learned along the way.

First, and foremost – Publishers want to make money.

You need to convince them that your book WILL make money. Here is how you can start. (The authors of Guerrilla Marketing actually suggest that you do these first few steps before you ever start writing. I waited until I was half finished before I did these things and they still helped me)

1. Identify your audience – FIRST. I actually have many audiences but my primary audience is family members of the men and women who have served in Iraq.

2.  Write a hook for your book. Mine is:

Marines in the Garden of Eden tells the story of America’s sons and daughters who fought, bled and died in a dusty desert town on the banks of the Euphrates River.

See how my hook is directed at my audience. The hook should be used in your query and again in your proposal. I am finding myriad uses for my hook during the marketing of the book as well. Keep your message integrated.

3. Then, write a one-page synopsis that links your hook (promise to the reader) to your plot/story.

Keep the hook and synopsis close at hand and make sure you don’t wander too far from your audience. Make sure you deliver on your promise to the reader (the hook).

4. Write a one, or two page analysis of the market and your competition. This will take some research but the time spent will pay large dividends. Find out rankings of similar books and try to find out the number of copies they have sold. Ask your local bookstore if the sales have been good/bad on not just specific books but on your subject matter as well. Understand the market and let the potential publishers know that you do understand the market. Be brief. REMEMBER – publishers want to make money. Show them that your kind of book is profitable.

5. Write a one-page bio. Again, they want to know how YOU can sell books and make money for them. My bio is the weakest part of the proposal because I have a hard time talking about myself. I feel like I am bragging, but you must brag.

6. Write the table of Contents – This was like my master outline, or twelve bullets to keep me moving in the right direction.

7. Then find one of your best chapters, it doesn’t matter if it is the first chapter or the fifth chapter. Spend enough time on that chapter to make it perfect in every way. Make it your best effort. I personally did not pick the last chapter because I didn’t want anyone to know how I would end the book. Make that single chapter part of your proposal.

This will be the only writing sample the prospective publishers will see. They will base their decision on it, so it better be good.

8. Add in additional materials you might think they would be interested in, like photos, recommendations, etc.

Now, when you put it all together, you must remember that the editors and the people that will see your proposal get hundreds of these things a week. You want to make it as easy for them as possible. I placed mine in a red three ring paper binder, the kind you would use for a term paper. The cover was clear so that the title page could be read without opening the binder.

Then, I tried to suck the reader in. My hook was on the first page and was only a short paragraph. My hope was that the reader would be “hooked” and turn the page. THAT IS THE ONLY PURPOSE OF THE HOOK, to get the reader to turn the page. They see so many of these things that the vast majority are set aside before page two.

My second page was a single-page synopsis of the book. During the final polishing, my agent suggested that I add a proposal table of contents just to make it easier for the reader to find things. I really don’t think that was necessary.

I think that the synopsis is even more important than the hook. Here, again, in a single page, you must show how you are going to deliver on your promise; you must describe your book. The sole purpose of the synopsis is to get the reader to turn the page – again. Lots more proposals end up in the circular file after the synopsis is read.

Okay, now you have the reader hooked on your story. You have also shown him/her that you can captivate a reader and that you know how to write a “page turner.” If the editor goes on, you have already scored big points – in just two short pages.

Now they want to know – Will the book make money? So tell them who your audience is, specifically, and also who your competition is. Make them see dollar signs.

Then, take one page to tell them about yourself. By now, your idea has been sold; the editors are looking for more ammunition to support their decision to publish you.

I included the book’s table of contents and outline next to give the reader an overall guide to the entire book and next was my perfect chapter.

I also thought it would be helpful to provide my extensive bibliography and some photos.

In short, I put together a plan and I executed my plan. I wrote the best agent query letter I could, I wrote the best proposal I could and I wrote the best book I could.

I found an agent. I found a publisher (Penguin Group USA) and now I am working at finding readers for Marines in the Garden of Eden.

I hope this helps. Please provide feedback on this article by contacting me through my website at www.MarinesintheGardenofEden.com.

Richard S. Lowry is an internationally recognized military historian and author. His latest book, New Dawn, the battles for Fallujah, will be released by Savas Beatie LLC in May, 2010. Richard has previously published Marines in the Garden of Eden (Berkley Caliber, 2006), The Gulf War Chronicles (iUniverse, 2003 and iUniverse Star, 2008), and US Marine in Iraq: Operation Iraqi Freedom, 2003 (Osprey, 2006). Additionally, he contributed to Small Unit Actions (United States Marine Corps History Division, 2008).

Make no mistake about it, writing queries that produce results is a craft.

Fact: A Query Should Not be Written Like a Synopsis.

I devoted an entire article to this, yet writers who have read the article continue to send me sample queries that ignore this premise. Yes, there are exceptions. There are exceptions to everything in publishing. But if an author wants to entice an agent to stand up and take notice, as I said in the prior article, sell the sizzle and not the steak. Pure and simple, a query for fiction is best written if it mirrors liner notes.

Fact: A Writer has to Know the Genre in which the Work is Written.

If the author doesn’t know the genre in which his or her work is written, any bona fide editor can explain it. A writer who doesn’t take the time to figure this out has virtually no chance. Genre identification is paramount. And while critique groups, etc., are a wonderful sounding board, they are historically populated by amateurs, and as such not the place to learn about genre specificity in today’s complicated and ever-changing market.

Fact: Structurally, a Query can be Designed like a Short Theme.

Yes, a simple but effective way to structure a query is like a theme. Begin with a core thought that highlights two or three critical plot elements. Justify these issues in the next paragraph, then close the letter with the thrust of the thesis: Why Readers Will Gravitate to the Story. Personal credentials if they pertain directly to the work can be added in a final brief sentence or two, along with a statement of appreciation for the agent’s or publisher’s time.

Fiction: Copying the Words of Phrases from a Successful Query will Assure another Query’s Success.

Nothing could be further from the truth. A query should define the voice and strength of the writer and the project. An experienced agent or publisher can pick up the nuances of a writer’s style. Counterfeiting doesn’t work

Fiction: Query Letters Should Never Contain Questions.

This farce has been bandied about for some time and is ridiculous. No one likes a query that reads like a movie opening: In a world…followed by a “what if” scenario. But there is nothing at all problematic about asking an agent or publisher to consider a novel’s most poignant issue or issues. And if some agent has written to the contrary, so be it. Hundreds of other agents, and all of those I know and work with, think differently.

Fiction: A Query Should Fill as Much of the Page as Possible.

It’s quality not quantity that matters. A query with 500 words jammed on a page is not going to be perceived to be any better than 300 words that clearly and concisely reflect the writer’s skill and the “hot points” about the story he or she has written. An overwritten query can plant the thought that the novel is also structured in the same manner.

What can distort this last remark are the bloated query examples posted by some writers whose work has been accepted for publication. But when a query turns into a synopsis, which is almost always the tendency in longer efforts, it’s generally a quick reach by the agent or publisher for the SASE or the rejection template on the computer file.

Fiction: If my Query Doesn’t Work the First Time, I can Write another One Later to the Same Agent for the Same Book.

Agents keep records. At least many of the good ones I know do. And, universally, as I’ve experienced it, agents never want to see a query about the same material a second time any more than they will consider a manuscript they’ve previously rejected. So it is imperative to get it right the first time.

A final thought: A poor query will never get a book in front of an agent; however, a great query can influence an agent to look at a novel that might require a touch up. And critical feedback can often be gleaned from an agent. For anyone not using a professional editor (curses), I cannot think of a better way to receive professional advice without having to pay for it. However, most authors would be way ahead of the game if they sought professional direction to assure a quality query before bombarding a highly selective marketplace with less than sterling requests to review material.

The Perfect Write® offers manuscript review and revision, including comprehensive developmental editing and line editing services. Also For authors, The Perfect Write® is now providing FREE QUERY LETTER REVIEW AND ANALYSIS. Post your query to mailto:theperfectwrite@aol.com (no attachments) and visit The Perfect Write™ Sample Letters Page for examples of successful query letters.