Course Details

This class covers how to break into nonfiction publishing, with a primary focus on learning how to craft a solid book proposal to maximize your chances of selling your book and ultimately having it published. In today's tough market, having a well-thought-out promotional and marketing plan can make the difference between a sale and a rejection. This seminar will provide strategies for making your proposal stand out, as well as strengthening your own platform as an author and expert.

Ideally, participants will come to the seminar with a book idea(s) in mind, and there will be periodic writing time set aside as we go through the various components of a proposal. By the time the students leave the class, they'll have the bare bones of a proposal, which they can later flesh out on their own.

In this seminar, you can expect to learn:

• How to determine if your book idea is a good one
• Strategies for researching and knowing the market
• The components of a book proposal
• How successful book proposals are packaged and designed
• How to find and approach literary agents
• The benefits of becoming your own brand
• Etiquette with agents and publishers

Instructor Bio

Deborah Reber's Courses

Deborah Reber learned about writing nonfiction book proposals from the ground up, researching and networking her way to selling her first nonfiction book, Run for Your Life: A Book for Beginning Women Runners (Perigee, 2002) and most recently, In Their Shoes: Amazing Women Share What It's Really Like to Do Their Job (Simon & Schuster, 2007). She also pitched the content and format for a new book series from Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul, and consequently landed a 3-book deal with the publisher, HCI for the series The Real Deal (2005-2006). Deborah is a master networker, and her experience as a development executive for Cartoon Network, where she reviewed more than 2,000 pitches a year, gives her the unique perspective of being on the other side of the desk.

Testimonials

Debbie lacks ego, which makes candid discussion of her experiences all the more useful. She is a success as an author because she is a tireless worker. She doesn't claim to have all the answers, but she does know where to find them when necessary. I would definitely take a class from her again. -- Michael Bradbury, freelance science writer