Got the book but have no idea how to write the proposal? New Hampshire author Barry Lenson has sold "about seven or eight books" from proposals, and lucky for you, he's willing to share his knowledge on writing a good one. Barry Lenson has written and coauthored more than 20 books, including the Amazon.com self-help bestseller Good Stress, Bad Stress (Marlowe & Co), now in Dutch, Italian and Spanish editions. Barry's current writing projects include the five Make Your Fortune in Real Estate books for Trump University and Father to Father, a book on how to raise confident daughters. You can see more of his titles on Amazon.

One lucky day fifteen years ago, my agent handed me a pamphlet and said, "These are some proposal-writing guidelines that McGraw-Hill used to send to authors. I'll pitch your next book to McGraw-Hill, so maybe you should take a look at them."

I wrote my proposal using those guidelines and McGraw-Hill bought the book. In the years since, I have adapted the format recommended in those guidelines and have sold more than a dozen books to different publishers. I will explain that format in this article.

Other writers might recommend different formats to you. If they do, listen to what they have to say. My goal here is not to present the "correct" proposal format (if one exists), but to explain a format that has consistently sold books for me.
But before we explore that format, let's consider a few fundamental questions.

What Is a Book Proposal?

A book proposal is a marketing document you use to sell a book to a publisher.

I recommend keeping that definition - marketing document - in your mental crosshairs as you write proposals. Everything you include should answer the central question that every acquisitions editor asks when reading a proposal:

"Why should we publish this book?"

Concentrating on that question clarifies what to put into your proposal and what to leave out. You run in marathons? You used to be a social worker? Interesting credits, but omit them unless they will directly influence a publisher to think "I need to buy this book now!"

Why Write Book Proposals?
Because they maximize your ability to make a living as a writer.
If there is no market for your book, why spend a year writing the entire manuscript, only to get rejected? You can invest a few days writing a proposal that tests the market for your book just as effectively. If you are a working writer, you can simultaneously float proposals to lots of publishers and leverage your chances of selling a book. Using this approach, I am usually able to publish more than one book a year. I can do that because I write a lot of book proposals. Do my proposals sometimes get rejected or ignored? Sure. But when I have five or six in circulation, the death of one is not a serious problem. There is an even more compelling reason for writing proposals too, which I will share at the end of this article.

Do You Always Have to Write a Full Proposal?

No. Sometimes a publisher will come to you (or to your agent, if you have one) with a preexisting idea and want you to provide only a summary, a table of contents or other limited materials to demonstrate your ability to write it. I have sold several books this way, and it is great when it happens. But when you are pitching a book idea, plan to produce a soup-to-nuts proposal like the one I am about to describe.

What Does a Proposal Look Like?

How long is a proposal? Most of mine come in at between 25 and 35 pages on standard 8.5 x 11 paper. I single-space mine in 12-point type, but include lots of white space between sections to keep the text from looking too heavy. I also use bullets, subheads, text boxes and other "eye candy" to engage the reader's eye. Every time I use the title of the book I am pitching, I put it in bold, italicized, 14-point type. I believe that doing so leads my readers to see my book as a "brand" that deserves consideration.

If your proposal runs longer than 35 pages, it looks like something a busy acquisitions editor will want to avoid.

Because you will include a table of contents for the proposal (see below), be sure to number your pages, omitting the page number from the title page. I print proposals on paper that is a bit better than copier white, but nothing ostentatious. I paperclip the pages together and send proposals via Priority Mail, which imparts a certain "FedEx" importance for only a few dollars. In the last few years I have also submitted proposals as e-mail attachments to editors I know and have gotten responses in as little as two hours, which is light years speedier than the publishing norm.

When you have extra supporting materials to enclose with your proposal - an article about you from the New York Times, let's say - send your proposal in a report folder that you can buy at office supply store. Insert your proposal into one pocket inside the folder, tuck your supporting materials in the other pocket, and off it goes. Stick a label with your book title and your name on the front so your reader can identify your proposal without opening it.

What Goes Into a Proposal?

Let's look at each section in turn. Feel free to create engaging alterative titles for each of these sections. For example, you can call your "Competitive Analysis" section (see below) something livelier, like "What Other Books Are Like This One?"

You can also change the order of sections, combine sections, or make other alterations if doing so will help sell your book. If you are writing a book with a world-famous racecar driver, for example, put his or her bio on page one, not somewhere in the middle of the proposal.

Title Page

Put the title of your book on the top of the page in 18 or 20-point type and your name right below that in slightly smaller type. You can center this info or put it flush left, whatever looks good. Toward the bottom of the page, flush left, print full directory information for the agent who is representing the book, or for yourself if the book is not agented. Include an e-mail address. Omit a fax number, which no publisher will use to contact you anyway.

If your book has some notable promotional asset, put that on the title page too. If you are the CEO of General Motors (or if you are writing the book with the person who is), trumpet that on the title page where it will get noticed. If a famous celebrity will provide an introduction to your book, mention that on the cover page too. If you don't have such assets, simply stick with the basics as described above.

Resist the temptation to include graphics or clipart on the title page. The stuff that looks adorable to you will probably alienate editors who are grumpy in the first place because of the pile of proposals they are facing.

First Internal Page: Table of Contents for the Proposal ("Contents of This Proposal")

This is different from the TOC for the book you are proposing. On this page, provide a separate TOC for the proposal itself, with page numbers for all its sections. This shows your readers that you respect their time enough to tell them where to find what they want to read. A nice professional touch.

Second Internal Page: Argument ("Why This Book?")

This is your first opportunity to answer that all-important "Why should we publish this book?" question the reader is asking.

Using your clearest, leanest prose, open with a sentence about what your book will be and who will read it. In marketing, this encapsulation of purpose is called a USP (a unique selling proposition), the thing that will make consumers buy your product. After you have stated your USP, add a bit more detail and nuance as needed - but just a little.

You can also include extras like these, provided they support your central USP:

• Compelling quotes from people about why they would buy your book.

• Demographic statistics that document the vast market for your book. Examples: Women buying their first homes, Hispanic Americans applying to universities, whomever you are addressing.

• A quote from an ultra-famous person about you.

• An anecdote from life that puts your idea in context. Example: You nearly died when your car flipped over and now you want to tell people how to drive safely.

But overall, keep it clean and quick. If you can't explain your book's value in a few sentences, perhaps it is time for you to clarify your idea.

Avoid hype. If your book really is the first of its kind, or a future bestseller, let the reader figure that out. The strength of your idea should speak for itself.

Audience ("Who Will Read this Book?")

Describe your intended readers. The psychological trick here is to make the audience sound large without making exaggerated predictions of success. My agent tells me publishers groan when proposals claim, "This is a book that everyone will read."

Define your reader groups, starting with the largest category first and then secondary groups. If most of your readers will be single women who are buying their first homes, for example, list that market segment first, followed by other categories of probable readers.

Include groups of people who are known to buy books - entrepreneurs, wine-lovers, parents and other readers who have made earlier books bestsellers.

Author Biographies ("About the Author" or, "About the Authors")

The publisher or agent will be trying to determine two things from what you write in this section:

1. Are you qualified to write the book? This is the most basic cut-off point. If you are a top knee surgeon writing a book about knee pain, for example, you've probably made the cut. If you want to write on that topic but your only credential is that you own a health-food store, you have a harder sell on your hands, even if you have great information to share.

2. More critically, the publisher is trying to determine whether you have the resources to aggressively promote the book. Publishers do next to nothing to promote books anymore, and expect authors to provide the "legs" under them.

When you are writing a book with a recognized expert (you are the coauthor or "with" person), segment your answers to these questions. Your expert coauthor will provide the promotional heft by virtue of her or his television show, Web site, speaking engagements or professional memberships. Since you are the writer, simply summarize your previous books or other writing credentials. Put your famous collaborator's bio first and your bio second.

Promotion ("Promotional Opportunities")

(If you are writing a book with a very famous individual, it can make sense to merge this category with the preceding one.)

Here's where you amplify all the things you (and/or your coauthor) will do to promote sales. You might include information like this:

1. You are writing a book with an executive at a corporation that will buy 10,000 copies for internal distribution to employees. (Guess what? You probably just sold your book.)

2. Your last book sold 45,000 copies because you appeared on 25 Cable TV stations, did more than 40 radio interviews or financed your own book tour. What you did before you can do again, with even greater success.

3. Celebrities or experts will write an introduction or back-cover endorsements. Famous people will often agree to provide these materials, sight-unseen, if you speak to their staffs.

4. You address more than 10,000 people at 25 trade shows each year and will promote your book at all your appearances.

5. Your coauthor's company retains a powerhouse PR firm that will rep the book at no cost to the publisher.

6. Your coauthor is a syndicated columnist or has a cable TV show.

7. A national association has asked you to write this book and will sell it directly to its members.

This is a "kitchen sink" section. Without making absurd claims, you want a publisher to start thinking about the number of books that will sell.

Competitive Analysis of Other Books ("What Other Books Are Like this One?")

Describe between five and ten books that are similar to yours, or whose success argues in favor of yours. The listings on Amazon.com and other online booksellers have made it easier to put this section together than it once was.

Achieve a balance in this section. You want your book to be seen as unique, yet you also want to call attention to similarities between your book and other successful titles. Example: Last year another book about how to turn a friend into a lover sold 50,000 copies - and your book on the same topic might do nearly as well. Curious to say, unoriginal books are sometimes easier to sell than completely unique ones that have no successful precedents in the marketplace.

I have managed to navigate these waters by listing successful books on similar topics while stating that the book I am proposing will be even more successful because it will appeal to a wider range of readers - or conversely, to a more specialized readership.

You list five or six successful books about weight-loss surgery, for example, then point out that your book will be the first for diabetics who are contemplating the procedure. Or you point out the increase in the number of people who are having such surgery and state that there is a new and bigger market for a book on the topic than before.

It is a head game that you play with the reader. If you keep looking through that "Why should we publish this book?" lens, you can get the right kind of psychological judo working for you.

Completion and Delivery of Manuscript ("When Will this Book Be Ready?")

Just a sentence or two here. The publisher wants to know when you can deliver the manuscript, so you tell 'em something reasonable. You can also put in the word count of the final book as you see it. This pro forma section provides information that nobody really believes, but I did once have a publisher ask for it when I omitted it. Go figure.

Table of Contents for the Book ("Contents")

Provide a one-page table of contents for the book as you envision it, to help your reader understand the topics you will cover.

Chapter Summaries ("Chapter Summaries")

In one or two paragraphs, flesh out each chapter from your table of contents. In my experience, writing these chapter summaries is a worthwhile exercise. I almost always uncover "thin" subject areas, chapters that need to be combined and other structural problems that are best addressed early on.

Sample Sections ("Chapter One" or whatever)
Provide one chapter from the book or the introduction - or whatever makes the strongest case for your project. Pick material that appeals directly to your largest group of intended readers. This is also your chance to set the right tone for your book - one tailored for your targeted readership - and showcase your writing skill.

Suggested Back-Cover Copy ("Back Cover Copy")

I recently started including this section at the suggestion of my agent. We believe it makes the book more "real" in the mind of the reader.

This copy is simply an amplification of your "Why This Book?" argument from the start of the proposal. But because back-cover copy of published books is promotional, you can get a little flashier here.

In summary . . . why write a proposal?
When I said at the beginning of this article that the purpose of a proposal is to sell a book, I fibbed a little. Let me amend that statement:

The purpose of a proposal is to start a conversation with a publisher

Why start a conversation? Because books are sold through conversations about proposals.

If editors are interested in your idea, they will almost always tell you, "We would be interested in this book if . . ." and then explain what you need to do to sell the book to them.

They would be interested if your book were less "male" in tone, or if it addressed a slightly different audience, or if it included a lot of quizzes and interactive tools. Sometimes you will hear these suggestions from the acquisitions editor. Sometimes you will hear them when you meet with the publisher's editorial board.

Rewrite your proposal quickly to reflect the suggestions you hear. When you do that, you start a collaborative process. When an editor sees his or her own ideas reflected in a proposal revision, you have a deal going - one that will probably result in the sale of your book.

I hope that the information in this article will help you sell more books. There is room out there for plenty of authors - smart ones who know how write compelling proposals that open doors.

© Barry Lenson, 2005.
If you have comments or questions, email Barry.