Writing a book proposal can seem harder than writing the actual book. How do you summarize what you've done in full? How do you sell the thing you've spent the last three years working on? Oh, who knows. (No, that's not true. We'll get someone in here soon on how to write a good proposal.) But in the meantime, Patricia L. Fry at Absolute Write can tell you what not to do. For instance, "Don't claim that this is the only book of its kind. This, too, implies that you're an amateur. A well-organized book proposal includes a competitive analysis of books similar to the one you propose. The purpose of this section is to demonstrate a need for your book. If there is nothing to compare it with, how will you convince the publisher of it's worth? If you can't find other books just like it, dig deeper, my friend. Evaluate popular books from the same category and point out the similarities and the differences. Publishers want facts and figures not wishful thinking."

My favorite, though: Don't threaten the publisher.