This is an excerpt from a transcript of mediabistro.com's seminar, "How to Write a Nonfiction Book Proposal That Sells" held on January 23, 2006 in New York with editor Ryan Fischer Harbage. Want to question an editor about your book proposal? The next session of the seminar is on April 10. Enroll now! In Los Angeles? Wants someone to really critique your proposal? Try our Four-Week Book Proposal workshop that begins March 27!

Hopefully most of you have an idea or conception of what you want to write. If you don't, that's fine. As advertised, you don't need an idea. You're still in the right place. So coming up with an idea for a book. I take a pretty emotional point of view on this issue and advise everyone to follow your curiosity. , what are you obsessed with, what do you think about in the morning, what are you going over and over in your head when you go to bed at night? And if that interest, if that curiosity is staying with you and sticking with you for more than a day or a week or a month or however long a lot of your ideas sort of hover about, , that's your idea, that's your passion. That's what's running you around and that's a great thing to write about. I heard a very interesting panel discussion recently with the poets Timothy Lu and April Bernard and they were sort of debating about whether or not one needs to be obsessed about the topic. I don't know much about obsession. I think obsession can sometimes be a little unhealthy, but I think curiosity is great.

More here.