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The Great First Impression Book Proposal: Everything You Need to Know About Selling Your Book in Twenty Minutes or Less by CAROLYN HOWARD-JOHNSON Dedicated to the thousands of readers who have made writing a pleasure for me, and to writing, which has filled my life with joy.
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Acknowledgements
Thank you to my fellow authors who led the way by publishing Amazon shorts, Judith Colombo, Kathe Goglolewski, Allyn Evans, Joyce Faulkner, Chris Meeks and to my client, Dr. Richard Hulquist. He made it apparent that those for whom I edit synopses may need something much briefer than a book-length explanation of how this process works. Most authors, by the time they get to the synopsis stage, are on a mission. They often bypass this particular learning curve by hiring an editor and, ideally, an editor should leave her client with the basics as well as an edited copy. This brief instructional began as my attempt to let Dick take a shortcut, and it seemed to work so well, I though I'd pass it on. Thanks also to the authors of the many books I've read on the subject and the many classes I've taken (mostly from my fellow UCLA Extension Writers Program Instructors). Eventually that knowledge congeals and it's impossible to know where specifics came from. Just know that I am grateful for what I learned from all of you.
The Great First Impression Proposal By Carolyn Howard-Johnson, award-winning author of three books of fiction and poetry and The Frugal Book Promoter: How to Do What Your Publisher Won't and The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success
Getting Past the Arguments and Past the Gatekeepers Those who haven't learned to write a book proposal are haunted by that gap in their
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knowledge. It lingers much like the first horror story your counselor told you as you roasted s'more over a campfire at summer camp, and it becomes more frightening every time the prospect of a new book looms. Book proposals are not something that are going away any time soon. In fact, they have becoming more omnipresent. Once only writers of nonfiction needed to write proposals to get their ideas past gatekeepers, the editors, agents and publishers. Now some publishers ask their novelists to write them. That is especially prevalent for novelists under contract for more than one novel, genre novels, and novels that are part of a series. Many writers are put off by books on proposals. "It takes a whole book to learn to write one?" they say. "First we have to read a whole book, then we have to write a proposal which is practically like writing a whole book and then we have to write the darn book?" They're right. It all seems like too much. And it may be. There are lots of books out there on how to write a book proposal and I recommend a few at the end of this short piece. But it is easy enough to learn all that you absolutely have to know in a nutshell and that’s what this article seeks to do for you. It's easy to make short stuff of the subject of writing book proposals simply because there is no one way to write a proposal. You need to know the basics but every proposal will vary with the project depending on the author's style, the genre he or she is writing in, and the way he or she visualizes the book. In this article, I give you a detailed version of a proposal for a nonfiction book, one that works because it makes it easy on the agent or publisher to find what he or she needs and digest it. Obviously, those writing proposals for fiction (and keep it mind it is rarely required that the writers of fiction books use proposals) will need to adapt these guidelines. So, what is a proposal all about and why are we so uncomfortable with them?
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A book proposal is a marketing tool, a tell and sell document. Writers tend to be artistic or academic or reclusive and probably never pictured themselves hawking any kind of product, much less something that they're so invested in. That doesn't mean they won't have to and it doesn't mean they can't learn to write a real kick-butt proposal. In fact, most already have the instincts for it, they just think that they must switch from real writing to brazen or boring. And know that once past the query letter, if your proposal doesn't impress a gatekeeper, all is lost.
Getting Started: The Short Way to the Gate
Think of a proposal as a cross between an outline, a resume and a media kit. Like each of those, the proposal should be designed to grab the attention of its projected audience. It should let them find what they want to know fast and keep them wanting to read till the last paragraph has whispered its last syllable. See, that's what writers do! Even fiction writers. In fact they may know those concepts better than some other writers. There's the hook and what follows keeps them reading and becomes a page-turner. To get these readers—the gatekeepers to publishing— to do that, your proposal must not be a dry old rag. Like your other writing, a proposal should reflect your voice and the character of whatever kind of book you're proposing. So, before you start, discard the idea that you'll write it like the most snooze-inducing text you ever read. Instead, think friendly. Think a bit colloquial. Think a bit (or more) of humor. Think condensed. Think little allusions or foreshadowing of what is to come. Think about using anecdote, yes, even dialogue. Do not think yawn! The proposal approach I'm giving you is not the only way to write a proposal. I call my
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method the Great First Impression Proposal because it uses a summary or introduction to let the agent, producer or publisher see it in its brilliance early on, without digging. Write it so he or she will want to delve into the details. The Great First Impression Proposal has obvious advantages. It begins with a digest, or overview. After you've written it, you can expand on some of the points you made in your cover or query letter and in the body of the proposal. Some books will call out for the inclusion of some segments in the template I am giving you but they may not need all of them. Things like short synopses of each chapter, as an example (about a line per page is suggested by many but that can vary), are essential. Some might choose to use only the titles of each chapter or maybe the titles and subtitles if by using a shorter version like this makes the presentation sing and still gives the gatekeeper everything they need. Work to achieve zing with sharp chapter titles, maybe even titles that use puns. Set your proposal up with an appealing page design, including useful headers. Leave the margins wide. Single space. Start each section 1/3 way down the page. Tree-huggers (and I'm one of them) won't like this but do it anyway. White space makes a document readable and if you ever wanted a document to be readable, your proposal is the place. Learn and use the effective use of words. I like Dr. Frank Luntz's Words That Work! for a review of how important strong, convincing words are and for suggestions of proven words that make a difference. Pay attention to editing essentials. Keep in mind that in proposal writing the word awesome is considered a four-letter word. Be positive but avoid adjectives and raves. Avoid business-ese—all those formal words that sound oh, so intelligent like "purchase" instead of "buy" and "reside" instead of plain old "live." You'll find more editing tips in my Frugal Editor:
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Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success.
Your Overview: How to Make Jaded Gatekeepers Want More
Your proposal can explore on anything you mention in your query letter or in the Great First Impression overview or introduction in greater depth, but here is what you will want to cover in that overview: •
Ideally your nonfiction title must tell what your book is and help sell it. To do that, the title must suggest a benefit of reading your book or, put another way, reveal somehow that it includes a solution to a problem. Your fiction title will, perhaps more subtly, do the same. Run your title ideas by some experts. Let them weigh in.
•
Start with why your book exists. An anecdote might be your edge. Tell how you tried everything and it didn't work so you are writing a book about solving that problem, as an example. A joke that relates to the subject of your book might work. Be sure whatever you use is written well and in a way that entertains. Even texts are written with a lighter touch these days and still manage not to lose necessary content, so don't be afraid to entertain.
•
Then comes the pitch or handle. This is like a logline of a movie. Short, sweet, entertaining. It encapsulates what the book is about. This is also sometimes known as the elevator pitch. It differs for fiction and nonfiction. Briefly, try something like this: "When so and so does this . . . then something happens." This works well for fiction but it can also be adapted to nonfiction. "If you have trouble with this, then you'll want to . . . ."
•
List other special features the book will include. Sidebars. Exercises. What will go in the
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backmatter like appendixes, templates, checklists, the index. You'll find more information on these aspects of your book in my Frugal Editor. •
Try to get a celebrity endorsement. Someone might write the foreword for you, Someone might be willing to endorse your book with a blurb. If you can, include your plans for that in the overview. If plans aren't finalized, at least say you are working on it. And if you get a great recommendation, refer to that it in your query letter. One sentence will do.
•
Bullet a promo plan in descending order of importance. You can go into more detail in a later section. If you need ideas, get your copy of The Frugal Book Promoter: How to Do What Your Publisher Won't. There are hundreds of ideas in it. You can use your best marketing statistics to convince gatekeepers of the need for your book, but save most of them for the detailed promotion plan later.
•
List possible spin-offs, sequels, toys or other products that might add value to your proposal. Make the ideas very clear. This is not the place to get secretive for fear of being ripped off. Spin-offs may include but are not limited to: o E-books to sell or for promotion o Audios o Manuals o Workbooks o Radio or TV show ideas o Coaching business plans o Speaking o Magazines (Oprah spun her magazine "O" from her TV program) o Seminars
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o Teleseminars o E-zines o Newsletters o Mentoring services o Toys ( possibilities abound here for children's authors) o Videos (note the video that spun off from the inspirational book Secrets, as an example, and I'm sure you're familiar with the mediation videos, exercise videos, etc.) o Books in a series or sequels •
If there are foreseeable legal questions, cover them here. If you have the contact information for your legal advisor, include it.
•
For a nonfiction book, list competitors and complementary books that are now in print Be brief. Title, author and one sentence of how it complements and/or competes. Please avoid telling your gatekeepers that this is the only book of its kind, ever. We all know better than that.
•
Agent Michael Larsen suggests letting your targeted reader know the resource money you will need to complete the book. This is a little like writing a grant. Do you need dollars for travel? For research? The editors or agents you are approaching need to know what kind of an advance (at a minimum) they are looking at.
The Details: Here's How to Make a Gatekeeper Open the Door to You
Now comes the part of your proposal that you knew about, the part that you don't want to
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think about. It comes after the overview, after all those pointers in the last section. Format this section, like the last, so that a power reader will not need to pause. Use plenty of open space, bullets, a simple font with serifs like Times New Roman or Century. Now you are putting the rest of your proposal together, you'll want to keep your voice consistent with the overview. If you are bored, your reader may be bored, too. Keep the juices up. And if you have a brilliant idea that also makes it easy for an editor to understand (and love!) your idea, use it. That, by the way, will not involve tricks like stuffing your proposal envelope with glitter or sending gifts. Keep your proposal honest, smart, a reflection of you. Some agent somewhere will be impressed. The essentials for the rest of your proposal include all the pieces of your proposal that an agent or publisher will want to know once you've roped him or her in with the overview. Your extended proposal includes: •
Your About the Author section is a more extensive bio than what you put in your query letter. Ideally you will have been building a platform that will include several of what could be considered the planks in that platform: o Your profession if it relates to your book. Think about this. It may relate in unforeseen ways. o A website, preferably one that meets a need of those who will become the audience for your book. o An e-zine or newsletter, preferably with more than 1,000 subscribers though this guideline varies from genre to genre. Writers of fiction may impress with fewer subscribers than writers of nonfiction. o At least one blog that fits or works to expose your website and, eventually, your
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book. o A media kit. It should be available as a download on your website. You'll find several
focused
kits
to
use
as
templates
on
my
website,
www.howtodoitfrugally.com. Click on the Media Room tab. o Any other publishing or work in the media you have done. o Your public speaking history. Give at least some specifics. Include your teaching experience. o If any of the above suggestions are extensive, you may want to break them out into a special section in your proposal. o The extent of your personal and professional contact list. That includes all kinds of organizations—professional, schools, charitable, as well as your holiday lists and maybe your mother's bridge club list, too. •
Table of Contents (but, please call it only Contents, lest you make gatekeepers think you don't know much about publishing).
•
You may choose to tell what is in each chapter beneath each chapter title in the Contents or, if they need a bit more explaining, list the chapters in a special section with explanations of each. In any case, keep them brief. If you do this, use the present tense. Use strong active verbs like clarify, elaborate, address, identify, illuminate, debunk, describe, dramatize, etc. Vary both your verbs and your nouns. If you get stuck use your thesaurus or find a complete list in Michael Larson's "How To Write A book Proposal (Writer's Digest Books), pp. 96-97. When working on this section, don't neglect the power of subheads.
•
Include your projected page numbers and length of time it you think it will take you to
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write your book. •
Give your gatekeepers a detailed promotion plan including everything you are willing and able to do for your own book, any leads or contacts you have, etc. If the editor of Redbook is your sister-in-law and has promised you a spread of your own, this is where it goes!
•
Two sample chapters. This must be your first chapter (do not deviate) but the second one may be selected for its importance or readability.
•
Anything else that is in your overview that you need to expand upon because what you have is so above and beyond what might otherwise be expected.
•
If sequels are planned, this is the place to do brief synopses of each.
•
You'll also attach important extras. That might include sample illustrations, charts, quotations or whatever might enhance the ability of the gatekeeper to understand what your book is about and how well it is thought out.
The Clincher: Keeping the Gate Wide Open
Now is not the time to wind down. You'll want to end with a something that will set yourself apart. That might be: •
A great quotation from your book.
•
An anecdote that illustrates your willingness to be a partner in the publishing process.
•
Something that highlights the originality of your concept.
•
One of the most convincing facts you came up with in your research.
•
A combination of two or more of the above.
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An agent told me that one author closed with a list of the writing and publishing classes he had taken from a credible institution. That impressed him enough to take a second look at the project. So you can see, this Great Synopsis business is yours to sculpt in ways that are most likely to convince. You know yourself and your project best.
Check List: Is Your Great First Impression Proposal Ready for Its Close-Up
So, as set out here your proposal will consist of: •
Your query letter.
•
Your overview. (See above).
•
Your extended proposal including sample chapters, etc. (See above.)
•
Your parting shot or clincher.
Yes, it feels as if you've written a complete book. The advantage is that you will have thoroughly considered your project, researched its marketability and advanced your platform as a credible author. That's a positive thing. Still, I prefer the process most fiction writers must go through; that is, they write a query letter and submit the number of chapters requested. Their book must be finished before they start to send out their queries because some gatekeepers will want to see their whole book and won't be happy if the author must suggest a six-month wait. At least, with this process an author only has to write one book. The sad thing is, I don't get to choose. Neither do you. So get started on your Great First Impression Book Proposal and simply decide to have fun.
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Sample of a basic query letter
If you know or have spoken to whomever you are contacting, your cover letter may be friendly and, depending on your personal style, you may use a first name. If this is a first contact, use the person's proper title (Mr., Mrs., Ms.), but avoid stiff formality. As you can see below, it is best not to experiment with letter styles. Use Times New Roman font. Single-space and keep your letter to one page. This letter is an example of a query for nonfiction because rarely is a synopsis required for fiction.
Carolyn Howard-Johnson Author of This Is the Place Address Phone: xxxxxx Fax: xxxxxxx. E-mail: HOJONEWS@aol.com FREE Chapter of This Is the Place at carolynhowardjohnson@sendfree.com
Date
Contact's address xxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Dear Marilee,
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It’s been a while since we spoke about my book, The Frugal Book Promoter at the San Diego Writers' Conference. At that time you suggested that when I had a synopsis of what was then only the shadow of an idea to let you know. The Frugal Book Promoter is a how-to book that assembles what I learned when I attempted to promote my award-winning novel, a book of creative nonfiction and a chapbook of poetry. Not an easy task to promote those genres, as you can imagine. It also draws on my experience as a journalist for the Salt Lake Tribune and experience at Good Housekeeping Magazine and as a publicist for the famous Eleanor Lambert Agency (fashion) in New York. I have the expertise and contacts to partner with a publisher for the promotion of this The Frugal Book Promoter. I have a newsletter, three related blogs and an extensive contact list. I also have a website that some consider a portal for the resources it offers readers and writers. I teach for UCLA Extension and that has given me the background to grow a speaking career as well. I am enclosing the synopsis for The Frugal Book Promoter. I would be delighted if it became one of the many how-to books on writing that you have shepherded to success. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Carolyn Howard-Johnson Encs: 1
Suggested Study:
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On book proposals: BOOK PROPOSALS THAT SELL, 21 SECRETS TO SPEED YOUR SUCCESS (Write Now Publications) by Terry Whalin. HOW TO WRITE A BOOK PROPOSAL (Writer's Digest). by Michael Larsen. On editing: THE FRUGAL EDITOR: PUT YOUR BEST BOOK FORWARD TO AVOID HUMILIATION AND ENSURE SUCCESS (Red Engine Press) by Carolyn Howard-Johnson DON'T MURDER YOUR MYSTERY or DON'T SABOTAGE YOUR SUBMISSIONS (Bella Rosa Books), both by Chris Roerdon. For basics and dozens of ideas for your book promotion campaign: THE FRUGAL BOOK PROMOTER: HOW TO DO WHAT YOUR PUBLISHER WON'T (Star Publish), by Carolyn Howard-Johnson. For Further Reading BOOK MARKETING FROM A TO Z (Infinity Publishing), by Francine Silverman. A good overview for beginners on everything from craft to promotion:: THE COMPLETE WRITER (Red Engine Press), by Joyce Faulkner Mindy Phillips Lawrence, Beverly Walton-Porter and Pat McGrath Avery. On grammar: GRAMMAR SNOBS ARE GREAT BIG MEANIES: A GUIDE TO LANGUAGE FOR FUN AND SPITE (Penguin) by June Casagrande. EATS, SHOOTS & LEAVES: THE ZERO TOLERANCE APPROACH TO PUNCTUATION (Gotham) by Lynne Truss.
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For hardcore style advice: THE CHICAGO MANUAL OF STYLE by University of Chicago Press Staff. P. S. Find a long list of recommended reading on everything from editing to publishing in the appendixes of THE FRUGAL EDITOR: PUT YOUR BEST BOOK FORWARD TO AVOID HUMILIATION AND ENSURE SUCCESS.
© 2007 Carolyn Howard-Johnson. All Rights Reserved. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal.
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CAROLYN HOWARDJOHNSON Carolyn Howard-Johnson's first novel, This Is the Place, won eight awards. Her book of creative nonfiction, Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered, won three. An instructor for UCLA Extension's world-renown Writers' Program, her book The Frugal Book Promoter: How to Do What Your Publisher Won't was named USA Book News' "Best Professional Book 2004," and was given the Irwin Award. Her second book in the How To Do It Frugally series is The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success. Her chapbook of poetry Tracings, was named to the Compulsive Reader's Ten Best Reads list and was given the Military Writers' Society of America's Silver Award of Excellence. She is the recipient of the California Legislature's Woman of the Year in Arts and Entertainment Award, and her community's Character and Ethics Committee awarded her work promoting tolerance with her writing. She was also named to Pasadena Weekly's list of 14 "San Gabriel Valley women who make life happen." Her website is www.HowToDoItFrugally.com.
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Also by CAROLYN HOWARD-JOHNSON The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success The Frugal Book Promoter: How to Do What Your Publisher Won’t This Is the Place Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered Tracings, A Chapbook of Poetry
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