How Publishers Actually Use Proposals

1 of 8 in My Series of Tips for Writing Nonfiction Book Proposals

that Get the Attention of Editors and Agents

Writing a nonfiction book proposal is challenging. And for so many writers out there it feels like a painful, unnecessary step.

I get it. You just want the book to be published already, right?!

In my 20+ years in publishing, I’ve seen many authors who are incredibly eager to be published—and who have great ideas for books—not put the time they need to make their proposal great.

Because I’ve seen so many writers struggle, I’m doing an 8-part series sharing my best advice for writing a nonfiction book proposal to get the attention of an agent or editor. My goal is to give advice that people don’t really think about but, when done right, can make all the difference.

But, first, it’s important to understand why it’s important to put in the time to ensure your proposal is truly great.

You see, your proposal serves so many purposes throughout the entire publishing process.

There are the obvious purposes: to get an agent—and then an editor—interested in your book. And hopefully convince a publishing house to pay you a nice big advance to write the book. But there are a lot of other ways a proposal is used--ways many authors probably don’t think about, like:

• An editor must sell the book internally. And the bigger the advance, the more people the editor sells to. Having a great proposal makes it easier for an editor who loves your book to convince their bosses why they should love it, too.

• The marketing team uses the proposal for their marketing plan. Give them everything they need to build a strong campaign. Use your proposal to show why you are the expert and how you already reach your audience.

• The sales team uses the proposal to get strong distribution. Bookstores today base all their buying decisions on data. How big is your following? How many times are you on stage each year? How many clients do you see every month? How many people engage in your content? Your proposal should say all of this and more.

• The copy team uses the proposal to write sales copy. Busy copy teams can’t read every book they write about, so they need a proposal to give the most important highlights they need to entice the reader to buy your book.

• The cover designer uses the proposal to understand the audience you are trying to reach and design a cover that will reach them. They also look at your comp titles to gain a better understanding of what covers in this space look like—that becomes a great source of inspiration for the design team.

• The rights team uses the proposal to license deals. The rights teams need a well-constructed proposal to create their own pitch materials when they approach audio or international publishers.

Your proposal is so critical to the success of your book. Take the time to make it strong. Putting in the work shows that you care about your book and that you care about an editor’s time by not sending them underdeveloped ideas or sloppy writing.

Your ideas are worth the extra effort.