Where Will Your Book Go? Why Your Category Can Tell You So Much

This is the 6th piece in my 8-part series sharing my best advice about how to write a nonfiction book proposal that gets the attention of an editor or agent. The focus of this series is to share my advice from reviewing proposals

for 20+ years. It’s not the typical advice but I truly believe it’s advice that when done right, can make all the difference.

Today I want to talk about the importance of categories.

If you’ve been to a bookstore lately (and really if you want to write a book, you should be reading what else is out there), you’ve hopefully noticed that all nonfiction is organized by categories. There are business books and cookbooks. There are travel guides and books about sports. There are celebrity memoirs and historical narratives.

Where would your book go?

Take a minute to walk around and see.

Each nonfiction book has a primary category.  While there are certainly books that crossover into multiple categories, your book isn’t for everyone. It’s for people who want or need information on a specific topic in a specific category.

And this is true online as well.  Amazon has loads of categories that they use to help discoverability.

There are also the official BISAC codes, which you can find online. These are the categories that publishers use as part of their metadata to communicate to retailers where the book should be shelved—and to help drive discoverability. Looking at the BISAC codes can give you a sense of what category options are available to you.

So why is this important for your book proposal? You should have a strong sense of your category because it will help you understand who to send your proposal to—agent, editors, and publishers tend to focus on specific categories. Find where your book would be in the store and look at the publishers who is publishing those books.

Knowing your book’s primary category will help you find great comparable titles—what are the top sellers in your category and how does your book compare in content to these? Share this comparison in your proposal.

See how authors in this category are reaching their audience. Google them and see what kinds of marketing they do online. Can you do something similar to reach your audience? If so, put that in your proposal.

Show an editor or an agent that you’ve done your research and compare your book to the ones in this category that are the most relevant.

I promise if you do this, your proposal will stand out.