The 7 Deadly Ins: What to Absolutely, Positively, 100% Put in Your Book Proposal ppt

1 The 7 Deadly Ins: What to Absolutely, Positively, 100% Put in Your Book Proposal A “Special Report” by Rusty Fischer, www.requestedmaterial.blogspot.com 2 Introduction Let’s talk about your book proposal. Like query letters, agents and publishers themselves, much has been written – and posted, and published, and blogged – about the book proposal. And I’m quite sure you could find dozens of books, articles and blogs better versed about proposals than myself. However, that being said, I do tend to write about 5-6 book proposals a month on behalf of some of the most amazing people, stories and ideas you may never read about! But it’s certainly not for lack of trying! 3 Fact is, I’ve made quite the study out of writing proposals and take great pride in the fact that, regardless of the author, the subject matter or the genre I can typically get at least a dozen or so agents/publishers to at least read the proposal. And if you can get a busy agent or publisher to read your proposal these days, you’re doing pretty well. Of course, that’s only half the battle; it’s getting them to sign a contract based on the proposal that really counts. But here’s the thing about a book proposal: no matter how many rules you think apply, or how many books on technique and theory you’ve read, what I’ve learned about proposals over the last five or six years of steady publishing success is this: you are in control of the words. Once you get over the hyperventilation, panic and ulcers that come with starting a book proposal, you can finally dig down deep and start to create a really well-crafted, 30-50 page document that will knock their socks off. 4 In this “special report” we will discuss what I call the “7 Deadly ‘Ins’ of Book Proposals.” That is, the seven most vital things that go IN your book proposal to avoid that “deadly” pain of rejection. In order, they are: 1.) General Overview 2.) Author Bio 3.) Platform, Publicity and Promotions 4.) Target Audience 5.) Competitive Analysis 6.) Annotated Table of Contents 7.) Sample Chapter(s) Now, every agent, publisher or book will tell you different, but for me these “7 Deadly Ins” are what make up every one of my book proposals. 5 So get ready, we’re going to pick your proposal apart and put it back together again until you are happy, confident and satisfied that yours is the best it can possibly be! 6 The First Deadly In: General Overview A lot of folks freak out about the Overview because, naturally, it’s the first thing people read of your book proposal. But the way I calm them down is to tell them this should read like back cover copy; brief, fat-free, to the point, get the agent interested, get the editor nodding his or her head, not shaking it. Generally speaking, the Overview should be 5-6 pages long and answer the following 5 questions: 7 1.) What is the book about? Don’t get all cute and cryptic; straight up tell people what the book is about. If it’s “How to Dress for Young Professionals,” tell them that. If it’s “How to Heel Your Dog,” tell them that. Just like a query letter, consider the opening paragraph carefully. If you can find a great statistic or quote or recent headline that pertains to the topic of your book, all the better; use it! 2.) What problem does it solve? If you feel that young professionals today dress really sloppily, and can find data to support your belief, this is the problem you are solving. Tell them what the problem is, “According to recent data nearly 8 out of every 10 employer is dissatisfied with what their employees wear into work…” State the problem clearly and be just as clear that, with your book, you are going to solve it. 8 3.) Why should people read it? Just because YOU think young professionals dress sloppily isn’t really enough of a reason to get a busy editor to care about your project – to say nothing of a busy reader/consumer. This is why statistics, quotes and headlines can be important. Proving that 4 million CEOs, middle managers and HR interviewers agree with you that America is “dressing down” really tells agents and publishers why people should read your book. 4.) What will they get out of it? People want results; they want to buy your book, learn something, and walk away better informed to deal with the stated problem. Don’t just state the problem and walk away; tell people what you’re going to do to help solve the problem, such as, “This book will provide readers with the walk-away tools they’ll need to dress better for work, earn more money with more 9 promotions, impress their employers/clients and find career satisfaction. Each chapter will feature a self-quiz, an action plan and a take-away worksheet to help readers dress better, one chapter at a time…” 5.) Why are you the person to write it? Here is a chance for you to provide a brief, mini-bio of yourself that pertains to why, specifically, you are the person to write this book. Always put “like with like” when you write this section. In other words, your experience should lend itself to the topic at hand. Hopefully if you are writing about gardening, you work in a nursery, have a horticultural degree or, at the very least, an award-winning garden! Likewise, if you’re writing about dressing better in corporate America here would be the place to list your degrees in fashion and design and your MBA from Stanford! 10 [...]... well-connected they are if the agent or editor 27 doesn’t connect with the sample chapters included at the back of the book proposal, they’re still not going to commit to signing the book So if you’re scheduling your time for the writing of the proposal, make sure that whatever time you spent writing the first half – Overview, Bio, etc – you spend two or even three times that long compiling, writing, editing,... audience for your book 19 The Fifth Deadly In: Competitive Analysis In the Competitive Analysis section of your book proposal your main job is to provide a list of popular, recent and wellpublished titles that are similar in tone and tenor to your own Why popular? You want to compare your book to books people actually read I mean, just because three books have already been published on Dressing for Corporate... go to all the trouble? Basically, in this section you are telling agents that your book is a lot like these 6-8 other bestselling titles, but just different enough so that they can go on the shelf next to them and still stand out 22 The Sixth Deadly In: Annotated Table of Contents It’s not enough merely to list your chapter titles in a row; agents and editors want to see specifically what is contained... every proposal I’ve ever written Oftentimes, agents won’t even look at you until they’ve given you a list of things to do to add to this section – and you’ve actually done them So do your best, be honest and trust a good agent to help you fine tune this 17 The Fourth Deadly In: Target Audience To help convince an agent that your book is worth pitching to publishers, you’ll have to first prove there... writing, editing, re-reading and re-writing your sample material 28 The Proposal as Lasagna: A Few Parting Words on Trusting the Many “Layers” of Your Proposal Once your proposal is done, trust it! I can’t stress enough the vibe of confidence that shines through a really, really wellwritten proposal In this special report I have shared with you the 7 Deadly Ins of Proposal Writing” and described each... section, but to really give agents and editors a taste for what readers will find in each chapter and, of course, your writing style To that end, your proposal really has two halves The first half I consider the “marketing material,” i.e your Overview, Bio, Target Audience, etc These sections are basically designed to show agents and editors the marketability of your book and are written as such The second... Ideally, I like to write three sample chapters: two to include with the proposal and one to hold back to a.) keep the proposal length down and b.) just in case an agent or editor is on the fence and, even after reading the proposal, asks to see “another sample chapter.” However, I have sold numerous book proposals on just one sample chapter alone, but more and more these days I hear agents 26 wanting at least... looking up a book on gardening for young people, for instance, I would start with those keywords – gardening + 21 young people – and go from there Same with “business + dress” or “pet grooming” or any other keyword you can imagine This way I can find the title, author, publisher, year of publication and brief description – the five key ingredients to every competitive book title listing in your proposal. .. etc Play up what pertains to the subject you’re writing about – your degree in botany, your MBA, the number of people who read your blog – and play down or leave out what doesn’t 12 For instance, where you live is important – it can tell agents and editors how available you’ll be for a book tour or media placement – but adding two paragraphs about winning the Christmas tree design award for your street... of two ways If the book is already complete, I simply find the best – or first – 3-4 paragraphs of existing text and “excerpt” them under the chapter title On the other hand, as is most often the case, if the book isn’t yet complete I describe the chapter as if I were writing more back cover copy For example, “Does your boss roll his eyes whenever you get off the elevator in the morning? Does she frequently . 1 The 7 Deadly Ins: What to Absolutely, Positively, 100% Put in Your Book Proposal A “Special Report” by Rusty Fischer, www.requestedmaterial.blogspot.com 2 Introduction Let’s talk about your. ready, we’re going to pick your proposal apart and put it back together again until you are happy, confident and satisfied that yours is the best it can possibly be! 6 The First Deadly In: General. fat-free, to the point, get the agent interested, get the editor nodding his or her head, not shaking it. Generally speaking, the Overview should be 5-6 pages long and answer the following 5 questions: 7 1.)