Agents and editors don’t want to see a completed nonfiction book most of the time. They don’t have time to read a complete book. They want to see a proposal that sells your book idea and gets them excited to work with you.
The #1 thing literary agents, acquisitions editors, and publishers must know before deciding whether or not to publish a nonfiction book is: “Will tens of thousands of readers buy this?”
That’s what matters, and so that’s the information publishing gatekeepers need to do their jobs well. They can’t answer that question just by reading the book; they have to understand who the author is, what their goals are, and what their marketing plans are.
That’s why you have to write a book proposal, even if you’ve been asked to also include the complete manuscript.
Note: You can download our free book proposal template and book proposal sample to see exactly how all this will look on the page.
The main purpose of the book proposal is to convince literary agents and publishers that there is a market for your book and that you are the best person to write the book—and help them sell it.
The proposal is the key to making your book really come to life for your publishing partners.
Not only is a proposal the first step in gaining the positive attention of an agent or acquisition editor, but a book proposal also helps you in many other ways:
Let’s dig into what should be in a proposal for a non-fiction book.
Note: Different rules apply to writing a book proposal for fiction books, so make sure to do more research if you’re writing a book proposal for a fiction book.
A book proposal has a title page (also called a cover page), a table of contents for the proposal, and several sections: about the book (the content, the market, and the author), about the promotion, and a sample chapter. Let’s dig deeper into each section.
The cover page shows the book’s title, the author’s name, their contact information (including phone, email, and websites), as well as the date and a copyright notice. You’ll also see the words “A book proposal for” at the top of the page so readers know what they are looking at.
No, it isn’t obvious. After all, this could be a white paper, a complete novella, or a proposal to steam clean their carpets. Let’s not make anyone guess what they’re reading. Let them know you are submitting a book proposal right away.
Here’s a sample cover page from one of my clients, Amber Trueblood:
A book proposal for
Stretch Marks
How to live freely using the A.M.B.E.R. Mindsets
www.yourwebsite.com
Here’s Amber’s Table of Contents for the proposal:
PROPOSAL CONTENTS
Chapter 2 – Sorry To Be Gross 26
Embrace Your Flaws, Focus Forward and Double-Down
Pro Tip: Don’t put the page numbers in until you lock down the final version of the proposal. I guarantee the page numbers will change as you write, rewrite, and revise.
The Content section has several elements:
This element briefly explains what the book is about. Use one or two paragraphs to hook the reader and make them want to read the rest of the proposal. Don’t worry about leaving out material. You’ll have ample opportunity to describe the book in greater detail in other parts of the proposal.
Here’s Amber’s Idea:
Stretch Marks is a self-development book for 35-55 year-old college-educated women, emerging from the other-focused world of raising young children, who are struggling with how to figure out what they want to do and don’t know how they can make it happen. Stretch Marks are an emotional, visual and psychological concept meant to represent growth, expansion and pushing past one’s limits. Women will live more freely, become better parents and have a healthy relationship with money when they apply the A.M.B.E.R. Mindsets.
What makes these women miserable on the inside when it looks like they have everything they’ve always wanted on the outside? The disconnect. The disconnect between what is truly most important to them, and how they use their time, resources and energy. Once they figure out what they value most and then line it up with what they do and how they act every day, the clouds begin to clear and they will feel alive again. Using The A.M.B.E.R. Mindsets, readers will learn the tricks and tools necessary to stop living the life they are told by others that they should be living, and start living freely.
This section shows how readers will benefit from reading the book.
Amber wrote her USP based on a formula created by Michael Hyatt:
After purchasing this book, readers will be able to:
(list several benefits in bullet form)
Because this book will:
(list several processes you will use)
Here’s how Amber put flesh on those bones.
What other books are in this genre? Don’t say “None. My book is unique.”
Every agent will throw your proposal away if you say that!
First, it isn’t true.
Your book is not unique. This shows you haven’t done your homework.
Second, if no publisher ever published a book on that topic, chances are there is a reason why: There is no market for it!
Don’t make this rookie mistake.
Instead, show that true bestsellers exist in this market, and that there is room for your book because if people buy one book, they will buy another book.
Look at your reading habits. Do own only one book on dieting? Or health? Or business? Or sales? Or, you get the idea. I like to say that books are like bananas.
People buy books in bunches.
You need to show them why your book is different.
You should list five competing books and show their point of view and how your book is different. Use a paragraph for each book.
Here’s how Amber sized up her competitors:
Competition:
This book competes in very popular categories: self-development, personal transformation, psychology, motivation, meditation, and happiness.
You Are A Badass, Jen Sincero, Running Press 2013. Hardcover, $19.67.
Like You Are A Badass, Stretch Marks contains great ideas about what to do in order to be happy. Author Jen Sincero encourages readers to take action, listen to your intuition and follow your fantasies. Stretch Marks, however, specifically offers readers information on how to do it in a way that will work for your individual personality, lifestyle, and value system.
Who is the target buyer for the book?
What are their demographics (characteristics such as age, sex, education, and financial status) and psychographics (their attitudes, aspirations, and psychological makeup)?
Why will they want to read this book?
How will it help them?
Also included are “affinity groups” of people who are likely buyers of the book in large volume, such as book clubs, companies, and associations.
Here’s how Amber described her audience:
(Amber listed about 10 others. This is one section of the proposal that you should make as long as possible.)
If you’re struggling with this section, learn more about how to do book market research.
Now you can go into more detail by showing the synopsis of each chapter. This helps the publisher get a bird’s eye view of the book, and it will keep you on track as you start to write the book.
Don’t worry about getting locked into a rigid outline. You can change anything when you write the book. Publishers know that elements can change once you dig in.
In fact, some publishers might want to give you advice on topics to write about. Also, publishers will want to see a sample chapter so they can judge your writing style.
However, that chapter goes at the end of the proposal, not at the end of this section.
Please note that other proposal guides put this section near the end of the proposal—after the promotion section and before the sample chapter.
Here’s one chapter from Amber’s synopsis.
Do you want to read more? So do I! And I’m not a woman. That’s a winning paragraph.
This is the physical description of the book.
How many words or pages will the book be? Is the manuscript completed? Or started?
There’s no right or wrong answer.
Publishers want to know where the book stands right now. Then they want to know when you expect to complete it so they can put it in their production schedule.
Let them know if there are special features, like pictures, charts, graphs or other elements that will require special care in production—and add to the cost.
Point out your relevant accomplishments, like blogging, article writing, and other books you’ve published, so they know you are qualified.
Share your mess-to-success story so they can get to know, like, and trust you. If you have a story of how you completed a big project, share it.
This will let them know you are a doer, not a quitter. Publishers want to see that you can have the ability to write and complete a book.
You’d be surprised to find how many people start writing books, but don’t finish writing them. Publishers don’t want to be burned by people who have a good idea, but who don’t have the follow through.
The first thing publishers want to know about your marketing plan is the size of your platform. Simply defined, a platform is the number of people whom you can contact directly and easily via email, social media, speaking engagements, or other media you have earned.
Think about all the ways you can get your message out to more people and make an impact:
The more marketing tactics you put in and implement, the better. The more you can quantify each activity with numbers, the better (i.e., I speak to 100,000 people a year. I will be on the XYZ Podcast which reaches 50,000 people).
More is better. Don’t hold back. This section could easily decide whether a publisher buys your manuscript or passes. Or offers a large advance of a small one.
Here are some other marketing ideas you should consider:
At the very least, the answers to these questions will show publishers that you are thinking in the right direction.
Are there any groups that will buy large numbers of your books, such as corporations, associations, libraries or groups you speak to?
If you aren’t a professional speaker who addresses hundreds or thousands of people at a time, there are still opportunities to speak at local groups where people will buy books, such as:
By now you might realize marketing is a numbers game. The more numbers you have, the better off you will be and the happier the prospective publisher will be. Whenever you can, quantify the numbers for everything from the listeners who will hear you on a podcast; to the number of readers your blog or guest column will reach.
Numbers will help you sell your book to the publisher.
The sample chapter can be any chapter, not necessarily chapter 1. Publishers want to see your writing style. They’ll learn a lot from this chapter. Pay attention to the content and tone as well as mechanics like grammar and punctuation.
No matter how wonderful your book idea is, the proposal won’t get past the slush pile if it isn’t well written or if it has grammatical errors.
At the very least, run the proposal through a spell checker. At the very best, hire a professional copy editor or proofreader to review your proposal (this is what the pros do).
You can download our free book proposal template and use it as you write your own book proposal. This template is in .docx (Microsoft Word) format.
You are welcome to download our free book proposal sample that was contributed by author Amber Trueblood who followed the book proposal guidelines detailed in this blog post and received a book deal from a major publisher.
Once you’ve done the hard work of writing your proposal, it’s time to send it off to publishers or agents. Don’t be shy!
But before you hit ‘send,’ review our tips on how to submit a book proposal so you can increase your chances of success.
Amber used this book proposal template to get a book deal, and her book is now available for pre-order at Barnes & Noble.
Dan Janal has written 13 books including, “Write Your Book in a Flash.” As a book coach, developmental editor, ghostwriter, and book proposal writer, he shapes stories and strategies that can transform a career or a business. For information, go to www.WriteYourBookInAFlash.com
Did you find this post helpful? Let us know in the comments below!
Tom Corson-Knowles is the founder of TCK Publishing, and the bestselling author of 27 books including Secrets of the Six-Figure author. He is also the host of the Publishing Profits Podcast show where we interview successful authors and publishing industry experts to share their tips for creating a successful writing career.
I am putting a book proposal together, a book that has been published by a hybrid publisher. My $$$ was huge and their output was pitiful. Would appreciate some advice on how to go forward now, i.e. how do I find another publisher, how do I get out of my association with them? A lawyer did tell me their contract was useless. Haven’t even sold $100 worth.
Steven M on May 29, 2023 at 4:47 pmMy newbie question is, if Im an expert in a field that has written a relevant, popular informative and original manuscript with a large market, and if i were to already have a large audience to sell to, plus obviously available platforms like amazon, kindle, what benefit does the Publisher, being Published provide?
Victoria Oxenham on February 12, 2023 at 12:06 pmThank you so much for this beautifully presented, comprehensive advice :) I appreciate it very much. Can you please tell me: Do you desire a book proposal to be sent upon completion of manuscript? Or – Is there an expected/acceptable timescale for completion? I am avidly writing in my JOY currently and looking forward to sending my proposal to you. Kindest regards.
Yolande on January 30, 2023 at 2:06 amI was looking for help writing a 1st proposal. I bought a book but it was too long and not very helpful. Total waste of money and time. I want to get this done and my proposals out the door since agents take a long time to respond. Time is of the essence. Your simple template made a world of difference and took guessing out of the mix. Thank you for making this easier than the book I bought. I searched online before, nothing but self publisher advice came up. It was far from helpful as I prefer an agent if I plan to make this a career which I do. No idea if I’ll succeed but nothing ventured nothing gained. Thank you for “getting to the point” in your template. It most certainly helped me!
Leslie Eldridge on January 24, 2023 at 5:30 pmHello Tom and thank you for providing such comprehensive writing support and template.
I have a writing journal with several themes that I want to have published, but have yet to discover anyone who accepts this type of offering.
Can you please advise?
Best, Leslie
I am looking to publish a small science fiction series.
The first book is complete and needs editing,
I think it is about ready to be published. …
I am using your template for my book proposal and it is very helpful. There are some sections that cover the information I’ve already included in other areas earlier in the proposal e.g. motivations are included in the premise. Can I simply copy the content to another section?
Praveen R V on August 1, 2022 at 6:57 amI wish to write a book on 1.Quantitative Aptitude 2. Test of reasoning. I wish to know procedure by which it can be published in India for competitive examinations through traditional publishers. I also like to get agreed with publisher legally for a period of 3 years and can be renewed if they are doing the publishing well and books are having sufficient circulation over that period.
John Smith on July 4, 2022 at 7:12 pmPlease help me. I am being serious. I am looking for a book deal that will make me money or else it is not worth sharing the information. It has to be worthwhile for me to put the effort into writing for hours and giving all my best info away. Should I focus on small publishers or big publishers who have the budget to promote me and put me on book tours? I need some publishing company to make a rock star by throwing tons of money at marketing and promotion. I am also looking for a good book writing advance of at least 20k to finish writing my book. Popular people get something like a 100k advance to finish their book. If you are laughing, can you please point me to resources that can make this happen for me? If it can’t happen at this level; that is, 20k book writing advance, a book tour, etc, then why bother? Again, I am being dead serious. How can I become that person that gets huge book writing advances and gets put on book tours and appears on TV shows and becomes a celebrity?
Kaelyn Barron on July 5, 2022 at 8:35 pmHi John, thanks for your comment. If you’re looking for an advance, you’ll most likely want to search for a mid-to-large sized traditional publisher. As far as how much they’ll help you with marketing, that really varies from publisher to publisher. Larger houses have larger budgets, but that doesn’t mean they always invest the time, effort, and resources into marketing every title, especially in the months following a book’s release. I think the best thing to do is ask questions before signing a contract, and maybe ask for referrals so you can talk to other authors about how the publisher has helped market their books.
Samantha on August 20, 2022 at 8:19 pm I know someone that can help you. corneliu zeana on June 30, 2022 at 4:41 pmMy novel (100 pages) historical novel, half fiction. The last autodafe in Europe took place on the Romanian land , in Targu Mures Transilvania. In 1745 the Emperor Maria Tereza (Austrian) erased from the law the burning on pile (autodafe). It is mostly a psychological novel. The young women was condemned as witch. I could send to you ssome chapters in English. Are you interested? With hope, Corneliu ZEANA
Kaelyn Barron on July 5, 2022 at 8:02 pmHi Corneliu, you can submit your sample of completed manuscript in English to us for review. Our guidelines are here.
Jill on February 20, 2022 at 4:31 pmYour section headings are confusing. As a result, I had a really hard time figuring out how your ideas were organized. You start with 1. Cover Letter; 2. Table of Contents; 3. The Content. Then, inside 3. The Content, there is a heading titled, “Section 2 – Marketing,” which is not preceded by a “Section 1 – xxx.” Section 2 to what? It goes on from there. This was complicated by the length of the webpage — I repeatedly scrolled up and down, thinking that, somehow, I had lost the thread. This opens the door to the question of how you will be able to help me write something I’ve never written before, if you are unable to organize your own ideas? I gave up trying to figure out to which headings your subheadings corresponded and decided to look elsewhere for help.
Kaelyn Barron on March 3, 2022 at 3:57 amHi Jill, thanks for your comment! I recently updated the post to clean up the organization a bit. I hope that helps!
David Williams on February 4, 2022 at 10:54 pmI’m working on a coffee table about the positive history, culture, and achievers of DUVAL County African Americans over the past four decades. I personally photographed all the images going in the book. It was a long-range plan. I would like to have companies pay to place their profile in the book. No more than 30 – 40 companies. I’m also thinking about having a title sponsors logo in the top right-hand corner, about the size of a postal stamp. I also have a photography exhibition that accompanies the book.
Kaelyn Barron on February 5, 2022 at 10:54 pmHi David, that sounds like a great idea! Best of luck with your book, I hope these proposal tips come in handy when the time comes :)
David Jason Cattrell on October 18, 2021 at 6:57 pmThis has been hugely helpful to me and I shall be able to use this in offering my books out to agents and publishers alike.
Thank you so much for the heads up. It made me really think about what people want to see as opposed to what I want to show people!
I don’t consider myself a marketer or salesperson. What tips would you give to someone like me who has an expertise in an area of interest but doesn’t have the “reach” of a wide audience?
Kaelyn Barron on August 20, 2021 at 11:13 pmHi Mike, thanks for your comment! If you’re writing a book proposal, I would focus on showing them that you’ve done at least some market research. You don’t need a huge following or much reach right now, but you might show them that you’re being proactive by starting a simple website or email list.
Rose on September 3, 2022 at 3:51 pmThis was very helpful advice. I am not writer but wanted to write about my life with chronic illness and the lessons I’ve learned in the 30 years I’ve been suffering from lupus and kidney disease. I have been told that you need to have a huge following to succeed with a traditional publisher but this gives me hope.
