12 Tips to a Nonfiction Book Proposal Publishers Will Love
By Lisa Tener
How to get a book deal for your nonfiction book? Write a super-compelling book proposal. “But how?” you may ask. Here are 12essential tips.
- Impress them with a big platform (how many people you reach in a year): Publishing companies stay in business by selling books. If your book proposal is persuasive enough to make it to an acquisitions board meeting, the publishing team will run numbers to estimate how many copies of your book they think they—and you—can sell. Much of that is based on your platform. One way to start with a big wow is to share your greatest platform strength—the number of people you reach through presentations and teaching every year, the size of your mailing list or the bulk sales you already have commitments for, for example.
- Demonstrate a compelling need for a large audience: A book that fills a deep need for an audience that’s desperate for it will get publishers’ attention. For instance, The Creativity Cure helps people who are anxious, depressed or unhappy to find happiness—that’s an audience that’s pretty desperate and this book can make a big difference for them.
- Compare: I often see inexperienced writers claim that there are no comparable books. Bad move. This red flag makes publishers and agents ask, “Why isn’t there a book on this subject out there? Perhaps no one is interested in it.” Find ways to tie your book to other highly successful books: perhaps it appeals to a readership similar to that of a national bestseller; maybe it is written in a similarly captivating style; or does your book include similar elements to bestsellers on related topics?
- Be Fresh: Identify what your book does that other books on the subject don’t. Fresh research, a fresh voice, a fresh perspective or serving an underserved audience can all support freshness. Victoria Dunckley made a case for Reset Your Child’s Brain by identifying a new syndrome—Electronic Screen Syndrome, referencing extensive research on the effects of electronic screens on children’s brains and providing a proven program for addressing these effects. No other book was as comprehensive or had a proven systematic program.
- Do it Right: Do everything required in a book proposal, no matter how silly it may seem to you—from double spacing (that’s not as silly as it seems: it helps agents and publishers make notes between the lines) to including a cover page to listing the table of contents separately from the chapter outlines. There is a reason for everything, even if you don’t see it. And when you follow the rules, agents and publishers assume that you will be easier to work with and much less work than an author who ignores the rules.
- Proofread!: Hire a proofreader or copy editor. When your dream agent or publisher compares your book proposal to, one big area of comparison is how much work it’s going to take to publish your book. If you demonstrate that you do the heavy lifting and your book won’t need heavy editing or proofreading, you can give yourself an edge over competitors. If you aren’t thorough, your competitors may leave you in the dust.
- Make Your Sample Chapter(s) Sing!: Choose the most fresh and exciting chapter(s). Edit as many times as it takes for your sample writing to be its absolute best. Do a “read aloud” edit. Have beta readers—in your target market—give you feedback.
- Be Appropriate: Don’t waste the valuable time of agents and publishers who don’t represent books like yours. Please do your homework and know why you are querying them—and let them know why, too.
- Query First: Unless their website says you can send a proposal without querying first, query the agent or acquisitions editor, asking whether you may send them the proposal. Even better, meet agents at conferences and pitch them. Once they’ve required to see it, you can just send the proposal directly.
- Get Specific: Avoid generic remarks. Extrapolate from census data to get your market sizes for example; in your promotion plan, get specific about which podcasts, news shows or blogs you’ve been featured on, and which ones you’ll target;
- Base Your Promotion Plan on Reality: If your promotion plan is full of things you’ve never done before (teaching webinars, being on TV, podcasting), publishers will discount your ability to execute your plan. Grow that platform before you send out your book proposal, rather than making promises based on vision alone. For example, while we were working on her book proposal, Dr. Victoria Dunckley, author of Reset Your Child’s Brain, pitched a blog column to Psychology Today Online which she called “Mental Wealth.” This was her first real step in establishing her platform. This helped her attract a top agent. She then pitched—and appeared on—the Today Show twice. Without some platform, her promotion plan would have seemed like pie in the sky ideas. Because she took the time to “build platform,” publishers bought into her plans.
- Start with a Big Wow: Your overview can begin with something surprising or counterintuitive to draw agents and publishers in. Anything that demonstrates a large market and need is fair game, as is some story that illustrates the size of your reach – for example a story about the typical questions (or desperation) you hear when you speak to large groups. You can also add a splash page after the cover page that pulls out your three biggest selling points – large market, large platform, foreword by a bestselling author or celebrity, several top endorsements, etc.
Lisa Tener is a leading book writing and publishing coach, entrepreneur, speaker, and author of the award winning book, The Joy of Writing Journal: Spark Your Creativity in 8 Minutes a Day. Winner of the Silver Stevie Award for Coach/Mentor of the year and known as “The Creativity Catalyst,” she has helped thousands of aspiring writers through her coaching services and courses. Lisa Tener’s clients have signed five- and six-figure book deals with HarperCollins, Random House, Hachette, Beyond Words, New World Library, New Harbinger, St. Martin’s Press, Yale University Press, Johns Hopkins University Press, HCI and other major publishers
Connect with Lisa on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook or her book coaching website, LisaTener.com.
