I have always loved books. When I was a child, our big weekly outing was a visit to the library where my sisters and I were allowed three books each. My mother, an avid reader, kept the house stocked with books and For fun, my sister alia and I even wrote back-cover copy for books of our own invention. When we grew up, we planned to team up to write and illustrate books of our own.
What writing book proposals taught me is how to effectively communicate a book idea to a publisher. I came to realize that a book proposal is not a lofty, idealistic presentation of one’s brilliant idea, but rather a persuasive document meant to convince a publisher to spend their time—and, more to the point, their money—on your idea. As publishing becomes increasingly competitive and publishers less willing to take risks, a good, persuasive proposal is more important than ever before.
In the following guide, I will lay out what I have learned from both my personal experiences and through years of conversations with friends who have either published books or worked as literary agents. This guide is intended to help people at any stage of developing a book they would like to see in the world.