by You’ve always enjoyed and had a knack for writing. You have a fantastic ideal for a story and you’ve finally decided that you’re going to take the leap and actually try your hand at publishing that story as a book. Fantastic!
After spending countless hours gathering your thoughts and putting pen to paper letting your ideas flow, and then painstakingly pouring over your work, you have, what you believe, is a book that is worthy of publishing and you’re ready to send it and see if it will get picked up. Before you do, however, there are several things that you need to know. Unfortunately, too many talented writers aren’t knowledgeable about the publishing world and how it works, and they end up getting frustrated – and eventually throwing in the towel – when they discover that the work they invested so much time, effort, energy, and emotion into isn’t making any headway with a publisher.
We don’t want that to happen to you; therefore, in an attempt to help increase your chances of having your manuscript turned into a book, we want to take the time to educate you about the publishing process and what it entails. The first step in the process (well, after writing and editing your work, and finally getting up enough courage to put yourself out there) is creating a book proposal.
What is a book proposal? What does it involve? Why is it important? To find the answers to these questions and more, keep on reading.
What is a book proposal?
Are you aware that about 50 percent – HALF – of all manuscripts that authors submit are never read? Shocking right? It isn’t because they aren’t good; in fact, a large percentage of the manuscripts that writers submit may, in fact, be excellent. So, why do roughly half of the manuscripts that are submitted never read?
The reason has nothing to do with the quality of the writing or the context of the story. Essentially, it boils down to time. Agents and acquisition editors receive dozens upon dozens of submissions, and they simply don’t have enough time to read them all. So, how do they determine which submissions they are going to pick up a manuscript? By reading the query letter and the book proposal that comes along with the submission.
But what exactly is a book proposal? Put simply, it’s a document that highlights the key details about your book idea. A proposal provides agents and publishers with a snapshot of your ideas and allows them to assess whether or not those ideas have potential for a book.
Why do book proposals matter?
Book proposals are important because they help publishers determine whether or not the idea you have for a book holds commercial appeal; in other words, whether or not a targeted audience – the group of people that the book would be geared toward – would, in fact, be interested in reading your story if it were to be published as a book.
A proposal allows the agents and acquisition editors to assess how strong your specific book idea is. Additionally, it allows them to determine if there is a need or a gap in the market for your story, if it were to become published. A proposal helps a publisher determine whether or not you are the right author to write the book. They will determine this by analyzing the following:
- The credentials that you have highlighted in your biography
- How clearly your positioning statement communicates your thoughts and ideas
- The summaries of your chapters
- A sample of your writing that you have provided
Additionally, publishers will attempt to gauge your level of commitment to making the book a success if it were to be published by assessing the marketing and publicity ideas you have submitted with your proposal.
To summarize, a book proposal is important because it serves as a doorway to the world of publishing. Not only is submitting a book proposal important, but if you are really serious about having your story published, creating a thoughtful, well-crafted, clear, and concise book proposal is imperative.
What do you do with it when it’s ready?
You will submit the proposal for your book to a publishing house. The members of the publishing house’s editorial team will read and analyze it, as it is this team who is tasked with acquiring new books to publish. Individuals who obtain books on a publishing company’s behalf go by many titles. Examples of these titles include:
- Editor
- Commissioning Editor
- Editorial Director
- Publisher
- Publishing Director
Note: In the context of this article, we’ll use the collective term “publisher” to refer to all of the professionals listed above.
On an average week, publishers receive anywhere from 10 to 30 proposals. That’s a whole lot of proposed book ideas! For this reason, it is absolutely vital that you put a lot of effort and attention into creating an excellent book proposal that will pique a publisher’s interests. If a publisher comes across a book proposal that grabs their attention and that really appeals to them, then there’s a chance that they will share your idea with their colleagues who work in various departments within the publishing house and will discuss whether or not your proposal merits becoming a book.
In addition to the publisher, there are several other important individuals who will play a role in determining whether or not a publishing house will commission your proposal, including:
- The sales team, who is responsible for selling the book
- The publicity team, who is tasked with promoting the book – and you, the author
- The rights team, who will attempt to sell the rights to the book so that it can be translated into different languages, as well as secure serialization of the book in a newspaper
- The marketing and publicity team, who is tasked with trying to attract readers for the book, both quickly and inexpensively
In short, a book proposal should be crafted in such a way that it can successfully answer several questions that the publishing house will have about the project.
Whether fiction or non-fiction, if you intend on becoming a published author, submitting a book proposal is the first – and one of the most important – parts of the process. As such, making sure that your proposal is thoughtful, clear, and well-designed is imperative to your success.