With the How To Write A Book Proposal course you can say good bye to amateur book proposals and hello to book proposals that will turn you into a professional writer.

• 19 in-depth lessons containing more than 20,000 words that will teach you how to write a query letter, formulate a synopsis and fine tune your extract.
• Detailed examples which will allow you see the ideas and concepts in action.
• Reusable and proven book proposal writing system, ensuring you always have easy to follow instructions, allowing you to produce professional book proposals.

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I found your Book Proposal system extremely useful - it identified where I had been going wrong and it helped me spend an intensive few days really shaping my proposal letter and synopsis.

Rod Madocks, writer (http://www.rodmadocks.com/).

• Query Letter
• What is a Query Letter?
• In this lesson you will discover why a book proposal is essential and understand what an agent or publisher is looking to find in a successful book proposal.
• The Four Paragraph Method
• In this lesson you will learn about the Four Paragraph Method and discover how it will ensure that your query letter provides all the information needed for an agent or publisher to make an informed decision about your book.
• The Tag Line
• In this lesson you will learn how using a tag line will help you quickly convey the essence of your book without a long and complicated explanation. It will also help you to avoid agents and publishers misunderstanding the nature of your work.
• The Elevator Pitch
• In this lesson you will learn how to use a brief summary of your book to communicate the essence of your work in the most concise manner possible. Using the Elevator Pitch technique will help you to avoid agents and publishers misunderstanding the nature of your book.
• Defining Your Genre
• In this lesson you will learn the importance of genre and how it holds the key to avoiding unwarranted rejection. You will also learn how to identify your book’s genre and use this to find an agent or publisher.
• The Importance Of Word Count
• In this lesson you will learn why an inappropriate word count can be a stumbling block to a potential deal. You will also learn how to avoid word count being an issue for agents and publishers.
• Competitor Titles
• In this lesson you will learn how carefully listing a set of books that are similar to your book will allow agents and publishers to have confidence that your book is suitable for them. This technique will also allow you to avoid confusion regarding your book’s genre.
• Is Your Book Finished
• In this lesson you will learn the importance of resisting the temptation to pitch an incomplete manuscript. In the previous lesson you learned the importance of competitor titles. In this lesson you will find out why agents and publishers are only really interested in completed manuscripts.
• Writing A Brief Synopsis
• In this lesson you will learn that providing an outline of your book’s narrative will help the agent and publisher to make an informed choice. You will also learn that an extended synopsis is unneeded and may even put the agent or publisher off your book!
• Writing Your Biography
• In this lesson you will learn what to include in your biography to ensure you are an attractive prospect to agents and publishers. You will also learn how to avoid including irrelevant or damaging information. In the previous lesson you learned how to write a brief synopsis.
• Explaining Your Marketing Plan
• In this lesson you will learn the importance of providing the outline for a realistic marketing plan. If done correctly, this will avoid you appearing to the agent and publisher as just another wannabe writer. In the previous lesson you learned how to construct an effective biography.
• Odds and Ends
• In this lesson we will look at a number of issues that will help you negotiate some of the more difficult or confusing questions that may arise whilst preparing your book proposal.. By this point you should have a workable query letter.
• Synopsis
• What is a Synopsis?
• When it comes to preparing a book proposal, the biggest obstacle that many writers face is the dreaded synopsis. At BubbleCow, we hear on a daily basis from writers who just don’t know where to start when it comes to writing a synopsis.
• Using the 5 Key Elements
• In the previous section where we looked at writing your query letter, we examined the role of Randy Ingermanson’s Snowflake Concept in discovering the structure of your novel. We first looked at how it could be used to develop an elevator pitch and then expanded further on the concept when writing a brief synopsis.
• Questions and Answers
• In the previous lesson we went into detail about how you can use acts and scenes to produce a framework from which your synopsis can be written. In this lesson we address some of the common questions posed regarding a synopsis. Double or Single Line Spacing?
• Extract
• What is an Extract?
• If you have managed to get this far then you should have written your query letter and constructed your synopsis. The third and final part of the book proposal is the extract.
• Self-Editing
• In this lesson we will begin the process of preparing your extract for submission. In the lesson I will explain the principles of editing and show you how self-editing will help you to produce the best document possible.
• Using Beta Readers
• In the previous lesson we examined the best way to self-edit your work and highlighted the ‘best practice’ methods that will ensure your efforts in editing are not wasted. In this lesson we turn are attention to beta readers.
• Getting Professional Help
• In the previous lesson we examined the role of beta readers in helping you to assess and improve your novel. We now turn our attention to the idea of paying for professional help and consider the potential benefits for your book proposal.

I am an experienced writer with my first novel already published and short-listed for a national prize. However I have still been getting rejections for work that I have been submitting subsequently. I found your Book Proposal system extremely useful - it identified where I had been going wrong and it helped me spend an intensive few days really shaping my proposal letter and synopsis. It has also helped me find a really punchy tag line that gets to the essence of the work I am presenting. A very useful winnowing process. I now have a leaner, and much more focussed pitch for publishers and agents. I will certainly use your system again when I need to submit work.

Rod Madocks, writer (http://www.rodmadocks.com/).