How To Write A Fiction Book Proposal

Posted October 14th, 2011 by Gary Smailes.

Learn To Write A Book Proposal That Agents Will Love

With the How To Write A Fiction Book Proposal online 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.

I found your Book Proposal system extremely useful - it identified where I had been going wrong.

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

Join Now >> $20

Companies Who Are Looking For Writers…

Your current piece “How to Write a Book Proposal” is a watershed piece, foundational, completely accurate – presented as well as I have ever seen this topic covered.My hearty congratulations to you and I recommend this piece as highly as I have ever recommended a piece.

Cliff Feightner. Principal Publisher – FlaAuthor Publishing, LLC

Gary Smailes

Each year thousands of book proposals are rejected by agents and publishers. The sad truth is that the reason that many of these ideas are never turned into books is that the initial query letter and synopsis were not strong enough to be worthy of further consideration. I can help you to make sure that this does not happen to your book.

In 2001 I wanted to be a writer. At the time I was working for author Terry Deary (of Horrible Histories fame), as a researcher. I showed Terry some of my work and he encouraged me to try and get it published. However, a bucket full of rejection letters later and I was left disillusioned and ready to give up. I went back to Terry and asked him what was the key to his success. It turns out there was no secret, just hard work and (here it comes) a great book proposal.

I knew that if i was to build any kind of a career as a writer I would need to crack the book proposal code. Since that day I have been obsessed with decoding the book proposal, both fiction and non-fiction, and over the years I have talked to literally hundreds of writers, publishers and agents about what makes a great book pitch.

Today my dream has come true. I have not one, but more than twenty books in print by a number of publishers including Hachette, one of the biggest publishers in the world. I also have an agent (Andrew Lownie).

However, I did nothing special. I have no special book proposal writing skills, and I learned nothing that you can’t also learn and apply to your book proposals.

This ON-LINE COURSE is the accumulation of the knowledge that I have gathered in the process of becoming a professional writer and publishing more than 20 books. If you follow the guideline I set out in the site you will learn how to write book proposal that instantly appeals to both agents and publishers. It will also teach you how to avoid writing a book proposal that fails to answer all the relevant questions an agent or publisher may ask about your book.

What The Course Includes…

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/).