How to Write a Book Proposal

What a book proposal is and when you need one

Publishers usually buy nonfiction on the strength of a proposal, because a well-planned nonfiction book can be judged from its structure, a sample of the writing and evidence that readers exist. Most fiction is different: agents and editors generally want a finished, revised manuscript from a first-time novelist, sent with a query letter and a synopsis. Memoir sits in between, and many agents want a complete manuscript from a first-time memoirist as well as a proposal.

It helps to know who reads the proposal. An agent reads it first and decides whether to represent you. If the agent submits it, an acquiring editor reads it and then argues for it in a meeting where sales, marketing and finance colleagues weigh in. Many of those people are not experts in your subject, so the proposal must make its case in plain language. Whether a publisher is the right route at all is a separate question, covered in traditional vs self-publishing.

What goes in a book proposal

Agents and presses publish their own guidelines, and you should follow them exactly where they exist. Most nonfiction proposals still contain the same core parts, roughly in this order.

Write the overview last, then put it first

The overview is the part most people read, and sometimes the only part. It opens with a hook: a striking fact you can source, a short scene, or a problem the reader recognizes at once. It then states the book's promise, explains the approach, and says why the book is needed now. Close with the practical details: expected word count, any illustrations or special features, and when you can deliver the full manuscript.

Draft it after the chapter outline and sample chapter, because those show you what the book actually is. Suppose your book helps people who rent their homes cut energy bills without renovations. A weak overview opens with the history of energy prices. A strong one opens with the renter who cannot replace a boiler or add insulation, names what that reader can still change, and promises a room-by-room plan. Specific beats grand in every sentence.

The readership section that follows should be just as concrete. Name the reader by situation, not demographics alone: “renters in older apartments who pay their own heating bills” tells an editor far more than “adults aged 25 to 45.” Then say where those readers gather and buy, such as the associations they join, the publications they read, the courses they take and the stores they browse. An editor should finish this section able to picture a real person picking the book up.

How to choose comparable titles

Comparable titles, or comps, prove two things at once: that readers already buy books like yours, and that there is space for one more. Choosing them is research, not decoration, and editors notice weak choices quickly.

1. 1Search the shelf your book would sit on, in a bookstore and in online categories, and list every recent title aimed at the same reader.
2. 2Keep books published in roughly the last few years; older titles say little about today's market.
3. 3Remove giant bestsellers and classics. Comparing yourself to a book everyone knows suggests you have misjudged your market.
4. 4Prefer books from established publishers, since those are the sales an editor can look up and compare.
5. 5Narrow the list to a handful that are closest in reader, approach and scope.
6. 6For each, write two or three sentences: what the book does well, and what your book does that it does not. Stay respectful; you may be pitching that book's editor.

The author and platform sections: show, do not promise

The author section explains why you can write this book: your profession, your research, your lived experience, or access to people and material others lack. Write it in the third person, as publishers will later adapt it for the cover, and keep it to what bears on this book. Lead with the one credential that matters most for this book, then add supporting experience in a sentence or two.

Platform means the readers you can reach directly: a newsletter, students, clients, a professional network, speaking, a podcast, columns you write. Give real numbers you could verify if asked, and say how engaged those people are. A small list of readers who open every email is worth more than a large audience that ignores you. If your platform is thin, building one takes time, so start before you submit; the channels in how to market a nonfiction book, such as talks, podcasts and an email list, are the usual places to begin.

The marketing plan should list actions you will take, not hopes. “I run workshops for hospital managers in my region and will offer the book at each one” is credible. “I will appear on national morning television” is not, unless you already do.

The chapter outline and the sample chapter

The chapter outline shows the book holds together. Give each chapter a working title and a paragraph or two on what it covers, which stories or evidence it draws on, and what the reader can do or understand by the end. Read the summaries in order: each should build on the last, and together they should deliver the overview's promise. If you have not yet tested the structure, start with outlining a nonfiction book chapter by chapter.

For the sample, choose a chapter that shows the book doing its main job. In a practical book, that is usually an early chapter with real instructions; in a narrative book, a chapter with strong scenes. The introduction is often a poor sample because it promises rather than delivers. Polish the sample fully: it is the only proof that you can write the book you are describing.

Common book proposal mistakes

Most rejected proposals fail for a small number of repeated reasons. Check your draft against each before you send it.

• Pitching a topic instead of a book: “a book about sleep” has no reader, promise or angle yet.
• Describing the audience as “everyone” or “anyone interested in” the subject.
• Comps that are too old, too famous, or so far from your book that they prove nothing.
• Platform figures that are rounded up, out of date or impossible to check.
• A chapter outline listing topics rather than what each chapter does for the reader.
• Ignoring an agent's or press's stated guidelines on format, length or attachments.
• Leaving out the expected word count and delivery date, which editors need to judge cost and scheduling.