A lot of the writers I’ve worked with over the years have the same complaint: “I hate doing proposals!” I admit, they can seem pretty imposing. And too often writers find themselves in the not-so-enviable position of trying to figure out what the agent or editor is looking for. When they ask for influential people, what do they mean? Those who’ve influence you in your writing, or those who will be an influence for your book project? When they want to know about your mailing list, do they mean your contacts, or something different? And what on earth do they want for comp titles??
Over the next few weeks, along with various other blogs, I’ll tackle some of the different aspects of a strong proposal. And I’ll give you all a chance to try your hand at some of them.
But today, I want to hear from you. When you think about putting a proposal together, what is the section that’s the most difficult for you?
C’mon, folks, share!
Publishers are From Mercury, Authors are From Pluto
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I don’t mind proposals until I get to the part about marketing and comparable titles. I enjoy writing a synopsis as it helps to hone and fine tune my story with the important facts or events. As a published author, one thing that gives me trouble is past sales facts and figures. I really don’t like trying to figure those out.
What the others haven’t mentioned is the sheer anxiety of having to justify the work of countless hours and even years in a few pages. Each part of the proposal was a challenge, but I can see the reasoning for each. The synopsis helped me to focus on the core of the story, so I found it to be a good exercise that I will perform earlier in the writing process next time. The comps are difficult when I know that there are so many more books out there than I could ever know well enough to mention. Still, such comparisons helped me place my novel in the larger picture.
The largest discouragement in the book proposal process for me was in facing the fact that marketing is up to me. No longer does the publisher take that on for the author, and so few of us are naturally gifted in those two very different callings. I hope your series (or a follow up series) can address the anxieties of what happens after the book is complete and accepted–and the work begins.
Hi Karen,
I never heard of a proposal until I zeroed in on the Steve Laube agency and its agents. I picked your post because it was easy to relate to. What immediately daunts me is that my genre falls between the cracks, being “visionary adventure, non-fiction”. It’s not straight autobiography, or fiction, or non-fiction (strictly speaking), nor is the “visionary adventure” tag comparable to what Frank Peretti’s done.
I suppose the three sample chapters will be self explanatory. There’s a big difference, however, between the beginning of the book (which gives background and origins of the protagonist and his odyssey) and further along in the story which starts opening vision and activity in a number of fields, literature / aesthetics, authentic spiritual character (and consciousness), current social and cultural realities, Biblical prophecy, etc., so I might want to include a later chapter rather than a third one from the beginning.
Aside from such considerations I find the thought of focusing in on the proposal quite exhilarating, seeing as I’ve been simply in the midst of the writing for about a couple of decades. I look forward to your further thoughts.
My least favorite part is talking about my platform — it never seems big enough.
Karen,
First, I want to thank the Steve Laube Agency for being accessible to writers and for the valuable information you provide on the blog. I’m not the reply-leaving type of person but I appreciate this so much I had to respond.
My take on the difficult aspect of the proposal-writing process is crafting a compelling cover letter that meets the rubric of the agent/publisher, and the Author statement. Honestly, talking about myself in a way that is acceptable to others is brutal. The remaining struggle is psychological. I am inclined to simply put it out there and say what I mean – not what pleases others. But I realize we cannot always write as we would speak (take that sentence for example). The second thing is the synopsis. Yikes!
I had written a proposal before but I read Steve Laube’s articles and followed the guide for proposal writing in books by Terry Whalin’s and Michael S. Hyatt. I’ll know if I followed this guides correctly when someone calls and says yes.
All the best
L.