Search Results for: proposals
Book Proposals: Due Date
There is an important question that needs to be answered in your book proposal in the “Manuscript Status” section. When will your manuscript be ready? This information is important whether you are writing fiction or non-fiction. When Will Your Book be Done? Fiction: If you are a first time novelist, never before published, your answer should be “The manuscript is complete and …
Book Proposals: Word Count
There is an important question that needs to be answered in your book proposal in the “Manuscript Status” section. What is the length of your book? This information is important whether you are writing fiction or non-fiction. How Long is Your Book? Think carefully before you declare a word count in your proposal. I don’t know how often I’ve seen someone propose a 280,000 …
Books are Sold with Proposals
If you think about it, the first step leading to the eventual sale of any book begins with grabbing someone’s attention with a short description of the book content. The proposal or short description motivates the agent, publisher, book retailer or reader to take the next step, which is different for each, but everything is set in motion by something less than the full manuscript. No one first …
Proposals: Comparing Your Writing to Icons
Awhile ago, I was reviewing a proverbial stack of nonfiction and fiction proposals. As I read them, I noticed something. And I saw that something again just recently as I read over proposals during a series of 15-minute meetings with conferees at a writers’ conference. What was that something? In their proposals, more and more writers are comparing their work to icons in publishing. As in: “My …
Proposals: Know Your Audience
I … Love … Coffee … Love going into coffee shops, love ordering the perfect brew, love the ambiance of Starbuck’s and Caribou coffee and Seattle’s Best and Coffee People, and you name it! When my hubby wants to do something special for me, he’ll let me drag him to a coffee shop. Of course, when I’m done ordering, he bellys up to the bar, stares the barista in the eye, and says, …
Proposals: Make Comparison Titles Work for You
When I mention adding comp titles to a proposal, this is the response I often get from both nonfiction and fiction authors: “AARRRGGHH! Why? It’s so hard!” Well, there are two main reasons as to the why: Comp titles show there’s a market out there for books like yours. Comp titles help the editor/author “get” your book better. Now, that doesn’t mean you can just grab any book that’s similar …
Proposals: Creating a Strong Hook
Last week we tackled the proposal synopsis. The cool thing about creating that aspect of the proposal first is that you can use it as the springboard for your hook: those few lines at the beginning of your proposal that draw an editor/agent deeper. (One note here: many writers have asked if they need to put something in the hook about genre. My vote: put the genre right after the title on the …
Unsolicited Proposals: aka “The Slush Pile”
All literary agents receive dozens of proposal each week. Some in the mail and some via email. Last week was a slow week, only 30 unsolicited proposals arrived. (Unsolicited means proposals that are not from our existing clients. We get a number of those each week too.) The variety can be rather astounding. We don’t mean to be mean about it, but sometimes you have to find the humor in these …
Agents and Proposals: What to Expect
Last week I left you with a question: How do editors/agents get through all the proposals they receive. For me, as an editor and now as an agent, the answer was to hire someone to be my first-pass reader. In my case, this person is someone I’ve worked with now for over fifteen years. She knows me and my tastes well, and, as an avid reader and a skilled writer herself, she knows quality writing. …