Book Proposals: AW Members' Experiences

CaseyMack · Aug 1, 2011

Hey Everyone,

I am interested in hearing about people's experiences with submitting book proposals for non-fiction projects. Of particular interest would be specific lessons you learned from your submissions.

Thanks,
Casey

underthecity · Aug 1, 2011

I've done several over the years. I'm not sure if it helps, but I started a thread in this forum about how to write one based on my experiences and what I had learned.

My experiences have been with contacting both agents and publishers directly. And while the proposals were probably "good," the subject matter ended up not appealing to them.

I know in one case I called a publisher and talked to the editor directly just to confirm they were interested in that subject matter before I went through the query/proposal/rejection process. The editor asked right then for a phone pitch, and I gave it to him. He invited me to send the propsoal. About five months later I finally got a rejection saying the publisher didn't handle the type of book I was proposing.

PinkAmy · Aug 1, 2011

I wrote a memoir. Most of the agents asked for partials or fulls, not the proposal. A few agents asked for the proposal before asking for the full (a partial is basically included in the proposal.) My first rejection gave me an area where I needed to be more detailed in the proposal and I didn't have much feedback about my proposal after that.

siouxnyc · Aug 2, 2011

i've written two proposals and snagged two different agents with them (they were two different projects at different points in time). both agents worked with me to polish them. agent #1 had some publisher interest, but ultimately it fizzled and the agent and i parted way; agent #2 sold my project.

curiously, i had written the entire book first, so when my publisher said they liked the proposal and wanted to buy the book, they were thrilled it was done.

scope · Aug 2, 2011

underthecity said:
The editor asked right then for a phone pitch, and I gave it to him. He invited me to send the propsoal.

Be prepared.

CaseyMack · Aug 2, 2011

siouxnyc said:
i've written two proposals and snagged two different agents with them (they were two different projects at different points in time). both agents worked with me to polish them. agent #1 had some publisher interest, but ultimately it fizzled and the agent and i parted way; agent #2 sold my project.

Hi siouxnyc,
If you don't mind me asking, what sort of non-fiction were they?
Thanks,
Casey

CaseyMack · Aug 2, 2011

scope said:
underthecity said:

The editor asked right then for a phone pitch, and I gave it to him. He invited me to send the propsoal.
QUOTE]

Be prepared.

Click to expand...

That's a good "heads up." Thanks!

CaseyMack · Aug 2, 2011

PinkAmy said:
I wrote a memoir. Most of the agents asked for partials or fulls, not the proposal. A few agents asked for the proposal before asking for the full (a partial is basically included in the proposal.) My first rejection gave me an area where I needed to be more detailed in the proposal and I didn't have much feedback about my proposal after that.

Thanks PinkAmy,
Were the agent requests the result of query letters you sent them then?

CaseyMack · Aug 2, 2011

underthecity said:
I've done several over the years. I'm not sure if it helps, but I started a thread in this forum about how to write one based on my experiences and what I had learned.

Thanks underthecity,
I see that you have a significant post-count. If possible, could you refer me to the post you are referring to?
Cheers,
Casey

PinkAmy · Aug 2, 2011

CaseyMack said:
Thanks PinkAmy,
Were the agent requests the result of query letters you sent them then?

Yes, all of them.

Wayne K · Aug 2, 2011

Two proposals and two agents in one year. Both were memoir. I'm working on the third.

underthecity · Aug 2, 2011

CaseyMack said:
If possible, could you refer me to the post you are referring to?

It was this one: http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=168944&highlight=write+nonfiction+proposal

Obviously this wasn't the end-all-be-all in proposal writing, it was intended to inspire discussion on the subject and invite others' experiences.

Anastacia · Aug 2, 2011

One book proposal accepted.

I used this link as a template and it worked:

http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2007/02/how-to-write-nonfiction-book-proposal.html

My advice? Study the market and send it to the right place. Narrow it down to your top publishers and follow their advice exactly. Then be patient. We decided against an agent initially because it seemed like too much work. Had all twenty publishers said no that would have been our next step.

siouxnyc · Aug 3, 2011

CaseyMack said:
Hi siouxnyc,
If you don't mind me asking, what sort of non-fiction were they?
Thanks,
Casey

they were narratives on the mixed martial arts (aka, "ultimate fighting") scene. the one that sold focused on NYC's underground fight circuit.

CaseyMack · Aug 3, 2011

underthecity said:
It was this one: http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=168944&highlight=write+nonfiction+proposal

Obviously this wasn't the end-all-be-all in proposal writing, it was intended to inspire discussion on the subject and invite others' experiences.

I'll check it out. Thanks!

CaseyMack · Aug 3, 2011

Anastacia said:
One book proposal accepted.

I used this link as a template and it worked:

http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2007/02/how-to-write-nonfiction-book-proposal.html

My advice? Study the market and send it to the right place. Narrow it down to your top publishers and follow their advice exactly. Then be patient. We decided against an agent initially because it seemed like too much work. Had all twenty publishers said no that would have been our next step.

Thanks for the reference. Good article.

veinglory · Aug 3, 2011

So far I have submitted one NF proposal which followed the publisher's requirements and was accepted.

booker c · Aug 11, 2011

Pinkamy, did you send proposals or just queries?

:hi:

Uncarved · Aug 11, 2011

Three proposals sent, two books purchased and the third is actively in talks of being picked up.
I think if you write a good, thorough, and cohesive book proposal... that is half your battle.

DrugWarAnalyst · Aug 17, 2011

tinasamuels said:
Three proposals sent, two books purchased and the third is actively in talks of being picked up.
I think if you write a good, thorough, and cohesive book proposal... that is half your battle.

I totally agree with this. Based on my experience/background, book subject matter, and where I wanted to go with it, I decided I really wanted an agent. To get one, I knew I had to write a really good proposal, and I spent a couple of weeks putting one together; it ended up being around 50 pages long, and I followed a couple of templates I found on publisher websites that seemed to be pretty standard. I only wrote three sample chapters, following advice I had seen on many publishing sites and forums, and I'm really glad I didn't spend more time/effort than that. I pitched roughly 50 agents over the course of two weeks (all via email), and got requests to see the proposal from five. I linked up with an agent shortly thereafter, and she worked with me extensively to refine my existing proposal before she started pitching it to publishers. This was an important step, and a major reason I would encourage non-fiction authors to get an agent first. Mine knows the editors' likes and dislikes at several different houses, so she was able to help me craft the proposal in a way that was more appealing to them - something I wouldn't have been able to do on my own.

Anyway, you have to know your subject matter cold, and be prepared to answer many questions on the spot from a potential agent, and later down the road, a potential editor. Who is your target market? Here's a BIGGIE - what is your platform? Why would people want to read your book, and what resources can you leverage to help a publisher make money off your book? All that needs to go into the proposal, and be at the tip of your tongue if necessary.

ColoradoGuy · Aug 17, 2011

I've had three books published from three proposals submitted (same agent for all) over the past four years.

To get my agent I used the strategy of submitting to ten or so, tweaking using feedback from the couple of agents who were kind enough to give me some, and then resubmitting to another batch of agents -- I got three offers of representation.

Royal Mercury · Sep 13, 2011

In my limited experience, I'd say the lesson to be learned was don't give up.

I turned in a proposal. There was some discussion of it with the editor via email. But it never went anywhere.

Till a year and a half later. Apparently they got in a new editor and he had an idea similar to mine, so the original editor sent him a copy of my proposal and the new editor contacted me. I made a few changes to the proposal and now the book is half-way done and I'm working hard.

Old Hack · Sep 14, 2011

There's a useful book by Susan Page about writing good book proposals: it's called something like, "How To Get Published And Make Lots Of Money". It's very clear, it's easy to follow, it's well-structured and the proposals which come out of that book work. I know: I've recommended it to several writers who now have contracts. Mind you, they all had really good non-fic ideas, and excellent sample chapters, which must have helped.

Sunnyside · Sep 15, 2011

Ditto Old Hack. I also found The Idiot's Guide to Getting Published to be enormously helpful when I started this process years ago. It contained both sample queries and proposals, and explained what worked and what didn't and why. I still use its template for proposals to this day.

Ultimate Cheapskate · Sep 17, 2011

I landed my agent with a one page letter (and a follow up, face-to-face meeting) introducing myself and talking a little bit about the first book I hoped to write. After that, she provided me with examples of proposals for other nonfiction books she'd sold recently and coached me through the process of writing the proposal for my first book. That first proposal was 50+ pages (not including the sample chapter) and took me a couple of months to research and write, but my publisher bought the book within a week of receiving the proposal.

Thankfully the proposal process for the three books I've sold to my publisher since then has been a lot easier; all three books have been sold on the strength of a simple letter (two or three pages), briefly describing the book I want to write and why I think it's a good fit for the market, my career, and the publisher. I'm sure if I was pitching a new publisher the proposals would need to be meatier, but since my publisher has right of first refusal on my next book, they've been amenable to considering short proposals so that I can spend more time writing the actual books and less time laboring over the proposal.

Good luck.

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