Book Proposals

A Simple Proposal Formula

November 26, 2022

I wrote about 50 books with traditional publishers and even crafted two proposals that got six figure advances—before I began working inside publishing houses over 20 years ago. At this point, I’m acquiring books for my third publishing house, and I have reviewed thousands of proposals and manuscripts (no exaggeration). There are many different templates and models to create a book proposal. Yet there are some consistent elements that need to be in every proposal to capture attention and get published.

After reviewing this wide variety of proposals and manuscripts, I’ve decided attractive proposals boil down to a simple formula. Your proposal needs to contain the standard sections detailed in my free book proposal checklist http://terrylinks.com/bookcheck This formula works no matter what you are writing (nonfiction or fiction).

Passion + Sales = book contract

Every writer must have a passion about their story or their subject. Possibly you are passionate about the life-changes from people reading your book. Or maybe the story is in the forefront of your mind, and you are driven every day to write more pages. Whatever the topic you will be thinking about this topic not only during the writing but the marketing process and without passion you will not be motivated to complete the writing or work on the marketing of the book. Maybe you’ve specialized in a certain skill or topic that you are writing about. This expertise is something you are ready to tell others about and its key to your success. An editor or skilled professional can improve the writing, but passion can’t be instilled and must be in the heart and mind of the author. This passion shines through your storytelling in your proposal.

Sales or potential sales is the second key ingredient for your proposal. Who will buy this book, and do you have a reach to this reader? If not, can you create this reach? In some areas of publishing, this sales potential is called “platform.” There are many different ways to build this audience.  Whether you have a large or small publisher, in today’s market the author carries 80% of the marketing responsibility. Publishers create attractive books then they sell your book into the bookstore. Here’s the “catch” related to getting your book into the bookstores: without the author’s marketing activity, every retailer can return the books for a full refund. You must have this reach or the ability to generate this reach or you will not have sales. Thousands of new books (no exaggeration) are published every day. To get a book contract, you must have these crucial elements. What actions can you take today to continue to build your sales potential?

Terry Whalin

W. Terry Whalin, a writer and acquisitions editor lives in Colorado. A former magazine editor and former literary agent, Terry is an acquisitions editor at Morgan James Publishing. He has written more than 60 nonfiction books including Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams and Billy Graham. To help writers catch the attention of editors and agents, Terry wrote his bestselling Book Proposals That $ell, 21 Secrets To Speed Your Success. Check out his free Ebook, Platform Building Ideas for Every Author. His website is located at: www.terrywhalin.com. Connect with Terry on Twitter, Facebook, his blog and LinkedIn.

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