A short guide to writing your proposal

If you are writing a non-fiction book, you must write a book proposal to pitch to agents and publishers. You don’t need a complete manuscript as long as you’re able to intrigue your reader and sell your story.

Below you’ll find all the requirements for a solid book proposal. Using examples from my last book proposal, I will explain the steps that eventually resulted in a publishing deal.

Remember, these are my suggestions, which have worked for me. Check the requirements of the individuals you want to approach with your book proposal, such as agents and publishers. They might require a different input. I always had a base proposal, and I adapted it to their requirements when necessary.

Book proposal requirements:

Title and author’s name
Short synopsis (for the back of the book) – 150 words
Full summary – 1 A4 or 600 words
Biography of the author – 200 words
Summary per chapter – 250 words per chapter
Three sample chapters

Title and author’s name

This part is self-explanatory. The only thing to remember here is that your title doesn’t need to be final. So even if you have nothing clear yet, use a working title. The chances are high that an eventual publisher might want to make changes anyway.

Short synopsis

The short synopsis is your elevator pitch. Why should readers care about your story? Summarize the story and offer the reader some selling points. What do you bring into the world that wasn’t there before? Do you have any intriguing parts of the story you can use to attract people’s attention?

If you talk to people about your project at a dinner party, what elements do you highlight? When do you notice people lean in, wanting to hear more? Use that.

I started my synopsis with a portrait painted by Mondrian of my great-great-grandmother, asking who she was. I talk about this family secret that has only just revealed itself to me. I talk about my discovery of my ancestor’s friendship with famous painter Piet Mondrian. I talk about who they were and introduce their life story and journey, passing crucial parts in the world and art history. I introduce the secrets I am about to reveal.

Full summary

Your summary should reflect the entire book with spoilers. Talk about the story from A-Z. It must have a beginning, middle and end. It should include your discoveries and contributions to the subject. Make clear what you want to achieve with the story. What’s it about for the reader. What can they get out of it? Perhaps the most challenging part of the book proposal is condensing your whole book into about 1 A4.

Biography of the author

Now you have to sell yourself. Write about why you love writing. Have you achieved anything with your writing yet that you can refer to? What kind of stories do you write? Why do you feel compelled to write your book?

I talked about my blog of short stories and how I have wanted to write since I was a small-town boy. I mentioned the books I’ve self-published, readings I performed at, blogs I’ve written for, etc. Last I talked about what the book project meant to me, what I’ve discovered about myself and why I feel others should read it.

Summary per chapter

Your non-fiction book proposal should be full circle. You need to have the entire structure in mind already and know what you want to say. That doesn’t mean that you should stick to it when actually writing the book. Things change, and new insights will pop up. If you manage to land an agent or publishing deal, you will examine this part of the proposal in detail together and determine what works and what doesn’t. Then you’ll restructure the whole thing. But at this stage, you need to know what you want to tell.

Every chapter summary should touch upon the main events, insights, plot points, discoveries, etc. Spoil until you can’t spoil anymore.

Since this is a tricky part of the proposal, I made sketches on paper first. It was like a mind map; I jotted down all my story ideas jotted on small post-its. I created a timeline with events. Then I divided all story elements into chapters. Every chapter got a separate card with bullet point events. Once I finished the puzzle, I wrote the summaries.

Three sample chapters

Write the first three chapters in full based on your summaries. You must work and re-work and polish these until they shine bright like a diamond. Ask friends and family for help. Consider hiring an editor. Make sure it’s flawless.

The sample chapters pose your opportunity to show your style and your storytelling skills. Agents and editors only read this after the above elements of your book proposal intrigued them. Only then will they move on to read your sample chapters. Now you must hit that homerun. Wrap them around your fingers with your voice, lure them in wanting more. That’s when they will reach out.

Finetuning

One more thing before you start sending your book proposal around: you need to come across as a professional writer. A book proposal without proper formatting will be left unread. Make sure to pay attention to appropriate formatting and read the requirements of the agent or publisher in question. Pay attention to font, paragraph breaks, spacing, etc.

Have second readers check for inconsistencies, spelling, and grammar errors. Talk about your story with them. Would they want to read more? Are they sold and intrigued? Ask for feedback and finetune your book proposal. If you can pay for it, hire an editor. You can find editors on sites like fiverr.com or other freelance gig sites.

Conclusion

If you’ve followed these steps, you should have a solid non-fiction book proposal in your hands. Mine ended up being changed about fifteen times. Friends, family, an agent, and an editor all helped me shape it into a 13-page piece that got the interest of three out of four publishers I approached.

It’s time to write yours. Let me know how it goes in the comments. Good luck!

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What to Include in a Non-Fiction Book Proposal