What Should I Say in the Bio Section of My Proposal?

We were recently asked about what specifically should be included in the author bio section of your proposal. While it does sound a bit foreign as you’re writing it, the standard is to write it in third person. This might also make it a bit easier to talk more about yourself. As we’ve said it before, your proposal is not the time to be modest. 

Start with your writing credentials—your previously published books or those you’ve contributed to or even articles online. Next move to relevant information. If you’re writing on a specific topic, is there anything you’ve done that makes you an expert on it or gives you credibility? List any degrees or schooling or workshops you’ve taught or even volunteering opportunities that are relevant. Finally, include personal information, like where you live and your family details.

The key with an author bio is to keep it professional as well as personal. Those reviewing your proposal like to be reminded that you’re a real person who is qualified to write. It’s also helpful to have a long bio for your proposal but to have a short one on-hand too, in case it’s requested. That’s the bio that goes on the back of your book or included in any interviews.

I recommend taking a look at different authors and see how they handle their bios. What’s on the back of their book and at the end of online articles? What do they include on the author section of their blog? Does it make you want to read what they’ve written?

Finally, when you’re done with your bio, check out some additional things you can include in your proposal to help the publisher get to know YOU better—things like an author photo and/or video.

If you have a question for our Ask an Agent series, you can submit it here.

What Added Value Items Should You Include in Your Proposal?

Over the last few weeks we have been blogging about the various sections of a book proposal. Beyond all the standard sections that need to be included (Title/subtitle, Synopsis, Table of Contents and Chapter Summaries, Sample Chapters, Platform) there are some added value items writers can include to enhance their overall proposal.

They are:
* A designed proposal
* Photographs
* Author video

Oftentimes, we work with our clients to have their proposals designed once the content has been finalized. This allows for a visually pleasing document to be sent to publishing houses for consideration, rather than a plain text document. Editors receive stacks upon stacks of proposals and a designed proposal stands out from the crowd. It’s also another way for an author to showcase their overall style or brand and personality.

Including an author photo personalizes the content even further and allows for an editor to put a face with the content. If you also have an active speaking platform, or perhaps you lead a small group, or you do one-on-one coaching … including additional photos of you in action in your element will add even more depth to your platform.

And last, but not least, when it makes sense and the author has the ability, they can include a short (never more than 2 minutes) video where they share their heart behind the book. This provides yet one more way for an editor to connect with the author and suddenly they become more than just a name or an image on a page.

If you have a question for our Ask an Agent series, you can submit it here.

What Should Be Included in the Platform Section of a Proposal?

Everybody hates talking about platform. We get it. We do too. But the reality of publishing today is you have to be building one. For reasons we'll tackle in a later post, the ability of a publisher to "make" a bestseller has diminished. The unfortunate reality is that most books are sold to the author's audience. The platform section is where you describe how you intend to reach an audience with your message.

Your starting place is your own, actual platform. How many Facebook fans and friends do you have? How many Twitter followers do you have? How many Instagram followers do you have? Do you have an e-newsletter, and if so, how many subscribers? Started a podcast? How many downloads are you averaging?  Do you speak? How often? What size crowds? Basically, you want to describe in detail every point of contact you have with your audience.

To take this a little further, you should also drill down into audience engagement. What is the typical ratio of engagement with the things you share? Do some analysis into how engaged your audience is with your content. What's the open rate on your e-newsletter? What's the percentage of likes and retweets you receive on average per tweet? How many likes and reposts do you receive on your Instagram posts? A small following with significant engagement is far more valuable than a massive following with no engagement.

Next you want to provide information about the networks of influence you have access to. This is not a place to list every person you wish you could reach, or you hope will lend support. This is supposed to be the list of people you can count on. Provide their name, organization if applicable, and their specific reach.

Finally, where else have you written? Have you published previous books? Which books, what year, what publisher, and how many sales? Have you contributed articles? To what outlets? Have you written a chapter in another book? Which book and chapter. List your prior publishing here. 

The tendency here is to be modest, or to downplay your actual reach. Don't. You want to be as detailed and specific as possible. This is your chance to convince an agent or publisher that you actually can bring an audience to your idea.

Have a question for our Ask An Agent series? You can submit it here.

What Should Your Book Outline Include in Your Proposal?

As you’re developing your proposal, it’s important to include information about your manuscript, but what exactly should it encompass?

Agents (and publishers) are looking for a book outline, something that will walk them through your book structure. A list of potential chapters is good, but if you’re trying to show movement when writing, having defined sections is important. Even if your book has an informal tone and is written in essay form, don’t discount the journey you as the author will be taking the reader on. Look at each chapter and see if you can identify some larger themes they would fall under and organize it that way.

For example, this is good:

Chapter 1: Title

Chapter 2: Title

Chapter 3: Title

Chapter 4: Title

Chapter 5: Title

Chapter 6: Title

Chapter 7: Title

Chapter 8: Title

Chapter 9: Title

Chapter 10: Title

Chapter 11: Title

Chapter 12: Title

Yet, the following may be better for a nonfiction manuscript (even if it doesn’t end up with parts in the final manuscript) as it clearly spells out the themes and movement for the agent/publisher.

Introduction: Title

Part I: Title

Chapter 1: Title

Chapter 2: Title

Chapter 3: Title

Chapter 4: Title

Part II: Title

Chapter 5: Title

Chapter 6: Title

Chapter 7: Title

Chapter 8: Title

Part III: Title

Chapter 9: Title

Chapter 10: Title

Chapter 11: Title

Chapter 12: Title

Conclusion: Title

Obviously, don’t force it if it doesn’t make sense in your manuscript, but as an agent, I personally appreciate when an author has thought through their manuscript this much and can identify more than their overview. You need to let us know how you’re going to achieve this.

Think of your outline like a map. You know the destination you want the readers to arrive at, but you need to include directions in order for the readers to get there. There could be different ways to do so, but as an author you want to take the readers on a specific journey.

Following the table of contents, proposals usually include chapter summaries. While you don’t have to have your entire manuscript written at the proposal stage [see here for more], you do need to know what each chapter is about. This can also look differently. Some authors may include a paragraph. You could also highlight themes, stories, etc., something like this:

Part I: Title

This section is going to touch on this theme.

Chapter 1: Title

This is your one-sentence description.

Topics to include: topic 1, topic 2

Stories to include: story 1, story 2

Again, while your entire manuscript doesn’t have to be written, you need to be able to convey to agents/publishers what you’re writing about and the map of how you’re going to get there.

One last piece of advice: While I’m very pro-plan when putting your proposal together, I absolutely understand chapters can take a different direction when you actually sit down to write it. Don’t be a slave to your map as your writing may want to take the scenic route, but do keep your publisher and editor informed if you change directions and you’re under contract.

Have a question for our Ask An Agent series? You can submit it here.

How Important Are My Title and Subtitle On My Proposal?

You know the old adage, "Never judge a book by its cover." But all surveys on this topic point to the fact that book buyers do, in fact, do this. In a physical setting, the average buyer's first impression is the cover, followed quickly by the title and subtitle, then they typically turn the book over and read the back cover copy, and if they're still interested, they'll open the book and look at the table of contents.

The digital space is causing somewhat of a shift, but in a way that is making a book's title all the more important. The thumbnail size of your cover in most digital shopping spaces is too small for the artwork to significantly influence buying decisions. This moves your title and subtitle to the top of the list. 

Typically, your book proposal is not going to include a cover for obvious reasons. But in my experience, acquisitions editors go through a pretty similar review process. This means your title and subtitle are paramount. 

Your title and subtitle are the lenses your prospective agent or editor puts on and sees the rest of your proposal through. 

One way to think of your title and subtitle is your book's promise and premise. You are communicating right up front what the main take away from the book will be for your reader, and how you will deliver on that promise. The same is true in your proposal. The remainder of your proposal will be evaluated based on how well you are delivering on the promise and premise in your title and subtitle.

Now, having said all of this, I'd recommend holding your title and subtitle lightly. They often change from proposal to publication. But do not let this knowledge excuse your work on this. You want to come up with the very best title and subtitle you can because of the impact it will have on the evaluation of the rest of your proposal. 

The above applies to non-fiction. Fiction is a different animal. I'm not aware of any real hard and fast rules in fiction titling other than you want something compelling. You want to engage the emotion of the reader in some visceral way, and this is an art form. But when it comes to non-fiction, I also often get questions about more obscure titles. What about successful books like Blue Like Jazz or Velvet Elvis? All I can tell you is, sometimes they work, most of the time they don't. Unless you are an established author with a ready audience waiting for your next work, you need to broadcast clearly what your book is about, and your title and subtitle are where you do that.

 Have a question for our Ask An Agent series? You can submit it here.

Sample Chapters in a Proposal

When putting together a nonfiction proposal, it’s important to have sample writing, but not your entire manuscript--unless specifically requested [see here for the reason]. So how many chapters should you include?

A good rule to follow is to include the introduction along with chapter one and two. That said, there are often reasons to deviate from this.

I often guide authors to submit a good sampling of what their actual manuscript will look like. For example, if you spend the first section discussing history or research in your manuscript, then also include another chapter or two from the middle of your manuscript so agents/editors can evaluate your writing from your other sections as your tone and subject matter will be different.

If your chapters are on the shorter side, you may want to include more so agents/editors can view more of your writing instead of just a few pages.

A few things to keep in mind:

• Your proposal as a whole (including sample chapters) should not be more than 50 pages or you run the risk of the entire thing not being reviewed.
• Your sample chapters should showcase your book, so pick the introduction (your proposal overview introduces the book to the agents/editors; your introduction introduces it to your readers) as well as the ones that best represent your concept and writing.
• Your sample chapters should be long enough for authors/editors to experience your writing. If you're unsure and your proposal is under 50 pages, include another chapter.
• Have a few additional chapters completed that are not included in your proposal in case you receive a request for more.
• While you don’t have to have your entire manuscript written yet, you must know how your book will be laid out [see here for why].

Bonus tip: have your proposal reviewed by a few peers before you formally submit to an agent. Do they want to read more? It's important to lay out your book so reviewers understand the entire concept and then leave them wanting more.

Have a question for our Ask An Agent series? You can submit it here.

When Does a Proposal Come in the Writing Process?

A reader asked: How far along in the book writing process should you be before submitting a book proposal?

The answer to this is in the form of another question: Are you able to articulate the complete book idea in a sentence or two?

While you technically only need a few chapters complete when submitting a nonfiction book proposal, you do need to know exactly what your book is going to be about, including an overview as well as a chapter-by-chapter synopses. Basically, a complete book outline with the big ideas articulated is needed.

And while the proposal describes the book and author, the sample chapters are helpful to evaluate how the author is going to get to the ideas, including the tone and style used. It doesn’t hurt, especially for new authors, to have more than a few chapters written. This way, if a publisher/agent is interested in seeing more from you, you already have additional chapters ready to send.

Also keep in mind that you will need to be able to articulate in your proposal when the book will be completed. This helps the publisher evaluate if they have space in their list for your book.

A good proposal is not easy to put together and is a significant investment in your time, whether you have two chapters or the entire manuscript written.

Have a question for our Ask An Agent series? You can submit it here.

5 Tips to a Great Proposal

When putting together your proposal, please put as much care into it as if it were going to be published itself. There are some things that immediately stand out to agents and publishers alike that may make them think twice about continuing to read (as there is no lack of proposal submissions). Here are a few tips to keep in mind as you craft your perfect proposal.

1.     Address the cover letter appropriately.

Do not be generic (“Dear Sirs” is the worst offender in my opinion). Do your research. Find out who you’re querying, what types of books/authors they’re looking for, and let them know why you chose to query them. Just because they’re an agent is not a good enough reason. Read here for more tips on this topic.

2.     Make sure your proposal is error-free.

There is no reason for typos, auto-correct mistakes, or missing words in your proposal. Spell check is a beautiful thing, but so is the simple act of reading it aloud to yourself, and hiring a proofreader (even if “hiring” entails buying your English teacher friend coffee). You’re a writer so even if your specialty is story and not necessarily knowing the difference between their/there and it’s/its, you need to make sure these types of errors don’t make an appearance in your proposal.

3.     Create a proposal compatible with your writing style.

While having a perfect proposal is the goal, make sure it’s not at the expense of your personality and writing style. A good writer knows all grammatical rules—and knows when to break them. Your proposal is an agent’s first introduction to your writing, so make sure it’s aligned with your style. More info on this point can be found here.

4.     Be realistic yet cast a vision.

This point is especially apparent in the competing titles section. No, your book is probably not the next Hunger Games trilogy, but what could it be like? Spend some time thinking about the market—what’s on the front table at your local bookstore? What’s on the NY Times Bestseller lists? What books do people who follow your blog read? Who’s your favorite author? There are a lot of different ways to think about this, so include how your book fits with the current landscape and illustrate a need for it.

5.     Set yourself apart.

The main question you can ask yourself as you’re putting your proposal together is, what makes me different? Why am I the person who needs to write on this topic? Then make sure this is communicated in some way in your proposal. Some authors may choose to design their proposal because it’s part of who they are. Others may choose to include a short video about their book idea as being a good communicator is what sets them apart. Whatever sets you apart, make sure it makes sense and stays true to who you are and what you’re topic/idea/message is.

Overall, proposals don’t need to be stuffy but do keep it professional.

Have a question for our Ask An Agent series? Submit your question here.

Do I Need a Synopsis?

You’ve been working on your killer idea. You’ve put time into developing your chapters, your narrative arc, your proposal. By chance you run into a publisher who asks, “So what’s your book about?” You have 30 seconds to tell her. You’ve been waiting for this moment! You can do this! But your mind goes blank …

While the chances of randomly running into a publisher are slim (unless you’re headed to a writers conference), your proposal is your response as your agent submits it to interested publishers. But publishers are busy and they look at so many proposals a day and they run out of time and they’ve heard it all and even though you’ve worked so hard on an entire proposal, chances are, you have 30 seconds to pique their interest. So what do you do?

You write a killer synopsis!

To match your killer idea. The synopsis, aka the elevator pitch, is your first line in your well-crafted proposal, and your chance to introduce your book to publishers, to hook them, to inspire them to continue reading. The synopsis can be one or two sentences long or could even be the title and subtitle. Either way, it must be

Concise

Clear

Compelling

If your response is, But my idea is bigger than a single sentence! It’s more complicated then that, then your proposal is not ready to be shopped yet. Fly higher and see the bigger picture.

Need some inspiration? Take a look on amazon and look at your favorite books’ descriptions—usually the first sentence draws you in. Look at how movies are marketed and described. Peruse Netflix. (And then you can rewrite them in your head as some of them are a bit ridiculous and don’t draw you in at all.)

The bottom line: while you have a great chance to describe your book idea in your overview section (which is usually a page long), your synopsis is your 30-second chance to gain publishers' interest and inspire them to read more. 

Have a question you want us to consider for our Ask An Agent series? Submit your question here.

The Art of a Proposal

So you’ve been writing for years and have decided to finally put a proposal together to secure an agent and/or send it to a publisher. You’ve spent hours upon hours honing your craft, playing around with tone, figuring out the point-of-view, developing a solid structure, and so on.

If you’ve put this much time into writing, please do yourself a favor and don’t simply fill out a proposal template in a single day. Spend time considering how to best convey the information publishers and agents need, and put it in your own style.

Your proposal is often the first taste the publishing world has of your writing. Use it to introduce yourself and your writing and set yourself apart. This doesn’t mean you don't make the information clear, but rather, spend the time thoughtfully considering your audience, your competition, and the best possible way you can word your overview.

A well-written proposal will leave agents and editors alike wanting to read more of your writing.

Have a question you want us to consider for our Ask An Agent series? Submit your question here.

The Importance of a Book Proposal

Your proposal is not only the tool by which you will obtain your literary agent, it's also the tool your agent will use to shop your book and, hopefully, get you a publishing deal. This is not a post about how to put a proposal together. There are tons of resources online to help with that including this one and this one. I do, however, want to share some tips on things you should and shouldn't do when putting your proposal together.

Your Book Proposal Is Your First Impression!

Just like when you are meeting someone for the first time, you put extra care and attention into what you wear and say in the hopes of impressing the other person. The same extra effort should be poured into your book proposal. Put your best foot forward!

When I first started working in publishing, the lens through which I reviewed book proposals was as a publicist. Seven years later, my role, and therefore my lens, changed to that of an acquisitions editor. While those roles were different, there were still so many similarities in how a book proposal is ultimately reviewed. Now as a literary agent, my previous experience in book publicity and acquisitions plays a large role in how I review a book proposal today. The first three things I look for are (1) strong and fresh concept, (2) phenomenal writing, and (3) a well established or growing platform. Following are some tips to consider when developing your book proposal. 

Your Book Proposal Should:

• Have a strong title/subtitle
• Have a very clear and fresh idea or concept that can be conveyed in 1-2 sentences
• Include why you are the best person to write on the topic
• Have a well thought out and developed outline with well written chapter synopses that convey the full direction/flow of the book
• Have absolutely stellar writing
• Include previous sales history, if applicable
• Convey the size and power of your platform, and show any major growth that's taken place, and explain how you will use your platform to help sell books
• Include an author photo, as it personalizes the content
• If possible, include a short video (2 minutes or less) sharing your heart behind the book
• Convey your overall style and personality. While there are items of a proposal that must be included, feel free to be creative in how it conveys who you are

Your Book Proposal Should Not:

• Contain incorrect or inflated information
• Be more than 50 pages (Shorter than that is even better)
• Be a rough draft of an idea you have
• Be off brand from the niche or area of expertise you've built your platform on
• Contain multiple misspellings or grammatical mistakes

The more excellent and thorough your proposal is, the better impression you will make when publishing houses review it for the first time.

In the words of Jerry McGuire, you might hear your agent say:

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