Hey everyone,
I’m very close to finishing the book proposal for a memoir I’m co-authoring, and I’ve been thinking about whether I want to get endorsements at this stage.
On the one hand, it’s the kind of book where people like to get involved early. I’ve already had at least one editor at a major publication say they want to run a story on my co-author. I could also potentially get some powerful names to talk about why this book is so necessary for the market right now.
On the other, it feels like it would delay the whole thing and is perhaps overkill at this stage of the process, especially if we go for the UK market, which is where I’m personally leaning.
Decisions, decisions.
I’ve realized that I love writing book proposals just as much as I love writing pitches, which could prove to be really interesting. I actually think book proposals aren’t that different to writing pitches. The book proposal sells the book in the same way that a pitch sells a story.
For an 800-word story, you write a 300-word pitch and similarly, for an 80,000-word book, you end up writing a 30,000-word book proposal. The proposal, however, isn’t simply about putting together sample chapters. There’s a large focus on where the book fits into the market, who is likely to buy it, and the author’s promotional efforts. Basically, why now, why you, etc.– all the elements I teach in pitching, just on a grander scale.
It’s interesting that because I knew how to write pitches and because I’ve been doing it for so long, the book proposal came naturally to me. Oh, I absolutely looked at real-world examples of proposals that sold for six- and seven-figure advances and took a course from one of the best instructors in the industry to make sure I had the structure and the sections right.
But then I made it mine.
Now, after this proposal is done, I’ll have a template of my own and I’m super excited because I remember when I hit this stage with pitching. It was the moment I realized that because I could write a killer pitch, my career would rise, that I has mastered the trick to it.
I feel that same tingling in my fingers now. Editors frequently told me my pitches were the best they’d ever seen. I’m hoping to get similar responses for my proposal. We’ll see.
I’m in the final stretch now. A couple more days and I should be done. Then we’ll have some decisions to make regarding the business side of things.
I’ve long been saying that being able to write a good pitch is the foundation for anything you’ll do in your writing career.
Summing up your story concisely in a way that excites people and makes them want to pay you money for it is a skill not everyone has, but thankfully, it’s one that can easily be learned.
I don’t need to tell you what a difference that can make in your career.
Cheers,
Natasha