Writing & Publishing:

path to publication

how to get published

agents vs. editors

nonfiction book proposal

nonfiction pitch

fiction pitch

memoir story arc



More scoop:

author Q&A

Powell’s Q&A (w/ book recs)




Buy the book:

indiebound

powell’s

amazon

barnes & noble

borders





More praise for

The Motion of the Ocean














 
 Nonfiction Book Proposals Overview Here’s the great thing about nonfiction: If you’re lucky, you can sell your book idea before you write the book. That’s what I did. How? With a nonfiction book proposal. The basics... 1. WHAT IS A BOOK PROPOSAL? • A document that a nonfiction writer uses to sell his/her book to a publisher. • It includes: what the book is about, why you’re qualified to write it, who the audience is, where it fits in the field, how you’ll promote it, a detailed outline, and 1-3 sample chapters. • Length: 10 – 150 pages • Writing the proposal will help you refine your book idea and, once it’s sold, it will force you to actually write your book! 2. DO I NEED A PROPOSAL? • If you’re writing nonfiction: YES. Virtually all nonfiction books are sold to publishers based on a proposal. • This basically applies to all types of nonfiction (how to, self-help, cookbooks, finance, social/historical commentary, you name it). • When it comes to memoir, however, it’s sort of murky. If you haven’t written the book yet, then absolutely write a proposal—and be sure to write it in the voice of your narrative. If you’ve already written the memoir, you should still consider writing a proposal because it will help sell your manuscript. • If you’ve already written your nonfiction book: YES. (See that first bullet.) • If you’re writing fiction: NO. Fiction does not sell on proposal (unless, say, you’re really famous or something). You must write your novel first and shop it around. HOW DO I WRITE A PROPOSAL? Very carefully. I followed the guidelines of Elizabeth Lyon’s excellent Nonfiction Book Proposals Anybody Can Write. Plus, I’ve got some other tips here. 4. WHAT DO I DO WITH MY PROPOSAL ONCE IT’S WRITTEN? Get it in the hands of agents & editors! Feel free to use this! Here’s where credit is due: copyright © Janna Cawrse Esarey 2009 author of The Motion of the Ocean, www.byjanna.com This information comes from a workshop I did for the Pacific Northwest Writers Association, as well as an article I wrote for The Writer magazine called, “The Motion of a Notion: How I sold my nonfiction book idea with a successful proposal” (Sept. 2009). If you’d like me to talk to your group, email me.
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Curious how to pronounce my name? It’s easy. JAN-nuh Course ES-uh-ree Rhymes with banana of course yesiree copyright © 2009 janna cawrse esarey home | contact home.htmlmailto:janna@byjanna.com?subject=from%20your%20websiteshapeimage_5_link_0shapeimage_5_link_1