If you’re seeking traditional publication for a nonfiction book, you’re most likely going to need to write a nonfiction book proposal.
The art of writing a nonfiction book proposal is sort of like cooking lasagna. There are a thousand ways of making it, everyone has their own recipe, but most every lasagna will have a few basic ingredients and chances are it’s going to taste good in the end. The below recipe, if you will, applies to just about every kind of nonfiction, from history to self-help to narrative nonfiction.
Why a proposal for nonfiction? A literary agent can often sell nonfiction projects on proposal, meaning you write the proposal first, then sell the project, then write the book. It mostly depends on the quality of the idea and its marketability, your platform (a combination of your credentials and ability to promote the book), and your writing ability.
There are definitely exceptions to this — it really depends on the project, and sometimes it pays to write the whole thing, especially memoir.
Here are the basic sections of a nonfiction book proposal:
Overview
The overview is typically a page or two that gives, well, an overview of the book you plan to write. You’re getting across the meat of the story that you are writing about, in the case of narrative nonfiction, and the challenge you’re telling people to solve with self-help. It’s really a sales pitch.
In essence, a good overview will give the agent/editor a great sense of the subject, the scope, the heart of the project, and the need for the book. It will get them excited about the book you’re going to write.
Although the overview isn’t an excerpt from the book, as you’re writing it try to infuse it with the writing style you plan to employ in the book. Agents and editors should have a sense of what it would be like to read the book. It should have a cohesive and authoritative voice.
If you’re stuck, check out the jacket copy for books that are similar to yours and see the way the books are framed. An overview won’t be exactly like jacket copy (remember you’re pitching an agent/editor, not a reader), but it’s a good starting place for setting out the scope of your book.
Author’s Bio
Platform, platform, platform.
There are two primary things agents and editors are looking for in your bio:
- Do you have the credibility to write this book? Are you among the world’s foremost experts in your field? (Because if you’re not, you can bet those people are writing books too). Have you published articles in national publications on your topic that generated substantial interest?
- Do you have an audience you can draw upon to promote the book and a plan for activating it? Do you have an existing audience base, can you be booked on television shows, do you have a social media following or a substantial mailing list, do you have connections in your field that could be helpful to draw upon?
As you craft your bio, make sure to include blurbs from prominent people if you have them (or if they’ve already agreed) and anything that could give a sense of your ability to help market the book.
Note that you don’t necessarily have to previous publishing credits, but they can certainly be helpful in order to give agents and editors a sense of your writing style and your ability to engage readers.
Competing Titles/Market Analysis
Competing titles are a list of other books that are similar to yours or could be viewed as competitive. The goal with this section is to establish:
- There’s a market for your book
- Your book addresses a gap in that market and is unlike the other books out there.
For each competitive title you’ll need a quick summary that includes:
- Brief summary of the book
- How well it sold (if you’re able to determine this)
- How your book is different
Of these three items, how well it performed is the least important to include, and at the stage where you’re trying to find an agent you don’t really need much beyond including whether it was a bestseller or not. An agent will likely have access to Bookscan and can help flesh this out if they feel it’s important to be specific before the proposal goes out to publishers.
Outline/List of Chapters
Sometimes people include an outline or a list of chapters to give a sense of the scope of the project, along with descriptions of what the chapters cover. It’s another way of helping an agent or editor envision what the finished book would be like.
Personally I feel like this part is a little overrated for something like narrative nonfiction because the finished product is probably going to change, but this section is very important for any sort of self-help-ish or business-ish proposal since you’ll already have a pretty good idea of where the project is going and can summarize it here.
One to Three Sample Chapter(s)
Other than perhaps the overview, the sample chapter(s) is(are) the most important part of the proposal. Some editors I know just get a gist of the overview and then turn straight to the sample chapters to see a sample of the author’s writing. So work very, very hard on these chapters to make them as good as possible.
You’ll want to include about 25-50 pages so the agent and editor can get a sense of your writing ability.
Other
Other things that you might consider throwing in… I mean including are copies of newspaper/magazine articles you wrote that apply to the subject (if the book is arising out of a published article), reviews of past nonfiction books you’ve published (not self-published), and anything else that will help convince the agent/editor that you’re super-awesome.
And that’s pretty much it! Easy as lasagna.
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Art: Junge Frau einen Brief schreibend by Albert Anker
Phahlakazi Chabalala says
Good day Nathan,
So if I want to write a book,
I should first have an agent
Secondly submitt my proposal ?
Regards,
Cindy Horsfall says
I have a couple hundred essays, numbered and organized by the month. I have assigned each month a theme: January is to Jump In! , February is to Redeem Failure, May is to Maintain, June is for Take a Jaunt, July for Jaberwocky, December is to Decide . . .
I taught high school English, Biology, Anatomy Physiology and then became the director of a 7-12 library. I am a Christian and have led Bible studies for adults. I raised and home educated five sons, two have master’s degrees like me, two more have degrees and my youngest out-earns all his brothers with his construction company. All five remain godly men. Three are married with five grandchildren between them.
I am retired and care for my 96 year old mother and enjoy my grandchildren. My husband is retired but currently works three days per week. We enjoy hiking and used to camp across country with our sons.
My essays are reflective of my own youth, my child rearing experiences leading to advice, and observations of God through His Word, the creation, history and modern world events. Suggestions on parenting and awareness of God are gentle rather than didactic or preachy, avoiding churchy expressions. I seek to encourage parents, grandparents and observers of God and His works through time and in His creation.
I’d like to know if there is a market for a book like this, if I should include original watercolors, if I should seek an agent and traditional publisher and how, or use a self-publishing service such as Amazon.
Allan Wood says
Here is a question I have never seen answered online:
How can I include a decent sample chapter in my non-fiction proposal when I have done only 15% (or some other small %) of my research? I have spent several hours interviewing the man who oversaw the project I’m writing about, so I can show how he came to the project and something about his involvement. But this would certainly not be a chapter in the book; that information would be spread across several chapters, presumably, as other bits of the story (not yet fully researched) are told. If the main purpose of the sample chapter is to show my writing style, then okay. But if it’s to get an idea of what an actual chapter of the book might look like, then I don’t see how I can do that.
Also: How do agents feel about the sample being two (or three?) sections (maybe 10-12 pages each) from different parts of the book?
Nathan Bransford says
I definitely appreciate that there’s a bit of a chicken and egg problem here, and my answer will probably be unsatisfying: You have to do the best you can. That may mean you need to complete more of your research before you have a satisfying proposal. It’s more important to show your writing style than it is to precisely mimic what the final book will be.
Typically the sample chapters are the first 50-75 pages. Opinions will likely vary among agents about whether it must be the opening or whether it can pull from multiple sections of the book.