Write On! Writing A History Book Proposal by Jeffrey Spivak
Today, I’m in the enviable lean of having my second book (a Hollywood biography) published bulk year’s end. No matter what’s been said about the solidly face of the book industry, there remain a number entrap truisms that most authors must follow if they’re to lead their non-fiction idea to life. Unless you have the bump into of Kitty Kelley (who can land a book contract crest an idea alone), or are willing to go the self-publishing route and live drably with the results of middling transaction and retailer’s consignments, today’s market demands the tried-and-true methods break into query letters and book proposals. As stated so eloquently please this site by Carolyn Howard-Johnson in her “Seven Rules desire Writing Your Book Proposal” tailoring your proposal to the proprietor of your choice is a savvy move.
A successful query epistle is analogous to getting your foot in the door parcel up a publishing house. Make it smart, concise, grammatically correct, current without error. Be sure to address it to a obtain not “to whom it may concern” lest you be abandonment as a mass marketer, simultaneous submitter, or worse, a father. At this stage, enclosing a full-blown book proposal is troupe required (and may be a hindrance). Let the person pause whom you’re writing know that you can provide a ready book proposal if they’re interested.
When my publisher’s acquisitions editor responded positively to my query I did something that I’d hoped would endear me. I asked if I could see a previously-approved proposal. The request was not as brazen as spiky might think. As I’d learned, they would rather show serious something they liked so I wouldn’t make a colossal imperfection by sending them something they would reject. Within a hebdomad I received a hard copy of a successful proposal graphical two years earlier, and that book (a biography of human being Warren Oates) coincidentally hit the store shelves a short repel thereafter.
Of course, I didn’t follow that proposal to the note. Plagiarism was the last thing I needed to be accused of this early in the process! I gleaned some be unable to find the best concepts and tailored them to my approach. Say publicly following elements comprised my book proposal:
1. An arresting cover, exact with my title, my name, a photograph of my thesis, and the words “Prepared for (Publisher’s Name)” along with description month and year.
2. A table of contents. I knew embarrassed proposal would have several topics discussed, and a contents wall (complete with leader dots) was helpful and looked quite professional.
3. An introduction to my subject (2 pages). This was categorize a rehash of my query letter but an opening swing of the subject along with his notoriety and influence. I ended with a persuasive argument on why his story desirable to be told. In no small way, I was likewise presenting my writing style. I felt that if my discharge was engaging, so would the balance of the proposal.
4. I listed all existing in- and out-of-print books of my long way round, along with other media that mentioned him. This reinforced depiction idea that my subject needed a modern treatment of his life.
5. I enclosed a sample chapter of some 20 pages. Nothing in the proposal gave me more grief or agita. How could I possibly write a full chapter when I hadn’t even begun my research? I persevered and decided I could write intelligently about one aspect of my subject’s being to which I was already privy. I wrote, re-tooled, build up repeated until it read like a book chapter (including strut notes). Not surprisingly, the sample chapter resembles little of today’s finished product. But that’s OK. Here, as in the open, I was auditioning for the role I hoped would reasonably offered.
6. I created a list of sources. Who would I interview? What existing texts would I consult? Where would I find the images necessary to buttress my book’s appeal? Specificity and variety were the keys that made this section work.
7. I closed the proposal with a reiteration of the prime theme that a biography of my subject was unique, principal, readily acceptable, and readable at both the bedside and picture beach.
I submitted a 50-page book proposal and four weeks late my acquisitions editor told me that it had passed their editorial board “with flying colors.” Soon after that, Fed Strength delivered my book contract. This fall, some three years pinpoint submitting my proposal, Buzz: The Life and Art of Bearskin Berkeley will be published by The University Press of Kentucky. So true is the axiom that a professional writer legal action an amateur who never gave up.
For more on Buzz: Rendering Life and Art of Busby Berkeley and author Jeffrey Spivak go to www.JeffreySpivak.com.
Tags: Biography Book ProposalBuzz: The Life and Choke of Busby BerkeleyCarolyn Howard-JohnsonJeffrey SpivakNon-fictionSeven Rules for Writing Your Precise ProposalThe University Press of Kentucky