Book proposal coaching: help pitching agents and publishers

What goes in a nonfiction book proposal

Agents and publishers each have their own preferences, so always follow the guidelines of the people you are pitching. Most proposals include these parts:

1. Overview. What the book is, who it is for, and why it matters now, in a few pages.
2. About the author. Why you are the person to write it, and the audience you can reach.
3. Market and comparable titles. Who buys books like this and which recent books yours sits beside, and how it differs from them.
4. Marketing plan. What you will do to help the book find readers. Be concrete and honest.
5. Chapter outline. A short summary of every chapter, showing the book has a shape.
6. Sample writing. One or more chapters that prove you can deliver the book you are describing.

Scribe's free online book covers the parts in more detail in how to write a nonfiction book proposal, with a template.

What a proposal coach does

• Sharpens the idea. Most rejected proposals are vague about who the book is for and what it promises. A coach pushes until both fit in a sentence.
• Finds the right comparable titles. Recent, relevant books that show there is a market, without claiming your book is the next famous bestseller.
• Builds the chapter outline. The same structural work as any book coaching (see what a book coach does), compressed into a few pages.
• Edits the sample chapter. So the writing matches the promise of the overview.
• Reality-checks the platform. An honest read on whether your current audience will interest publishers, and what you can build before you pitch.
• Prepares the query. A short query letter and a list of agents who represent books like yours.

Do you need a proposal coach?

A coach is most useful when:

• You have expertise and a clear idea but have never written a proposal.
• Agents have passed and you do not know why.
• You want a second set of eyes on the business case before you query.

You may not need one if you have published before, if an agent is already guiding you, or if you have decided to self-publish and simply want to write the book. In that last case, coaching on the book itself (see how book coaching works) is a better use of the money.

Questions to ask a proposal coach

• Which proposals have you worked on in my category, and what happened to them?
• Do you write any of the proposal, or only coach me while I write it?
• Will you edit my sample chapter, and how many rounds are included?
• Do you help with the query letter and the agent list?
• What is not included?

The fuller list in how to choose a book coach applies too.

Red flags

• A guarantee of an agent, a book deal or an advance of a certain size.
• A coach who is also paid by an agency or publisher they steer you to, without saying so.
• Comparable titles that are decades old or famous outliers.

Traditional, self or assisted publishing

A proposal is only needed for traditional publishing. Self-publishing and assisted publishing (where you pay a company to produce and publish the book and keep the rights) skip the pitch. Each path has trade-offs in control, cost and reach. Scribe Media calls itself a self-publishing firm where the author owns 100% of the rights, so its services skip the pitch. If a traditional deal is your goal, a proposal coach or an agent is the right next step.

Questions