Paul Mikos - Complete Your Book Proposal in 5 Days: Your Path to Successful Book Publishing Starts Here

Getting into the literary world is like an initiation into a secret society. Thank you for helping me break down the barriers to get to the next level.

A LICIA G.

This material has been extremely helpful for mea total newbie in the publishing world.

B ARBARA I.

I am excited and uplifted with fresh confidence this will be the foundation that carries my proposed book projects!

J OHNI

I have been writing for well over thirty years, both for the traditional markets and others. These five days have been most helpful in letting me know that Ive been doing many things right and that I need to hone others.

P HYLLIS C.

Thanks for all the enlightening information. This process sounds intimidating, and I appreciate the humor and encouragement! The Pro Tips are also great.

R ENEE

What an education I just received! Everything you mentioned is so necessary and needed for developing a selling book proposal. Your Pro Tips are the greatest. What a treasure!

V ERA S.

You have equipped me and boosted my confidence exponentially.

S USAN M.

C OMPLETE Y OUR B OOK
P ROPOSAL IN 5 D AYS

C OMPLETE Y OUR B OOK
P ROPOSAL IN 5 D AYS

Your Path to Successful

Book Publishing Starts Here!

Paul Mikos

Director of Author Gateway

2019 Paul Mikos

First Edition: December 2018

Complete Your Book Proposal in 5 Days

Your Path to Successful Book Publishing Starts Here!

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Elm Hill, an imprint of Thomas Nelson. Elm Hill and Thomas Nelson are registered trademarks of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc.

Elm Hill titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail .

For more information, contact Author Gateway,

http://www.authorgateway.com.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019932224

ISBN 978-1-400325061 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-400325078 (eBook)

Information about External Hyperlinks in this ebook

Please note that footnotes in this ebook may contain hyperlinks to external websites as part of bibliographic citations. These hyperlinks have not been activated by the publisher, who cannot verify the accuracy of these links beyond the date of publication.

C ONTENTS

Almost every client on my roster completed and submitted a book proposal before I started working with them. In fact, the quality of their proposals was often why they eventually became not only clients, but officially signed authors.

Literary agent Jana Burson,

The Christopher Ferebee Agency

W hat is the most important tool you need on the journey to becoming a successful author? A pen? A laptop? A good thesaurus? A polished manuscript? Actually, the most important item in the authors toolbox is a quality book proposal. Without it, a writer has almost no hope of attracting the attention of a traditional publisher. Yet shockingly, this critical implement is treated as an afterthought by many unpublished authors who then wonder why they receive rejection after rejection despite all the effort theyve put into writing a book.

When professionally prepared, a good book proposal communicates to the industry that you know what it takes to write, publish, market, and sell a book. Whether youve written your first book or your tenth, you need to make sure that your proposal stands out from the crowd and the shines the best light possible on your manuscript.

Even if youve written a book that will change the life of every person who reads it, its your book proposal that is the key to opening doors with literary agents, acquisitions editors, publishing boards, booksellers, and even the media. Agents and editors receive thousands of submissions, and very few of these industry professionals will have time to read any of your manuscript, so your proposal must do the vital initial work of creating interest in you and your book. Sending a completed manuscript unsolicitedi.e., before its been requestedis an immediate indicator that you are not a professional and that your manuscript would likely require a lot of extra work to edit, market, and sell.

Pro Tip:

Receiving an unsolicited ream of paper in the mail triggers a reaction among most publishing pros to throw it straight into the recycling bin. Even if your manuscript is complete, follow all submission guidelines and dont send a manuscript until the publisher asks for it.

There are nuances to even the simplest information in a book proposal, nuances that telegraph whether the writer is a professional or an amateur. These small details will tell an acquisitions editor either that youve been around the block and are going to be easy to work with, or that you have little knowledge ofor regard forthe art and mechanics of book publishing.

Due to the demands and their time and very real budgetary concerns, publishing pros can manage to read only a limited number of projects each year. If an agent or editor is faced with deciding between two book projects with similar potential, the proposal that requires less work up front has a significant advantage. The time you put into your book proposal will ultimately save time for the people who will work on your behalf in the future, because youve already answered many of their questions. This book is designed to help you focus your time (and your proposal) to save you and others time in the long run.

Most books considered for publication will have at least two proposals created for them. Under the traditional publishing model, an author looking for representation generally submits a query letter and sample chapters to a literary agent. If they like what they read, the agent then works with the author to develop a strong proposal for submission to acquisitions editors at publishing houses. An acquisitions editor who takes an interest in the book will then develop an in-house version of the proposal to present to a publishing board comprising other editors, a couple of executives, and representatives from marketing, sales, and production. As a team, this publishing board might review dozens of titles in a month to select which books they want to publish.

Your book proposal contains vital information that these publishing professionals need to make an informed choice. An excellent, well-written proposal will make their job easier and make your book much more attractive to them.

The good news is that youve been offered a book contract; the bad news is that you can now expect another round of writers block. At this point in the process, however, it should be called authors block, because youre likely to get stiff-armed at every turn. Even authors published by major New York houses often find themselves blocked by their own marketing department or publicist and the media. Unless youve spelled out clearly in your proposal what people can do to help market your book, it can be very difficult to motivate them to work creatively on your behalfeven those who are getting paid to do so. This is yet another reason why writing a good book proposal is so important. A professional book proposal is like a business plan in that its critical to both the birth and the ongoing life of your book.