The Renegade Writer

You ask, we answer: Best book for book proposal writing

Victoria writes: “I have a pretty simple question – what do you guys recommend as the best book for info about writing a non-fiction book proposal? There are so many out there, it is hard to know which one to spend your money on and to use as a formal guide while constructing your proposal.”

Good question! I own just about every how-to tome on writing book proposals, and having written five proposals, I’ve read nearly all of them.

The two books that have been most helpful to me are Thinking Like Your Editor by Susan Rabiner & Alfred Fortunato and Nonfiction Book Proposals Anybody Can Write by Elizabeth Lyon. Rabiner and Fortunato’s book really clicked for me when I was writing a book proposal for a co-authored true crime book. Their advice was thoughtful, the writing elegant — it focuses more on getting the words right rather than on how to woo a huge advance, if that makes any sense. Would it be helpful if you were writing general nonfiction versus literary nonfiction or memoir? I think so, but probably not as much as Lyon’s book, which is also straightforward and useful. I tend to pick it up when I get stuck on a section in my own proposal. It’s a bit more basic than Rabiner/Fortunato’s book, explaining how agents work, why you need a proposal, etc., but it includes a ton of info the other book doesn’t have. I’d buy both.

I own Michael Larsen’s books. A book editor once told me she can tell right away if a writer used Larsen’s book to put her proposal together. I don’t think she was saying that in a completely negative way, but since I don’t like to look like another cookie coming off the production line, I took those words to heart. I also own Jeff Herman’s books, and have turned to them mostly when I want to study a proposal similar to mine. (All these books include at least one sample book proposal that sold, which I find most helpful.)

One of the most helpful books I’ve ever read isn’t even a book: it’s a website (read: free!). Check out New England Publishing Associates’ page on how to put a book proposal together. Excellent advice, even if you don’t plan to pitch your book to them. Many other literary agents have posted guidelines. If you’re gung-ho on Trident Media, for example, you’re in luck with Jenny Bent, who kindly tells writers what she’d like to see in their proposals.

My advice is to take every book on book proposal writing you can out of the library first. Then pick the one or two (or three) that resonate with you and buy them. HTH — and good luck on getting that proposal written!