Creating Quality Non-Fiction Book Proposals and Query Letters

If you are going to get your non-fiction book published, you will need to prepare a
book proposal. Commercial book publishing is a business. A book proposal is a
business plan. A good one will anticipate the questions an acquisition editor will
be asking; questions like: What is the concept of the book? Who is the audience?
What other competitive titles are there in the marketplace? Why do I have the
authority to write about this subject? How will I promote it? Since you will be
submitting your proposal to agents, we will also talk about writing good query
letters. Bring the first page of your draft proposals to the class. We will workshop
them.

Some of the subjects we will be discussing are:

Is your idea right for commercial publishing?
Does your book have a “high concept”?
Is there a wide enough audience for the book and how do you convince an editor
of this in the proposal?
What is a competitive title and how do I make a convincing competitive analysis?
What is platform? Do I have it? Can I get it?
How do I design a marketing plan that will impress a publisher?
How can I write a convincing query letter to agents?
How do I research a submission list for agents?
This class is for anyone who is contemplating writing a non-fiction book or has one
ready for submission. Most authors dread the idea of writing a book proposal. If you
have a clear concept of your book, a proposal shouldn’t be intimidating, and the
process of writing it is likely to help sharpen your vision of the book.