How to Write a Book Proposal

Video Transcript

"Hi, this is Laura Turner, and today we're going to learn how to write a book proposal. Are you, first of all, are you writing sort of a grant to write the book, are you going to give that organization a description of that, or are you writing to a publishing company, or are you writing to your department as a proposal for a book that you want to write? All of these factors are going to change the advice that I'll give you, but today I'm just going to give you some general points on what you should include in a general proposal for a book. Next, include in this book proposal that you've already, you've looked into the guidelines for your specific department, or your publishing company, or what they need. When you've got all that nailed down, write into your proposal what you're going to write your book about. But don't just do that, actually go even more specifically and say why are you writing this book and what in this book is going to be more illuminating of the subject matter than other books that have been written about this subject. So why are you the perfect person to write this book and what are you going to discover that is new. Next, include your experience as a writer in your proposal. If you're writing for a grant or you're writing to people who don't know you, they're going to want to know why you're qualified for writing the book and what else you've done. Next, and this is also if you're not able to talk to people you're writing to, include who will want to read your book and why, and how you can market this book, why this is a good book for people to read and why people are going to pick it up and buy it. And good luck with your book proposal and hopefully somebody will pick it up!"