So You Want to Develop a Book Proposal?

In this post, I offer some very cursory insights into developing a book proposal based on my experience vetting proposals for a small academic press. This post certainly isn’t an exhaustive treatment of the topic—it’s something you could write a book about. Indeed, I ordered Laura Portwood-Stacer’s The Book Proposal Book: A Guide for Scholarly Authors just a few weeks ago.

Instead, I’ll briefly describe what the book proposal typically includes, offer some insights into how proposals are evaluated, and highlight some of the more common “mistakes” I see authors making with their proposals.

The prospect of writing a book can feel daunting, but the proposal need not be. Depending on whether your publisher wants to see a sample chapter, the proposal may be as short as 10 to 12 pages. That said, a well-developed proposal is essential for a couple of reasons. First, your proposal is more likely to receive a serious read from a publisher if it has thoughtfully answered questions related to audience, purpose, relevance, marketability, and so on. Second, the proposal provides you and possible collaborators with a blueprint to follow in drafting the book. Manuscripts frequently evolve during the drafting and revision stages, but having a clearly articulated plan in the form of a proposal (and referencing it often) keeps authors from straying too far from their original purpose unintentionally.

Here is a list of things publishers commonly ask for in a book proposal:

1. An introduction or overview (1 to 2 pages) describing the book’s purpose, importance, relevance, audience, and unique contribution to the scholarly conversation in the field.

2. A detailed table of contents (3 to 5 pages) offering not just a listing of individual chapters but a one- to two-paragraph synopsis of each chapter.

3. A discussion of competing titles suggesting how the proposed book fits into and extends the scholarly conversation or offers something that other titles simply don’t.

4. A brief biographical statement or C.V. demonstrating your expertise on the topic or involvement in the field. The statement should help the editor see why you are the right person to write this specific title. If the book is an edited collection, you may need to include a one- or two-sentence bio for each contributor in the table of contents.

5. A proposed timeline or anticipated delivery date for the final manuscript draft.

6. A sample chapter (25 to 35 pages) providing editors with a preview of what the book will entail and how the chapters will be structured. The sample should be an “interior” chapter rather than the introduction. For many publishers, the sample chapter is optional.

For academic presses, book proposals are likely vetted in-house and sent out to experts in the field. In my publishing practice, the in-house editorial staff focused on questions of the marketability of a particular proposal, and we also considered the extent to which the work fit within the overarching mission of our organization. We also identified three or four scholars or practitioners working in areas related to the manuscript and asked them to provide feedback on the potential contribution of the proposed title along with their assessment of the breadth, depth, organization, and special features of the text, among others. Based on our evaluation and the reviewer feedback, it was not uncommon for us to recommend some revisions to the proposal before issuing a publishing contract and giving authors the go-ahead to begin drafting the manuscript.

Advances are uncommon in academic publishing, though authors typically receive a royalty or percentage of the net revenue from copies sold. For edited collections, the editor(s) may receive a royalty, but individual contributors typically don’t receive any income from the book.

Pitfalls to Avoid

The most common issue I encountered in evaluating book proposals was a lack of attention to the book’s purpose or unique selling point. Essentially, the author needs to tell the publisher very explicitly why this book needs to be written (i.e., What gaps in the literature will it respond to? Who is it designed to help, and how will it help them?) and why it needs to be written now. Too often, the authors have landed on something that interests them without really articulating why or how it might be of interest to others. In other words, they have a topic without a thesis.

Related to this is the idea of marketability. I expect authors to have done some research on recently published titles that deal with their topic and describe what makes their take on the topic different from other titles. I won’t necessarily take their word for it; I will also research related titles. Still, I expect authors to very clearly suggest how what they are delivering is different from everything out there at the moment. Understanding who their audience is and what the audience is likely to gain from reading the book is an integral part of the market analysis.

One final concern is delivering a sample chapter that is poorly done. The sample chapter should provide the publisher with a feel for what the book will offer, but I also used it to judge the anticipated editing load for a particular manuscript. Most university presses and academic publishers don’t have the resources to provide developmental editing support to authors. As a result, a poorly developed sample chapter may lead them to pass on a book if they feel like the author cannot deliver an acceptable draft in a reasonable timeframe.

Recently, a publisher asked me to review a proposal for a book on independent research and writing projects in the undergraduate curriculum. Rather than a sample chapter, the author provided several exercises or activities he proposed including in the book. Without the contextual framing provided by a chapter, it was difficult to judge how or when someone might use these activities or their potential effectiveness. Also, because the author had not offered a full table of contents, I couldn’t see how the exercises would fit into a larger curricular plan. The proposal was interesting and the approach unique, and I believe there is a need and a potential audience for this work. Still, I couldn’t recommend publishing the book based on what I had seen.

A Developmental Editor Can Help

Enlisting the help of a developmental editor, a book coach, or even a colleague who has successfully landed book contracts to help you craft the book proposal increases your chances of success. If a book proposal is something you would like to pursue in the new year, be on the lookout for my three-session coaching packages focused on developing a proposal in January 2022. Coaching sessions will help authors develop a compelling thesis for the book; articulate the purpose, relevance, and contribution of the book to the current scholarly conversation; define the audience and describe how the book will meet their needs; conduct an analysis of competing titles; come up with an interesting and informative title; develop a detailed table of contents to support the thesis; and communicate the unique selling point of the book.