The Author’s Business Plan

By Rick Frishman - Oct 05 , 2007

Although proposals can be hard to write, they provide invaluable benefits to writers. Think of them as business plans, which are documents that justify every step of a prospective commercial venture and are required to get financing for business deals.

When you want to finance a new business, you can’t just say, “I have this great idea” and expect the investors to fight for a place in line. You must first prepare a convincing plan that clearly explains, step-by-step, your idea, the need for your product or service, how it would work, and how it will make money. A business plan must hold up under the fierce scrutiny of financial experts who will question and measure every expense.

Book proposals operate similarly and serve as both planning documents and selling documents.

As regards to planning, a book proposal gives you the opportunity to lay out your strategy for writing and promoting a salable book and to run it by your agent and others, who are expert at evaluating such plans. It forces you to anticipate each stage in the entire book-writing process and to decide exactly how you plan to proceed. It clarifies your approach and the resources you will need and can expose weaknesses that you should address.

And in regard to selling, proposals enable you to present representative samples of your work that will sell your book idea to an agent or publisher. It’s the marketing case that contains examples of your wares and should be stocked to convince your targets to buy.

When a publisher decides to buy your book, it is basically agreeing to finance your book’s publication by paying the costs of its printing and distribution.

Format
Although the formats of proposals can differ, a number of basic elements should be included in every proposal.

Like most of us, agents and publishers are creatures of habit, and when they receive book proposals, they will be looking for specific information. Since a major purpose of your proposal is to sell them on your book, don’t force them to hunt for the answers they need. Instead, give them what they want in a format they like and can easily follow.

In a proposal, we like to include the basic sections that are listed below. After the overview, their order can be varied to give greater prominence to a particular strength.

For example, the fact that an author is a huge celebrity should be stressed in the overview and the about-the-author section should be placed directly after the overview.

Non-Fiction
The basic proposal sections we recommend for nonfiction are:

• Cover letter
• Title page
• Overview
• Spin-offs
• Markets for the book
• Translations
• Products
• About the author
• Promotion plan
• Table of contents
• Chapter summaries or outline
• Introduction
• Sample chapter(s)
• Additional submissions
• Endorsements
• Reviews or short excerpts of your prior writing
• Relevant articles, clippings, and press materials
• Postage-paid, self-addressed envelope. Large enough and with enough postage. Many agents won’t return material if the envelope is not large enough and it doesn’t contain sufficient postage.

Fiction
As we’ve stated, most fiction written by unpublished authors doesn’t reach the proposal stage. Agents and editors make acquisition decisions on the basis of queries and writing samples or manuscripts that accompany them. However, published authors may have to submit proposals to sell their subsequent books because approval by the publisher’s editorial board is generally required.

So before you submit a proposal for your novel or short story book, check the publisher’s Web site to learn exactly what it wants, because the requirements for various houses can differ. In addition, some publishers post helpful samples that you can follow.

If the publisher’s Web site does not state precisely what you should submit, send:

• Cover letter
• Title page
• A synopsis, summary, or description of the book
• The first three chapters or the entire manuscript
• A stamped, self-addressed envelope

The cover letter should not exceed one page. It must describe the book proposed in a sentence or two and list the items that are included in the submission package. Clarity and brevity are critical in a cover letter because it is often attached to the proposal and accompanies it through the entire acquisition process.

The outline does not need to go into great detail, but it should show that the book flows logically and has a beginning, middle, and end. When the entire manuscript is submitted, an outline is optional. However, it becomes more important when just a portion of the work is submitted, because agents and editors need to see to fill in the gaps. They need proof that the author has thought the book through, covered all the bases and organized it coherently.

Since some editors feel they can’t get the true sense of a work of fiction unless they read the entire manuscript, submit as much of the book as you can, preferably the completed manuscript. That’s what Robyn and Mark Johnston did for their children’s book, Secret Agent.

Here’s how Susan Burke, their editor at Simon & Schuster, reacted: “As soon I saw the proposal for Secret Agent, I knew that it was going to be a very special project. The story was fresh, touching, funny, and told in a truly unique voice. The plot was fast paced and I knew it would appeal to both boys and girls. Generally, we ask authors to submit the first three chapters of a novel with their proposal, but in this case, the agent sent the entire manuscript of Secret Agent.”

Rick Says
Expect editors to be skeptical. They’ve seen and heard it all: every promise; every approach; and wild, unrealistic representation. When they receive a proposal, it can be hard for them to tell fact from fiction, so they may tend to err on the side of caution. Look at it from their perspective: if they push for a proposal, their heads can be on the line if the books fail or, worse yet, if the authors fail to deliver.

So help acquisitions editors by giving them strong, well-reasoned, and thought-out proposals that look good and read even better. Give them something they can be excited about and willing to fight for.