The first step to writing a book is writing a book proposal. A well-researched, well-written book proposal will help you to write the right book with the right focus. • You’ll find out if you have a book at all. • You’ll learn whether there is a market for this book • You’ll more accurately determine your target audience. • A book proposal is an excellent guide for writing the book. Whether you plan to self-publish (actually start your own publishing company), go with a fee-based POD publisher (which most professionals do not recommend for first-time authors) or approach a traditional royalty publisher, you really should write a book proposal FIRST. A complete book proposal is your key to potential success. You wouldn’t start a business without a business plan. A book proposal is a business plan for your book. Face it, your book is a product. The minute you decide to produce a book for sale, you’ve left creative mode and entered into the world of business. It’s now time to shift to the left brain. For now, you must move away from the artistic and concentrate on your business plan. I know you’ve heard this before and you’ve balked. You feel overwhelmed with the idea of writing a book proposal. Finally, someone has taken the intimidation out of the process. Through the easy-to-follow lessons in this book and the examples from several successful book proposals, you’ll learn how to: 1. Write a complete fiction or nonfiction book proposal. 2. Locate and approach publishers for your project. 3. Evaluate fee-based POD publishers. 4. Choose a title that will sell. 5. Build promotion into your book. 6. Target the most appropriate audience for your book. 7. Understand your competition. 8. Sell yourself more effectively in the About the Author section. 9. Organize and write your Chapter Outline. 10. Promote your book outside of bookstores. 11. Make your book signings more successful. 12. Write a more successful, marketable book. This book originated from a series of classes Patricia taught during the summer of 2004. At the end of the course, each student produced a successful book proposal. One student landed a contract with a major publisher just weeks after the course ended. Here’s what this student wrote: "The publisher said that they were overwhelmed with the detail I had given to the project and that it was these materials (the book proposal) that convinced them to acquire the book. Your class truly helped me focus on my project and sell my first book—thanks to you for helping me to be so prepared."
Patricia Fry is the author of 31 books (and counting), including "The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book" and "Catscapades, True Cat Tales." She started her writing career in 1973 and had her first book published by a New York publisher five years later. She established her own publishing company, Matilija Press, in 1983, before it was fashionable or even convenient.
Patricia supported herself for many years by writing magazine articles, and currently spends most of her time working with other authors on their projects. She is the executive director of SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network), a networking organization for anyone interested in or involved in publishing.
Her interests, outside of writing and publishing, include grandchildren, cats, needlework, gardening and her daily meditation walk.
