OH YES, IT IS TIME TO PREPARE A PROPOSAL

As an unpublished fiction novelist, we get to learn the art of proposal writing. It is harder than writing a novel. Oh, the pains of trying to condense 300 plus pages of exciting story into a two line “Hook”. And yet, it makes perfect sense to be able to grab your reader quickly. And for a proposal, your reader is either the agent or editor you are hoping to engage in a long and profitable relationship.

I have spent the better part of an afternoon writing and rewriting my two sentence hook. Now I will run it by my friends and family to see if they agree that I have finally caught the essence of my story. Yes, I smell success just around the corner.

Now that the hook is approved, it is time to work on the rest of the proposal. There are many parts of the proposal that must be considered and included. A page on the author is required to hopefully gather interest in learning more about me. Will I really have the background to be successful? Do I have any special connections or training to help me market my book? Can I write more than one book? How will I sell myself and not sound like you are a one man show. Not easy.

Speaking of marketing. A proposal requires a marketing plan. How do I plan on marketing my book? What ideas do I have that will help the publisher find success if he elects to put my novel into print. I am finding that a Marketing Plan
Must include an in depth study of my competition, identify my market segment (who will read my book), and then what am I able to do to put the word out?

Finally come sthe character sketches and a chapter by chapter summary of the entire book. At this point, I am completing this phase. With this proposal and the first three chapters of my novel, I will submit my proposal to an agent. Stay tuned for the results.