B Is For Book Proposal . . . Part One

It circulated for five years through the halls of fifteen publishers and finally ended up with Vanguard Press, which you can see, is rather deep into the alphabet.     - Patrick Dennis on Auntie Mame

And I thought a query letter was daunting . . .

Let me reiteriate, I never intended to write a book.  But life happened and grabbed my heart so fiercely that I had to put it on paper to keep my sanity.  A query letter was one thing, but I was totally unprepared to learn I was now expected to write a BOOK PROPOSAL . . . I was not happy.

I learned in class to think of a book proposal as a sales tool pinpointing the benefits of publishing my book. 

A writer can send a book proposal directly to a small press publisher, but major publishers do not accept "UNSOLICITED" books.  This writers success depends to a large degree upon the quality of the proposal.  Cork Millner

The book proposal is written in third person, and varies in length from four pages to twenty-five pages . . . plus sample chapters.  The sales package is divided into several sections listed in the Proposal Table of Contents.  These include the BOOK CONCEPT, ABOUT THE MARKET, PUBLISHING DETAILS, ABOUT THE AUTHOR, OUTLINE OF CHAPTERS, and SAMPLE CHAPTERS.

I was overwhelmed riding on the verge of a migraine . . .

If I had not invested so much of my life in this book, I would have thrown up my hands and hid in the closet.  But I'm not a quitter!  I'd been through much harder situations than this, I told myself, so I said a prayer, squared my shoulders and trudged on . . .                       

Without my teacher, and the support of my writing class, I would have been down and out in Round One.

Attached is a copy of my Proposal Table of Contents:                             

                                    The Concept . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

                                         Premise.  

                                         Overview

                                         Manuscript

                                   The Market . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

                                          Characteristics of reader

                                          Statistics

                                          Competition

                                          Genre                                          

                                   The Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

                                   Mission Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7 

                                   Synopsis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8

                                   Chapter Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   15

                                   Sample Chapters

                                         Chapter 1 – I felt like I was going mad . . .  19

                                         Chapter 31 – I knew better than to ask . .   24

                                   Lifeline Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   27

New Zealand . . . where did that come from?

I leave for New Zealand on Wednesday at 11:30 p.m.  I hadn't planned to go to New Zealand, it wasn't on my to-do list, but when my daughter and her family moved to Auckland in September . . . I knew I must go to New Zealand.

We have a close bond, and lived within a 20 mile radius.  I witnessed the birth of her first baby, Max (7) but I missed Charlie's (3) because I had the flu.  I spent time with them at least once a week, by invitation of course.  I had it made!

Then New Zealnd popped into the picture . . .

I can't wait to see them.  It's going into winter there.  We moved our clocks forward, they moved their clocks backwards.  I leave Auckland at 1:05 p.m. on the June 6th, and arrive at LAX at 6:30 a.m. that same day  Strange, I return before I leave.  Wrap your mind around that concept . . . like the galaxies in outer space that go on forever.

I'm very excited, but I HATE TO PACK!  Is there such a person as a professional packer?  I'm not one of those throw-it-all-in-a-duffle-bag kind of females.  Can't help it.  It's the way I'm wired.  But if I don't consider every "what if" sceniro, my mind will not rest.  I'm surely not the only female who puts herself through this torture . . .

Lesson Learned . . . my two cents

There's only one way to ride a horse . . . you have to get on it!