The Fast Track Course on How to Write a Nonfiction Book Proposal - by Stephen Blake Mettee, 2001
According to Stephen Mettee, a book proposal, like a woman’s skirt, should be “short enough to be interesting, but long enough to cover the subject.” The same could be said for a book about writing such a proposal. Mettee’s Fast-Track Course on How to Write a Nonfiction Book Proposal, checks in at a mere 113 pages. He doesn’t hold your hand, because he presumes that you’ve tried to write a proposal before. But he provides a clear, concise, and workable solution to selling your nonfiction book. His idea of a book proposal is a 10-page to 50-page document consisting of a synopsis, a table of contents, a chapter-by-chapter outline, a few sample chapters, and supporting material. Mettee provides simple descriptions of each, as well as a sample query letter, a book proposal, and a contract. Since Mettee’s a publisher himself (at Quill Driver Books), the user feels confident following his lead when he recommends sending the proposal along with the query (giving the editor one less chance to say “no”) and making multiple submissions (even to publishers that claim not to accept them).
Posted by beanybabe at 9:24 PM PST
