Blogger: Mary Keeley
I talked to two writers this week who were struggling to get the synopsis for their books right. I understand the challenge. Knowing what is necessary to include and what isn’t can feel more like an obscure …
Book Proposals
Reading the Market
Blogger: Wendy Lawton
Anyone out there feeling like a book marketing guru? We often hear from writers that knowing the potential competition for their books is the hardest thing about doing a proposal. But reading the market is an important …
Why Agents Don’t Submit Your Proposal Right Away
Blogger: Janet Kobobel Grant
A misconception writers have about agents is that, when a client submits a proposal, the agent downloads it, adds his/her contact info to the submission and blasts it out that same day to every even-vaguely possible …
Selling Tools
Blogger: Wendy Lawton
This month is the now famous NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month. This is the month many around the world will be focusing on writing a first draft of their novel. I don’t want to pile more …
Finding Title Comparables #Publishing
Blogger: Janet Kobobel Grant
On Thursday, Mary wrote about how creating a synopsis for a proposal confounds many writers. Another part of the proposal that I frequently hear questions about is the Title Comparables or Competition section.
The first thing …
Arcs and the Synopsis
Blogger: Mary Keeley
This week an author asked me to take a look at her synopsis and offer suggestions because she was struggling to get it right. She isn’t alone. I talk to writers all the time who say the …
7 Secrets of Contract-Winning Book Proposals
Today we have a guest post from Chad R. Allen based on his experience as editorial director for Baker Books. He’s offering some sage advice on creating a compelling book proposal.
This young, attractive lady knew what she was doing. …
When You Get a Proposal Request
Blogger: Mary Keeley
Agents and editors are aware of what their request for a proposal means to an author. Some will request the first few chapters, and others may ask for the complete manuscript, especially from debut authors. That’s often …
Impress by Doing Your Proposal Right
Blogger: Rachel Kent
Typically, literary agencies have a format that we request all of our clients’ proposals to be in when they send them to us. At Books & Such we call this template our “style sheet.” It has guidelines …
How Do You know Your Submission is Ready?
Blogger: Wendy Lawton
One of the most difficult things for a writer is to close the file on a book or a proposal and declare it ready. Almost as hard as prying it out of their clenched fingers at a …