Learn How To Write A Fiction Book Proposal for FREE
Each year thousands of book proposals are rejected by agents and publishers.
We can help you to make sure that this does not happen to your book.
- 19 lessons explaining everything you need to know about writing a query letter, synopsis and extract.
- A proven system that continues to work.
- Approved by agents and publishers.
My name is Gary Smailes and in 2001 I wanted to be a writer.
At the time I was working for author Terry Deary (of Horrible Histories fame), as a researcher. But I was a secret writer.
I plucked up the courage to show Terry some of my work and he urged me to ‘get it published’.
A bucket full of rejection letters later and I was left disillusioned and ready to give up.
So… I went back to Terry and asked him what was the key to his success. It turns out there was no secret, just hard work and (here it comes) a great book proposal.
I knew that if I was to build any kind of a career as a writer I would need to crack the book proposal code.
Since that day I have been obsessed with decoding the book proposal, and over the years I have talked to literally hundreds of writers, publishers and agents about what makes a great book pitch.
Today my dream has come true.
I have not one, but more than twenty books in print by a number of publishers including Hachette, one of the biggest publishers in the world. I also have an agent (Andrew Lownie).
However, I did nothing special.
I have no special book proposal writing skills, and I learned nothing that you can’t also learn and apply to your book proposals.
…and everything I learned is in this free course.
“I wanted to thank you for creating your How to Write A Fiction Book Proposal. I’ve spent this afternoon working through it, having become hugely frustrated with the process of distilling my book into something even resembling a proposal.
Not only have I come away with the experience with a tagline and the starts of a synopsis (after months..and months) but Ive also discovered a writer, new to me, who helped to spearhead my genre – contemporary fantasy, and actually wrote about very much the same things i do! Unfortunately he passed a long time ago, but I wouldn’t have discovered him if not for the section in your course about competitor books.
Thank you. So..SO much.”
- Lesson 1: What is a Query Letter? In this lesson you will discover why a book proposal is essential and understand what an agent or publisher is looking to find in a successful book proposal.
- Lesson 2: The Four Paragraph Method In this lesson you will learn about the Four Paragraph Method and discover how it will ensure that your query letter provides all the information needed for an agent or publisher to make an informed decision about your book.
- Lesson 3: The Tag Line In this lesson you will learn how using a tag line will help you quickly convey the essence of your book without a long and complicated explanation. It will also help you to avoid agents and publishers misunderstanding the nature of your work.
- Lesson 4: The Elevator PitchIn this lesson you will learn how to use a brief summary of your book to communicate the essence of your work in the most concise manner possible. Using the Elevator Pitch technique will help you to avoid agents and publishers misunderstanding the nature of your book.
- Lesson 5: Defining Your Genre In this lesson you will learn the importance of genre and how it holds the key to avoiding unwarranted rejection. You will also learn how to identify your book’s genre and use this to find an agent or publisher.
- Lesson 6: The Importance Of Word Count In this lesson you will learn why an inappropriate word count can be a stumbling block to a potential deal. You will also learn how to avoid word count being an issue for agents and publishers.
- Lesson 7: Competitor Titles In this lesson you will learn how carefully listing a set of books that are similar to your book will allow agents and publishers to have confidence that your book is suitable for them. This technique will also allow you to avoid confusion regarding your book’s genre.
- Lesson 8: Is Your Book Finished In this lesson you will learn the importance of resisting the temptation to pitch an incomplete manuscript. In the previous lesson you learned the importance of competitor titles. In this lesson you will find out why agents and publishers are only really interested in completed manuscripts.
- Lesson 9: Writing A Brief Synopsis In this lesson you will learn that providing an outline of your book’s narrative will help the agent and publisher to make an informed choice. You will also learn that an extended synopsis is unneeded and may even put the agent or publisher off your book!
- Lesson 10: Writing Your Biography In this lesson you will learn what to include in your biography to ensure you are an attractive prospect to agents and publishers. You will also learn how to avoid including irrelevant or damaging information. In the previous lesson you learned how to write a brief synopsis.
- Lesson 11: Explaining Your Marketing Plan In this lesson you will learn the importance of providing the outline for a realistic marketing plan. If done correctly, this will avoid you appearing to the agent and publisher as just another wannabe writer. In the previous lesson you learned how to construct an effective biography.
- Lesson 12: Odds and Ends In this lesson we will look at a number of issues that will help you negotiate some of the more difficult or confusing questions that may arise whilst preparing your book proposal.. By this point you should have a workable query letter.
- Lesson 13: What is a Synopsis? When it comes to preparing a book proposal, the biggest obstacle that many writers face is the dreaded synopsis. At BubbleCow, we hear on a daily basis from writers who just don’t know where to start when it comes to writing a synopsis.
- Lesson 14: Using the 5 Key Elements In the previous section where we looked at writing your query letter, we examined the role of Randy Ingermanson’s Snowflake Concept in discovering the structure of your novel. We first looked at how it could be used to develop an elevator pitch and then expanded further on the concept when writing a brief synopsis.
- Lesson 15: Questions and Answers In the previous lesson we went into detail about how you can use acts and scenes to produce a framework from which your synopsis can be written. In this lesson we address some of the common questions posed regarding a synopsis. Double or Single Line Spacing?
- Lesson 16: What is an Extract? If you have managed to get this far then you should have written your query letter and constructed your synopsis. The third and final part of the book proposal is the extract.
- Lesson 17: Self-Editing In this lesson we will begin the process of preparing your extract for submission. In the lesson I will explain the principles of editing and show you how self-editing will help you to produce the best document possible.
- Lesson 18: Using Beta Readers In the previous lesson we examined the best way to self-edit your work and highlighted the ‘best practice’ methods that will ensure your efforts in editing are not wasted. In this lesson we turn are attention to beta readers.
- Lesson 19: Getting Professional Help In the previous lesson we examined the role of beta readers in helping you to assess and improve your novel. We now turn our attention to the idea of paying for professional help and consider the potential benefits for your book proposal.
