A BOOK PROPOSAL AND WHY YOU NEED ONE

A book proposal tells why your book is a sellable product. It serves as a business plan for your book which convinces a publisher to sign you on especially when its properly researched and well developed. A book proposal is a smart way of writing the concept behind the book you wish to begin and the marketing strategies you have devised to push the book upon its publication Most book proposals are written for the nonfiction genre and can be 10 to 25 pages or more long depending on the theme/topic the writer wishes to write about. The essence of a book proposal is to guide the writer in the entire book development process particularly when the subject is a broad one that requires funding to see its execution. Non-fiction books require little to no exceptional creative ability in its storytelling for its reception; rather the marketability of the book relies on the strategic marketing plans the author has been able to devise to ensure the book has an audience waiting to receive the story.

Book Proposals are not only important for the sole reason of finding a publisher to sign one on. It is an important part of a book development process for every author. It points the author in the right direction of who the audience of the intended book is and supplies a profound reason as to why the book should be written. Self-published authors will find a book proposal helpful before they embark on writing a new book as it would bring them to understand the need for this new story, the unique angles to this story, its purpose and need, the reader’s benefits and the technicalities that involve the book compilation and its promotion.

It is ideal for every writer to create a book proposal irrespective of the genre they intend to work on before they begin the main writing process as a book proposal is a vision board that sets the possibility of a book’s actualization. You need a book proposal to showcase to the sponsor or publisher you are pitching to that you are prepared to make this book a reality. One way to reveal preparedness in your book proposal is to write your marketing plans in past participle tense and present tense initiatives rather than future tense.

EXAMPLE

 1. When the book is published, I will create an author page where I would promote my book to gather readership. I hope to gain a 1000 following in two weeks. 

This future tense marketing plan for the book only shows hope and no on ground work even before the book’s debut. This will knock off the interest of a publisher as it shows this author is not prepared enough.

2. I already have an author page on Facebook and Instagram with at least five hundred followers on each account, where I am already growing my reading audience with short stories and poetry. This audience will be groomed to three thousand reading followers by the time the book is published.

This past participle and present tense initiative show this author to be resourceful and proactive. This author will be easily chosen over the previous author as a potential publisher or sponsor has seen enough reason to invest in this book project. Whatever you do, make sure the marketing plans of your book are thoroughly defined as this is a salient point a publisher looks at before they sign an author. Your book proposal should sell your book.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 Francisca Ogechi Okwulehie is the Founder and Writing Coach at Moncoeur Global Concept. She is the author of three books; "A Preacher's Secret, Tari's Golden Fleece and The Capitalism of Unsatisfied Bodies." She holds a B.A and an M.A in Philosophy from the University of Lagos, Nigeria. Her works has appeared in the Afriworiliterary Project Anthology; The Different Shades of a Feminine Mind (2017) and the 84 Bottles of Wine For Wole Soyinka Anthology (2018). She has a penchant for highlife music.