Writing the Non-Fiction Book Proposal

This is Part 2 of a seven part series about my journey through the book publishing process.

Part 1: A Book Concept Takes Shape

As I continued researching, I discovered that I did, indeed, have enough information to write a book. So I set to work writing a non-fiction book proposal. My proposal included:

• Cover letter (extremely important)
• Chapter summary
• Analysis of competing books
• Marketing plan
• Information about my “platform” (in other words, how famous I am)
• Two sample chapters

As I wrote the proposal, I internally debated: Do I want to write this book for the general (secular) market or do I want to write it for the Christian market? We all know that general market books can rake in a ton more money than Christian books. Since I wrote for mostly secular magazines, I felt comfortable in that arena. But as I prayed about it, I kept sensing that my book needed to present adoption from a distinctly Christian world-view. It just felt right.

I had Sally Stuart’s Christian Writers’ Market Guide (an excellent resource for authors and magazine writers, updated yearly), and I consulted it to find publishers who might be interested in my book.

One day in the spring of 2003, I received a phone call from my friend, Jenn – also a would-be author – who was working on her own book proposal. “Do you want to go to a writers’ conference with me?” she asked.

I had heard about writers’ conferences for years, but had never attended one. In my life Before Children, I had been an English and journalism teacher. I believed that I really didn’t need to review writing fundamentals. And besides, I reasoned, I worked with editors all the time who gave me feedback on my writing. What did I need a writers’ conference for? Plus, I admitted to myself, writers’ conferences sounded kind of intimidating.

But Jenn was convincing. “It’ll be fun!” she enthused. “I’ll introduce you to my agent and we’ll bring another friend from our neighborhood who’s also a writer and we’ll stay in a hotel and we won’t have to cook for two whole days.”

Won’t have to cook? Okay, I’m sold. The part about meeting Jenn’s agent sounded good, too. A literary agent is a go-between who works on behalf of an author to pitch and sell the book to publishers. Agents know everyone in the business, and they have an excellent grasp of the kinds of projects in which editors will be interested.

Continued in the next post

For more news and information about adoption, please visit my Website, www.laurachristianson.com, or my Christian Adoption Blog at adoption.com.