How to Write a Book Proposal in 9 Steps

Do you have a nonfiction book in the works and dream of securing a lucrative deal?

We have two words for you: book proposal. 

In the nonfiction world, you secure agent representation and/or a book deal with a publisher (often before you even finish writing) by submitting a book proposal: a short document that pitches why your title is the next big thing. It's essentially a business plan, outlining the target audience and market viability of your book, as well as your qualifications as an author.

When successfully executed, a book proposal will convince an agent or publisher to invest in you and your goal: a published book. In this post, we’ll show you how to write a book proposal that stands out from the slush pile. Let’s get started.

1. Know the key elements of a book proposal

The first step in nailing your pitch is to familiarize yourself with the key elements of a book proposal.

According to Reedsy ghostwriter Sally Collings, every good proposal will cover:

• What the book is about,
• Why it’s needed,
• Who it’s for, and
• Why you’re the ideal person to write it.

Above all, your proposal must show evidence of a need in the market. In other words: what is your unique premise? How will it benefit people who read it? Will readers care enough to buy it?

Formatting your book proposal is also important. While publishers may have slightly different specifications for their preferred format, most book proposals are 15–50 pages long and follow a similar structure.

With the help of 10 of Reedsy's top editors and agents, we’ve identified the most common elements across all book proposals:

• Cover page
• Table of contents
• Overview of the book
• Target market
• Author bio and platform
• Marketing plan
• Comparative titles
• Chapter outline
• Sample chapters
• Timeline
• Length and special features

We’ve synthesized all of this into a free book proposal template you can download below.

However, we don’t recommend filling out the sections in order. Much like writing an introduction to your book, it will be much easier to write a compelling overview once you’ve got the bulk of your argument fleshed out. And what forms the backbone of your argument? The evidence of need. We’ll look at this next.

But first, let’s go on a bit of a tangent and explore an interesting nonfiction edge case: the memoir.

Do you need a book proposal for a memoir?

Memoirs are a special case. Some publishers will ask for a book proposal, some will want a complete manuscript, and others will request both. If you already have a strong platform, it may be easier to sell a memoir based on a proposal alone. However, if you’re an unknown author, publishers might not want to invest in your book without seeing a compelling manuscript first. We recommend looking at each agent and publisher’s requirements and reaching out to them for more guidance if needed.

2. Identify a gap in the market

This step is the most important because it forms the foundation of your book proposal by establishing why an agent or editor should take a chance on you. Simply put: it’s your business case.

The market only needs your book (in a publisher’s eyes) if two criteria are met:

1. There is a decent-sized audience willing to buy your book, and
2. No existing book fully serves this audience’s needs.

You’ll need to present a watertight case for each of these points if you want to land a publishing deal, so it’s vital that you research the market thoroughly.

Find comparative titles

Let’s face it: you’re probably not going to invent a whole new subgenre of nonfiction or chart completely unknown waters with your manuscript. Other people will have already written books in your subject area — so what can you offer that’s new?

To prove to the publisher that your book deserves a place on the shelf, you need to know your predecessors and your competition.

Besides your pre-existing knowledge of what has been written and published in your field, you can find your competition by going to an actual bookshelf. Visit your nearest brick-and-mortar bookstore. Figure out where your book would sit, and check out the titles there. 

Then go onto Amazon.com and search for books in the category you just identified. Scroll down for the “Frequently Bought Together” and “Customers Who Bought This Book Also Bought” titles. This should give you a treasure trove of comparative books. For your own record, note down:

• Author
• Title
• Publisher
• Publishing date
• # of pages
• Price and format
• Sales figures (if available)
• Who provided blurbs
• Strengths and weaknesses (read reviews to help you work these out)

Now, select 4–8 of the most relevant comparative books from the last 3–5 years. Ideally, these should be familiar (even to an agent or publisher that is not an expert in the subject) but not unreachable. 

Editor Geoffrey Stone, for instance, warns you not to pick books by extremely well-established authors, since their platform is likely far bigger than yours. Instead, search their books on Amazon and see what else is suggested in the “Customers who bought this also bought” section. 

On the other hand, Sally Collings also warns that you should choose traditionally published titles that aren’t too obscure; these will serve as credible benchmarks in terms of market viability.

Analyze the similarities and differences

The next step is to evaluate your comp titles. How will your book be similar in terms of audience, content, and tone? And more importantly, how will it challenge, update, or enhance the existing literature?

Summarize your analysis in the comparative titles section of your proposal and remember to provide evidence. Aim for a paragraph or so per title; when read as a whole, this section should highlight how your book is both aligned with an existing audience and uniquely positioned in the market.

Literary agent and editor Jeff Shreve shares a useful reminder: “Don't shy away from describing other books' shortcomings, but be respectful. Odds are that you'll be submitting your proposal to the publishers of many of these competitive titles, after all.”

❌ Bad examples of a comp titles section	✅ Good examples of a comp titles section
Readers of The Shortest History of Germany will like my book.	Just as readers enjoy The Shortest History of Germany for its breadth, humor, and readability, my book on Belgian history has a similar subject matter, tone, and scope.
My book will appeal to people who found Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals too unrealistic.	While Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals is largely aimed at people who have significant control over their own schedules, my book will speak to an audience that faces more time constraints in their daily lives, such as single mothers or shift workers. I hope to address some of the shortcomings of Burkeman’s approach by offering practical time management tips, even for those who feel they have no time left over to manage at the end of their day.
The Anxious Generation is sensationalized nonsense. My book will tell people the truth.	The Anxious Generation has been criticized by academics for relying too heavily on correlation studies rather than establishing causation. My book will re-examine the empirical evidence for Haidt’s claims and discuss new research that seems to contradict his theories.

Narrow down your target market

You’ll now be in a good position to fill out your target market section. To do this, you’ll need to identify your specific ideal readers. Use your research into comp titles as a starting point but remember to think about other possible groups of readers.

As ghostwriter Barry Fox points out, you are the expert on this market. If you’re a historian, you have a better idea than the publisher of the number of students who are interested in your research area; if you’re a doctor, you know your clients’ worries better than anyone else. Use your expertise to write a couple of paragraphs outlining:

• Who your primary audience is
• Where they can be found
• How your book fulfils your audience’s need
• How many people your audience might be realistically made up of
• Any possible secondary markets

Never say, “My book is for everyone!” Even if you think everyone can benefit from your book, that doesn’t mean everyone will give it a go. To get a better idea of the number of readers who will actually be most likely to pick up your book, look for relevant groups on social media, sales data from similar titles, or surveys on the topic your book will address.

Then, you can write your target market section. Here are some examples of what you might want to say (and not):

❌ Bad examples of a target market section	✅ Good examples of a target market section
My target market is people interested in history.	My target market is adults with little to no background in the history of Europe who are interested in obtaining an easily digestible overview.
Everyone wants their child to do well at school, so my target market is all parents.	My target market is parents of 14–16-year-olds living in the UK who want to gain practical insight into how to actively support their child’s education. A 2025 study found that 7 in 10 British parents had taken time off work to help their child revise for their GCSEs, proving that many parents are actively seeking better ways to assist their teenagers with their school work.
My target market is 4–6-year-olds who want to learn to read and learn about the world at the same time.	My target market is parents and other adults buying learn-to-read books for children aged 4–6. In my 20 years as a kindergarten teacher, parents have consistently asked me for informative yet accessible nonfiction books for their children; I believe my book fits this description exactly.

3. Show that you’re the best person to address that gap

So far, you’ve proven that there’s a need for your book; now it’s time to convince the publisher that you can fulfil that need. This will be the focus of your author bio section.

Your bio should do two things:

1. Explain what makes you the authority on your subject, and
2. Communicate the size of your reach.

To demonstrate your authority on your topic, you can include:

• Formal and informal qualifications
• Awards and recognition
• Previous publications (including articles as well as full-length books)
• Teaching positions or other adjacent work experience
• Speaking engagements

But being knowledgeable about your subject isn’t always enough. In many cases, there are plenty of other people with the same expertise as you. To really convince the publisher that your book will be a success, you should also try to show them that your name can sell.

If possible, include details on:

• Your social media following
• Media appearances and contacts
• Connections to VIPs in the industry

If you've made a name for yourself educating people about fire hazards on TikTok or you have personally interviewed fire marshals in New York City, this is the place to name-drop.

Literary agent Mike Loomis believes that your author platform is the single most important thing a publisher will look for in a proposal. “Publishers know they can work with the author, bring in an editor/ghostwriter, and polish almost any manuscript. But they can rarely create a buying audience out of thin air.”

In other words: if you don’t already have a strong author platform, you should start building one right away. If you need to submit your proposal sooner than you can cultivate a decent fan base, make sure you state what you’re currently doing to grow your audience.

Keep the author bio short and sweet — and exclude all irrelevant information (your eye color, your level on Candy Crush, etc.). Be honest, purposeful, and specific, highlighting your assets above all.

❌ Bad examples of an author bio	✅ Good examples of an author bio
I have a degree in psychology and have made significant contributions to my field.	I hold a PhD in Behavioral Psychology from Stanford and my research on habit formation has been cited in over 200 academic papers.
I have a lot of followers on social media.	I have almost 700,000 followers on TikTok, posting daily educational content on fire hazards that typically receives 400,000+ impressions within the first three days.
I am working on growing my author platform.	I am actively building my author platform through my email newsletter (currently at 800 subscribers with 25% growth in the last month), weekly appearances on industry podcasts (such as “Startup Stories — Mixergy” and “Bang the Drum”), and my corporate speaking program. I am on track to reach 10,000 newsletter subscribers and 30 speaking engagements by the time of publication.

4. Create a realistic marketing plan

On a related note, some publishers may ask you for a marketing plan. If so, know they’re not saying, “Tell me what to do in order to sell your book.” Instead, they want to see that you are currently able to reach your target market via your author platform. 

After writing your author bio, you should already have a sense of how to leverage your pre-existing audience for a successful launch.

Consider these questions:

1. Are there VIPs in your field whom you can ask for a blurb?
2. Can you reach out to the organizers of speaking engagements you’ve done before?
3. Can you secure an article or interview through your media contacts?
4. Do you have a strong subscriber base to your newsletter?
5. Do you have connections with bookstores, libraries, or universities who can distribute your book?

If you don’t know any higher-ups or have a list of university deans on your Rolodex, don’t throw in the towel just yet; there are other ways to prove your marketability. 

You can find more marketing ideas in Barry Fox’s Reedsy Live webinar on book proposals, but the general gist is to make use of all the assets you’ve listed in your author bio (and say how you’re planning to acquire even more). Again, the key is to be specific.

❌ Bad examples of a marketing plan	✅ Good examples of a marketing plan
I will talk on podcasts.	I’ll arrange a guest appearance on my former colleague’s podcast “AI and Academia,” which has 40,000 weekly listeners.
I will get a blurb from a famous psychologist.	I have three professional contacts I can ask for a blurb: Dr. David Hunt, a renowned psychologist with whom I conducted research back in 2022; Dr. Keerthana Ravindran, a lifestyle coach with 800,000 Instagram followers I connected with at a conference; and Dr. Lenka Grabowski, a prominent member of the International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP), which I too belong to.
I will try and contact Elon Musk for an endorsement.	I am signed up to attend 5 conferences in the next 4 months to expand my professional network and make more connections in the industry.

5. Outline the structure of your book

Now that all market-related issues are covered, you’re finally ready to elaborate on the actual content of your book! By this point in the proposal, the publisher will hopefully be on board with your idea — they just need to know that your plans for writing the book are viable too. 

Show that a full manuscript is right down the road by providing a chapter-by-chapter sketch of your book (just one or two short paragraphs per chapter will do). If you don’t have a clear idea of where to begin yet, perhaps this guide on how to outline a nonfiction book will be useful.

Remember that the chapter outline will show your approach to your idea. To that end, make sure that the progression of your chapters is clear and purposeful. Editors acquire books across a broad list, so you should also steer clear of industry-specific jargon that may only fetch you glazed eyes in return!

❌ Bad examples of a chapter outline	✅ Good examples of a chapter outline
This chapter will examine MSCI’s adjusted EBITDA, EPS, and beta of 1.5 in the context of its 2016 non-GAAP measures.	This chapter will examine MSCI's 2016 financial performance and how the company chose to present its results to investors.
Chapter 7 will expand on Chapter 6 in greater detail.	Chapter 7 will take the basic budgeting framework from Chapter 6 and show readers how to apply it to more scenarios: managing irregular income, planning for major expenses like buying a house, and adjusting budgets during economic uncertainty.
This chapter will be dedicated to comprehensive coverage of 15 different meditation techniques (Vipassana, Zen, Transcendental Meditation, Loving-kindness, Body Scan, Walking Meditation, etc.), with precise timing protocols (ranging from 3-minute micro-sessions to 45-minute intensive practices), specific breathing patterns (4-7-8 technique, box breathing, alternate nostril breathing), and detailed instructions for 31 different seated postures.	This chapter will present 15 meditation techniques for readers to try at home, giving detailed instructions on timing, breathing patterns, and positions. The techniques will be divided into clear subheadings and accompanied by helpful graphics.

6. Summarize your proposal in an overview

Congratulations — you’ve done the bulk of the hard work. Now you can go back and write a strong overview. 

This will be the first thing agents or publishers read, so Sally Collings emphasizes that it must “grab attention, convey your book’s essence, and excite them to keep reading.”  

An overview will usually be one to two pages long and should hit the key facts about your book: its topic, themes, and intended audience. The overview will also provide insight into the significance and reach of the book, explaining why the subject matter is important and how this book is unique or will fill a gap in the market, as well as why you’re the perfect person to write it — everything you’ve already figured out above.

This is also a chance to give the agent or publisher a taste of your narrative voice, so make sure it aligns with the intended tone of your book.

Perhaps most importantly, an overview includes the all-important “book hook” that engages readers.

Start with a short elevator pitch

As Elmer Wheeler put it once in The New Yorker: “The sizzle’s sold more steaks than the cow ever sold, although the cow is, of course, mighty important.”

Your proposal needs that “sizzle” at the start of the overview to keep agents and publishers reading. It can be a story, anecdote, thought-provoking question, or compelling statistic — but it must make the subject of your book sound intriguing, new, or pressing. Think of the way the first paragraph in a magazine article grabs the reader’s attention, and try to emulate that effect.

For a better idea of what we mean, take a look at this example from an actual book proposal sample for a memoir Reedsy ghostwriter Andrew Crofts co-wrote with author Hyppolite Ntigurirwa:

This is the shocking and inspirational memoir of a boy who survived the Rwandan genocide. When he was seven years old, Hyppolite lost eighty members of his extended family and witnessed the murder of his beloved father.

Born in a mud hut without shoes, water, or power, he struggled after the genocide to gain an education and to learn to forgive the killers.

The personal story hooks the reader because it is both shocking and intriguing. How could Hyppolite possibly learn to forgive the killers after all that had happened to him?

Answer the three W’s

After your one- to two-sentence elevator pitch, the rest of your overview should answer these three W’s:

1. What is your book about?
2. Why does it need to be published now?
3. Why are you the right person to write it?

Keep your overview concise and avoid technical jargon (or, if absolutely necessary, provide definitions). Stick to one to two pages max. Remember: your writing skills are being judged at all times — not just in your sample chapters!

Here are a few snippets of a hypothetical overview for a book on leadership skills to help illustrate how to approach it: 

❌ Bad examples from an overview	✅ Good examples from an overview
Leadership is important in today's business world. This book introduces a revolutionary new leadership strategy.	The average CEO tenure has dropped from 10.8 years in 2015 to 6.8 years in 2025 — not because CEOs lack technical capabilities, but because they never learned the one leadership skill most MBA programs don't teach.
CEOs need leadership advice now more than ever.	With remote work making traditional command-and-control leadership obsolete, CEOs urgently need a new management playbook for the post-pandemic workplace.
I’ve worked with CEOs as an executive coach, so I know what works and what doesn’t in a leader.	As an executive coach who has worked with 47 Fortune 500 CEOs over the past decade, I've identified the single most important practice that separates transformational leaders from those who simply manage decline.

7. Select your best sample chapter(s)

Now, with most sections of your book proposal written, it’s time to give the agent or publisher a bigger taste of what you can do. You don’t need to produce a full manuscript yet, but publishers will expect a sample chapter or two, demonstrating that you have the skills needed to put your ideas into writing. 

We’ve saved this step until now at the advice of Jeff Shreves. “Once you have the full chapter outline and the overview nailed down, it will become much clearer which chapter you should highlight.”

Pick a chapter that best captures the essence of your book. Which chapter exemplifies the selling point you promoted in your overview? For a memoir, it might be your first chapter which sets the scene for your story. Or if you’re writing a business book, you might find that a later chapter about how your business took off after some experimentation in strategy could better show your potential. Try to find heavy-hitting chapters that stand well alone.

You also want to make sure each sample chapter begins with a strong hook. Author and editor Vanessa Curtis warns that publishers are very busy people and will only keep reading if they are intrigued from the start.

The table below shows some types of chapter hooks that are often successful in nonfiction, along with real examples of their usage in successful nonfiction titles.

Type of hook in nonfiction	Example
Interesting personal anecdote	I didn’t realize I was black until third grade. ~ Becoming Kareem: Growing Up On and Off the Court by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Raymond Obstfeld
Surprising fact or statistic	There was a moment in 1940, the bleakest year of the Second World War with the Wehrmacht carrying all before it, when Winston Churchill made the French government a curious offer. He suggested a merger of the British and French states. ~ Unruly: The Ridiculous History of England's Kings and Queens by David Mitchell
Insightful quote	“Statistical thinking will one day be as necessary for efficient citizenship as the ability to read and write” Samuel S. Wilks paraphrasing H. G. Wells, 1951 ~ How to Win the Premier League: The Inside Story of Football’s Data Revolution by Ian Graham
Thought-provoking question	Is there any knowledge in the world which is so certain that no reasonable man could doubt it? ~ The Problems of Philosophy by Bertrand Russell
Bold claim	There is no such thing as the future. The future is an illusion. ~ Managing Thought: Think Differently. Think Powerful. Achieve New Levels of Success by Mary J. Lore
Amusing joke	If you took the whole of Norway, scrunched it up a bit, shook out all the moose and reindeer, hurled it ten thousand miles around the world, and filled it with birds, then you’d be wasting your time, because it looks very much as if someone has already done it. ~ Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine

In addition to being engaging, sample chapters should follow the rules for proper manuscript formatting.

If you don’t want to worry about formatting a chapter yourself, you can write it in Reedsy Studio and export it for free. We’ll do all the formatting for you automatically.

8. Present the logistics of your book

At this point, you can briefly cover the practical logistics of writing your book. Let the publisher know:

• What timeline you suggest for drafting the book;

• What range the word count might fall in (including references and appendices); and 

• What tables, graphs, or images you’ll need to include.

Of course, these are open to discussion once you get an offer, but publishers will appreciate the heads-up!

9. Don’t forget a cover page and table of contents

Finally, update your table of contents with the correct page numbers and add a cover page. The cover page only needs to include the book’s title, its subtitle (if applicable), and your name — or names, if you are co-authors.

Once you’ve double-checked for typos (a must for any piece of writing), there’s nothing left to do but submit your proposal to agents or publishers. For help keeping track of your submissions, download our free query tracker spreadsheet.

Good luck!