How to Write a Book Proposal [+ Template]

Writing a nonfiction book proposal can be a daunting task. Your proposal is your opportunity to wow publishers and sell them on your book, but they need to follow some pretty strict guidelines. You also need to pack in a lot of information: your book's overview, your background as an author, marketing plans, industry research, and more.

We've broken down the essential elements of a proposal in the first part of this guide, to give you the basics. If you’re a nonfiction author looking to land a publishing deal, here’s how you can write your own book proposal.

Looking for a book proposal cheat sheet? Download this free book proposal template, which was created with the help of Reedsy's top editors, and follow along with this post.

1. Start the proposal with an overview

Every proposal begins with an all-important overview of the book you're planning to write. The overview covers what (or who) the book is about so that the acquisition editor has a clear idea of your proposed topic and the commercial appeal of the book. 

Developmental editor and former literary agent Elizabeth Evans advises you to “write your overview as though you're writing the copy of your book jacket. Employ the same combination of vivid description, charm, and salesmanship the publisher will eventually use to woo book buyers.” In other words, start selling your book from the get-go! 

Writing an overview can be challenging. If you really want to make sure you're hitting the nail right on the head with your nonfiction book proposal, you can enlist professional assistance. There are plenty of professional editors and ghostwriters ready to review your proposal before you submit it, or even write it with you. Many are also former literary agents armed with plenty of knowledge of editors’ preferences!

Hook them in with your elevator pitch

Andrew Crofts, a ghostwriter who’s worked on multiple proposals before, shares his pro-tip for hooking editors in: “The opening sentences should be the ‘elevator pitch,’ making readers want to find out more.”

For a better idea of what an overview should be, take a look at this example from an actual proposal for a memoir that Andrew 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.

By the age of thirty, he had graduated from university in Rwanda and worked as a journalist and radio presenter, a playwright, and a theatre director.

The short opening sentence successfully describes the book’s genre while also intriguing the reader — that’s the key to an eye-catching overview. Then, with the editor’s attention captured, the next sentences unpack the main themes and story that will be explored in the book. Once the main message is covered, editor Jaimee Garbacik recommends wrapping up with “a note about the significance and reach of your subject matter.”

2. Identify the target audience

So you’ve ended your overview on a strong note and successfully hooked the reader. Great! Now, you want to elaborate on why your book is important — a.k.a. why it will sell. 

To do this, you need to identify your target audience, or the people who will be interested in buying your book. Spoiler alert: no, you can’t say, “My book is for everyone!” A teenager and a working parent simply do not share the same reading interests, and identifying a specific target market is essential in a nonfiction book proposal.

If you’re struggling to put your finger on who your nonfiction is for, try answering these questions, suggested by editor Patrick Price:

• Whose needs do you meet? 
• What’s the age range of the audience?
• Where do they live? What’s their lifestyle like?
• What other, similar books do they enjoy?

With these in mind, you can search for social media groups where your audience may unite, or survey previously published books on similar topics to see how popular they are. This will give you a better idea of the number of people who may be interested in your book — demonstrating that you’ve got a sizeable target audience will be helpful when it comes to suggesting marketing plans, which we’ll discuss later.

As ghostwriter Barry Fox points out, you are the expert about this specific 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. Lean into that special insight when you research and write this part of your book proposal: let publishers know that there’s demand for a book like yours. 

3. Write an author bio

Beyond providing you with unique market insights, your experience also makes up your bona fides — giving your readers (and the publisher) faith that you can deliver the answer to what they’re wondering about. 

Your author bio should make all of this clear, but should also demonstrate that you’re connected and visible in your field. According to editor Elizabeth Evans, it should be thought of as a stone that can hit two birds: “First, it details what makes you the authority on your subject; and second, it elaborates on the size of your reach.” 

To that end, you can write a strong author bio by including information on your:

1. Author platform;
2. Qualifications (and any seminar you teach);
3. Past awards and recognition;
4. Previous publications (books and articles);
5. Media appearances (e.g. lectures, speeches, interviews…);
6. Connections to VIPs in the industry; 
7. Your personal media contacts; and
8. An author photo.

Keep it short, and don’t try to oversell by spinning irrelevant experiences a certain way (the way one might do in a resume). Be honest and purposeful in this section, highlighting your assets above all. For the nitty-gritty of how to organize your bio, follow this free template! 

4. Research nonfiction comp titles

Given all that information, the next question the acquisition editor will ask is whether there’s space on bookshelves for your title. Others have probably written books on your topic already — so what else can you offer? 

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

Dig into less high-profile titles

Think about other major books on the topic — you’ve probably read some yourself — and then dig deeper. Editor Geoffrey Stone warns you not to compare yourself to well-established authors, since their platform is likely far bigger than yours. Instead, search their books up on Amazon and see what else is suggested in the “Customers who bought this also bought” section. (And for timeliness’s sake, keep to more recent releases!) 

Having a variety of up-to-date and lesser-known titles will best demonstrate your knowledge of the existing market.

Don't go for megahits like Atomic Habits, find respectable but less known alternatives!

Identify the gap in the market

After your research, you’ll end up with a list of comp titles. Narrow this list down to 5-8 books, and talk about how your book compares with each of them. Explain how your book challenges, updates, or enhances each of the comp titles chosen. The point of this exercise is to show the publisher how your book is uniquely positioned in the existing market.

Just one other reminder from editor Jeff Shreve: “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.”

5. Create a marketing plan

Since you should already have an established reach in your field, you’re expected to be a large part of the nonfiction book marketing effort. Author platforms are extremely important in nonfiction publishing, and a prospective publisher will want to know what plans you have in mind to spread the word about your book.  You’ll want to explain that in the marketing strategies section of your book proposal.

Again, the key is to be exact and specific — don’t just outline generic actions like creating a website. Consider these questions:

1. Are there VIPs in the field you can ask for a blurb from?
2. Have you guest spoken anywhere before? Could you reach out to the organizers for a future event?
3. How about columns or articles — have you written some before and can you secure another one when the book comes out? What about an interview?
4. Have you got a strong subscriber base to your newsletter? 
5. Do you have connections with bookstores or libraries who can distribute your book, like those of your alma mater, for instance?

You can find more marketing ideas in Barry Fox’s Reedsy Live webinar on book proposals, but the goal is to make use of all the assets you’ve listed in your Author Bio. That way, you show that you can contribute to the overall marketing efforts. 

6. Include a chapter outline of your book

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

Show that a full manuscript is right down the road by providing a chapter-by-chapter sketch of your book (just 1-2 paragraphs per chapter will do). If you don’t have a clear idea about where to begin yet, perhaps this guide on how to outline a nonfiction book can be of some use. 

7. Provide sample chapters from your manuscript

While you don’t need to produce a full manuscript yet, publishers will expect a sample chapter or two, demonstrating that you don’t just have the ideas — you also have the skills needed to put them into writing. 

In that spirit, you want to pick a chapter that best shows the essence of your book. Remember the hook at the beginning — which chapter exemplifies the selling point you promoted? Our Rwandan author from the book proposal example earlier might find the first chapter describing the lived experience of the genocide impactful. 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 and find heavy-hitting chapters that stand well alone.

Download our free manuscript format template to present your sample chapters in the most professional way:

Because you want the sample to strengthen other elements of your proposal, Jeff Shreve says that he likes to leave this to the very end of the proposal-writing process: “Once you have the full chapter outline and the overview nailed down, it will become much clearer which chapter you should highlight. And this can help you avoid duplicating the overview.” 

8. Finish with your writing timeline 

At this point, you can zero in on the logistics of writing your book. Let the publisher know:

• How long you might take to write the book;
• What range the word count might fall in; and 
• Whether you need any assistance throughout your process. 

Assistance might mean photographic material, special design needs for tables and graphs, or perhaps even a research assistant. Of course, these are open to discussion once you get an offer, but publishers will appreciate the heads-up!

Once you’ve written a pitch that ticks all the boxes, there’s nothing left to do but submit your proposal to publishers. For help keeping track of your submissions, download our free query tracker spreadsheet:

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We hope you’ve found all the tools and assistance you need to write a nonfiction book proposal to help you secure the right deal.