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Write the Perfect Book Proposal: 10 That Sold and Why
Want to publish your book?
Learn how--it's easier than you think!
Charismatic authors and literary agents Jeff Herman and Deborah Levine Herman have successfully sold nearly 1,000 titles and learned--through trial and error--how to write a flawless book proposal that publishers can't resist. Now you can benefit from their hard work and publishing savvy. In this new edition to the bestselling guide, they offer guidance and advice that will inspire, educate, and, most importantly, give you the necessary edge to get your book published. They
* How to shape your idea and create a title
* Ways to get to know the market and competition
* Tips on writing an effective outline, query letter, and sample chapter
* The art and science of fiction and nonfiction book proposals
* How ten actual proposals (updated and included here) were successfully sold to publishers--and why
* How to capitalize on the evolving publishing industry, including e-books and social media
""A submission from Jeff Herman always gets moved to the top . . . his new book will show you how to move to the top.""--Frederic W. Hills Vice President, Simon & Schuster
""This book will take writers to the highest level of proposal writing and success.""--Roger Cooper Quality Paperback Book Club
""If you want your proposal to ignite a busy editor's interest, read this book.""--Adrienne Hickey Senior Acquisitions Editor, AMACOM Books
Learn how--it's easier than you think!
Charismatic authors and literary agents Jeff Herman and Deborah Levine Herman have successfully sold nearly 1,000 titles and learned--through trial and error--how to write a flawless book proposal that publishers can't resist. Now you can benefit from their hard work and publishing savvy. In this new edition to the bestselling guide, they offer guidance and advice that will inspire, educate, and, most importantly, give you the necessary edge to get your book published. They
* How to shape your idea and create a title
* Ways to get to know the market and competition
* Tips on writing an effective outline, query letter, and sample chapter
* The art and science of fiction and nonfiction book proposals
* How ten actual proposals (updated and included here) were successfully sold to publishers--and why
* How to capitalize on the evolving publishing industry, including e-books and social media
""A submission from Jeff Herman always gets moved to the top . . . his new book will show you how to move to the top.""--Frederic W. Hills Vice President, Simon & Schuster
""This book will take writers to the highest level of proposal writing and success.""--Roger Cooper Quality Paperback Book Club
""If you want your proposal to ignite a busy editor's interest, read this book.""--Adrienne Hickey Senior Acquisitions Editor, AMACOM Books
272 pages, Paperback
First published March 26, 1993
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
May 4, 2016
The authors discuss the purpose of book proposals and how to write effective ones using ten examples. It is useful information for the beginning or unpublished author to be. This was a free review copy from Turner Publishing.
April 28, 2020
Excellent resource. I've read a few books on how to draft a book proposal and this one is by far the best. It includes 10 real book proposals - which was the most valuable part. No matter what type of book you are writing, you will be able to find some template language or ideas in one of the 10 proposals that apply to you. I became aware of this book through Tim Ferriss's blog (tim.blog). His book recommendations for these types of resource materials are always excellent.
June 21, 2017
The first half of this book is helpful for anything you are writing. The back half with the proposals would be immensely helpful if you were trying to write a nonfic book proposal. If you're a fiction writer - like me - then they are less so. I wish they would have included one Fiction Synopsis. That would have made it better.
June 20, 2018
An excellent book for teaching you the setup of a book proposal, what makes for a good one, and a critical look at 10 proposals that sold. An invaluable resource for us working on our own book proposals.
August 23, 2017
A little dated but many of the ideas are still good.
September 19, 2018
Whew. Ok, here comes me! Wish me luck! :)
July 31, 2023
did what i needed it to do to help me propose a book
December 30, 2021
This book speaks to my pragmatic soul. Much to my delight it is not full of filler business jargon. It's clear, concise and provides exactly what it says it will: a book proposal format with examples. The sample book proposals and comments are gold.
May 15, 2008
The first part of the book gives a nice overview of what you need to know to write your book proposal. The second part gives samples (flaws & all) of book proposals that sold.
* I like that it quickly gets to the point (the list of elements needed in your proposal is right there on the second page -- ya can't get any quicker than that!) The information is presented clearly.
* I like that they didn't present *perfect* proposals. It's nice to learn from others' mistakes.
* It's probably a nit-picky thing, but it bothered me that their annotated comments on the proposals weren't always on the same page as the parts they were commenting on. This made it difficult to see at a glance what they were talking about.
It's a fast read & I'd recommend it for anyone that wants to quickly find out the basics on the topic. If you're writing a book proposal, you might read this one first to get an overview, then have another book (such as Michael Larsen's How to Write a Book Proposal) on hand as a more complete reference.
* I like that it quickly gets to the point (the list of elements needed in your proposal is right there on the second page -- ya can't get any quicker than that!) The information is presented clearly.
* I like that they didn't present *perfect* proposals. It's nice to learn from others' mistakes.
* It's probably a nit-picky thing, but it bothered me that their annotated comments on the proposals weren't always on the same page as the parts they were commenting on. This made it difficult to see at a glance what they were talking about.
It's a fast read & I'd recommend it for anyone that wants to quickly find out the basics on the topic. If you're writing a book proposal, you might read this one first to get an overview, then have another book (such as Michael Larsen's How to Write a Book Proposal) on hand as a more complete reference.
August 15, 2014
I’m not in favour of calling books a “must-read”, but if you want to get your own book commercially published, I have to say you must read “Write the Perfect Book Proposal”.
The main force of this book is that it explains the publishing industry from the inside: What a publisher is looking for. The authors honestly explain what the publisher will and will not do, and that you should plan on marketing your book yourself because the publisher won’t.
It was a surprise to me that I have to build a whole business case with market analysis, competitors and marketing plan, but with the information in this book I feel confident I can write a good book proposal.
The main force of this book is that it explains the publishing industry from the inside: What a publisher is looking for. The authors honestly explain what the publisher will and will not do, and that you should plan on marketing your book yourself because the publisher won’t.
It was a surprise to me that I have to build a whole business case with market analysis, competitors and marketing plan, but with the information in this book I feel confident I can write a good book proposal.
September 19, 2020
As someone who just finished writing draft one of my first book, I have a lot of questions. This book is fantastic because it makes me feel like an agent is coaching me how to attract other agents. Only issue I have with it are the examples themselves. Perhaps that's a personal preference thing, but because the sample pitches fail to peak my interest, I have to really focus to read the commentary in part 2. Other than that, love this book!
August 1, 2008
Significantly better than the last effort I read on the subject. Still left with an aversion for all things proposal.
February 11, 2009
A lot of this I found helpful, even though I'm a fiction writer. I think being able to read examples of proposals helped me understand what to include in my synopsis.
June 16, 2012
This is a must read for any author who is seriously passionate about shaping and clearly expressing thier book's purpose in an objective professional manner.
February 23, 2015
Helping me very much in constructing my book proposal!
January 28, 2013
I have an older version of this book, but it's incredibly useful. The examples are great, and it's relatively easy to adapt them into templates for your own book proposals.
December 3, 2008
Herman and Adams are agents.
Want to read
August 8, 2018Helpful.. Mr. Herman knows his stuff and he is definitely an authority on book proposals.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews