Is your kitchen table or home office desk sprinkled with writing in various stages of development? Or, if you are saving trees, are there multiple electronic documents hidden in various electronic folders carefully crafted, but waiting for the horn to blow or bell to ring announcing that the race to the writing finish line has started?

Perhaps you have already typed THE END on the final page. Either way, you may be wondering, “What do I do next? How can I get this book published?” Interestingly, you do not absolutely have to have completed your book; however, you must have something to “show” to publishers and/or agents. If you have a budding idea running around in your head; but, it has not materialized on paper, unless you are a known author with reputation, your first task is to write, write, write---at least 2000 words and a chapter outline. Once your creative writing thoughts have migrated from inside of your head to either a paper or electronic document, you will be ready to put together a book proposal.

So, what is a book proposal? Why do you need one? What are the ingredients?

The book proposal is the vehicle through which you will introduce your creative writing product to prospective publishers and/or agents. Many authors choose to make direct contact with publishers, while others connect with an agent who becomes the go-between between them and prospective publishers. Either way has potential. There are publishers who work exclusively with agents; and, do not interact with authors until their work has been presented through the agent. Since you will be researching publishers and agents as part of composing your book proposal, seeking information about how they prefer to receive proposals and manuscripts will be a key piece of information to uncover.

A book proposal is about the following things:

• book overview
• author
• purchasers
• the story
• connections/resources
• chapters/content
• a completed sample chapter

About the book, an overview
In one or two sentences express the topic of the book. Since this is a sales pitch for your writing, show your style and flare. Imagine this as a billboard for your book.

About the author
This is your chance to go on and on about yourself and your knowledge. Present a case as to why you are the ideal person to have written about this topic, this way, with this heart and passion.

About future purchasers (marketplace)
Who will buy this book? It is assumed that every book has a built-in audience; however, don’t tell a prospective publisher that it is a narrow audience. Describe the largest, widest possible audience--the whole world, billions of purchasers.

EXAMPLE: 79 million baby boomers want to live well and be healthy for as long as possible; and, these health-conscious citizens are going to be attracted to your book. Plus, 70% of book purchasers are women; and, women tend to be more open to new health, wellness and beauty information.

About a good story
Tell your story (or information) in a compelling way. Incorporate up-to-date research, compared and contrasted, site noted authorities and lure the reader (potential publishers) into it selling them on your book being a hot item.

About your connections and resources
Introduce your resources and leaders in the field who will be quoted, sited or compared. Consider including images, photos, and illustrations. Authors who get jacket blurbs can double the size of the initial printing!

About book categories
Take a trip to your local book store or library and research the titles of books similar in subject matter to your book. Take note of the competition and comparables and prepare to express to the publisher that your book is ALSO a big ticket, best seller potential. Title your book; but, realize that once the marketing/sales team connects with you, the title may well change.

About the chapter titles/content
Propose the chapters; but, know that the final line up may change as the book evolves, let alone, when your begin working with an editor. Create a one paragraph description of the information encompassed in each chapter.

About the sample chapter
Produce 2000+ words of good reading. This sample chapter can be culled from anywhere in the book. Ensure that this writing is finely polished and directed to the target audience.

Once you have created a polished book proposal, what should you do with it? Remember when you took a trip to the library or local book store for the purpose of scouting comparable books? Hopefully, your research included names of publishers and titles. If it did not, a handy resource for identifying publishers is The Writer’s Market, published annually and segmented into types of books, such as: children, fiction, short story, health/fitness, etc., etc. Create your own personal list of publishers that have published books similar to yours and prepare a query letter introducing yourself and your book. Conclude your letter by asking if they would like to receive your full book proposal.

Feel free to send query letters to all of the publishers on your personal list; or, wait until you have received responses before pursuing subsequent publishers. Then, prepare to wait--or, begin your next writing project!