Week 13: The beginnings of a book proposal for my memoir.
If you would like to follow from the beginning, start here.
Writing a proposal might be more challenging than writing a book!
What I Did This Week
Last week I said I would work on the following sections of my book proposal
- About the Book
- About the Author
- About the Market
- About the Competition
And I did start all four sections.
Deciding to Prepare a Book Proposal
Last week I made the decision to develop a proposal from my book, The Devil’s Daughter and send it out to agents, and then maybe to publishers. I mean, what’s the worst that could happen? Hmm, they sound like famous last words. But really, I could hear ‘NO!’ or silence for every submission I make. That would be the worst outcome.
I knew that decision would slow me down, but I think it is worth it for the opportunity and the experience of developing a proposal for my work (rather than a client’s book) can offer me. It is so much easier to write a proposal for someone else. Why is that?
The 'About' Sections of My Book Proposal
I wrote the first draft of these five sections:
- Book Concept
- About the Book
- About the Author
- About the Market
- About the Competition
Writing my Concept Statement
I also wrote a first draft of the Book Concept. This is the first section in the proposal, so I want to generate excitement for the book and make a promise about what the book is going to deliver.
The book concept section includes
- What The Devil’s Daughter is about,
- The promise of the book,
- Why right now is the right time,
- The benefits of the book for the audience,
- The ideal audience,
- The theme (since it is a memoir), and
- A bit about me, the author
The Book Concept section is the first part of my proposal and leads into the rest of the proposal. Much of this information will be repeated later on in the proposal as I go more in depth.
About the Market
About the Market was more challenging, so I started with the big picture, general information. I will need to do more research on the market. For example, who is publishing books like mine and what did they publish earlier this year, or last year? Where do each of those books fit into the market and how do they compare with mine?
About the Competition
The fourth section, About the Competition, will be an expansion of the titles most like mine from the previous section and will add books that have been in the market for some time. I found four books to look at, and have a couple of them coming from the library.
This section will take more time as I want to find the best books to compare to my books. I am tempted, like every author, to say, “There are no books like mine.” but I know that is a trap. If there are no books like mine, maybe there is no market for my book.
OR, in my case, when I was young, I couldn’t find a book like mine, so I read the memoirs of Holocaust survivors. Books that I connected with and helped me through those tough years did exist, even though they were not from people in my exact circumstances.
I recognize how easy it is to fall into the trap that your book is like no other and how that is a fallacy that can stop an author from recognizing where their book fits into the industry and what opportunities might come from that.
What I Am Doing this Week
This week I am going to work on both the market and the competition. Because this will take time, and I may need to leave it and come back to is as I wait for books to arrive, I might also work on another section.
Part of my research will be taking a trip to the library (or emailing a librarian) to find out if one of the YA librarians has some good advice for me. Librarians are outstanding people teeming with valuable information.
What books on the market are most like your books?
See you next Monday!
– Keep writing
Melody Ann