The Bukowski Agency - Non-Fiction Proposal Guidelines

Non-Fiction Proposal Guidelines


The most important aspect of the submission of a non-fiction book to publishers is the Book Proposal. To aid us in our presentation of your book project, we ask authors to prepare a carefully detailed and compelling proposal regardless of whether you have a completed manuscript.

The proposal is extremely valuable in negotiating a good sale for our clients. A strong proposal maximizes our ability to place your work on the best possible terms, because it enables publishers to evaluate your project quickly and to determine their ability to market your book successfully.

 Your proposal represents the promise of your book; it must be distinctive and must engage and excite the editor so that he or she becomes enthused about taking on your project. The difference between a good proposal and an excellent one can determine whether or not you receive an offer and can make the difference between a modest advance and a generous one. That is why we often ask authors to rework their proposals until they are near-perfect.

While every book and author is unique and requires a "customized" presentation, almost every proposal includes all the elements listed below. A proposal is usually written in the third person, active voice, present tense and has an upbeat, marketing tone to it. It should also be typed, single spaced, on standard white paper with consecutively numbered pages and include a Title Page and Table of Contents. The typical proposal is presented in the following sequence using the specified section headings.


Basically an overview and introduction to your project, About the Book presents the argument for your book. Think of this opening section as combining the elements of jacket copy, book synopsis, author qualifications, and market survey.

Open this section with a description of the problems, reasons, or situations which prompted you to write this book and which make your book needed and valuable. Then briefly present the unique ways in which your book satisfies these needs and/or solves these Problems. Include anything that makes your book unique, different, and/or better than any other books in the same area. Mention any new or fresh approach you offer and any special features you will include.

Follow the argument with a 2 to 3 paragraph synopsis of the contents – illustrate in greater detail, with a succinct content overview, the logic your book follows to satisfy its promise.

Then explain why you, as author, are (uniquely) qualified to write this book- briefly mention relevant experiences and credentials along with any supporting professional expertise and/or publishing credits.

End About the Book with a compelling, summating paragraph e.g. for "the millions of readers concerned about (fascinated with, hungry for information on, etc.) (book's subject) at last there is a definitive (up-to-date, comprehensive, specific, easy-to-read, concise, fun, serious, authoritative, engaging, etc.) book on the subject."


Describe the audience that will be drawn to your book. What are the benefits your book will deliver to this audience? Why should they buy, use, keep, and talk about your book? If appropriate, describe and document the size of your audience.

Next, address the leading competitive (seemingly or directly) titles (if any). List each author and title followed in parentheses by the publisher and year of publication. Then, briefly explain why your book is better and/or different. Don't feel compelled to denigrate every competing title. When appropriate, point out its good points; but be sure to demonstrate where it fails to deliver in the way your book will. Some potential competitive title shortcomings include: competitive book is out-of-date (poorly written, incomplete, too technical, too "popular" factually inaccurate, boring, etc.).


Once you've argued for your book and illustrated the shortcomings of competing titles in About the Book, you must next describe, in greater detail, how your book will deliver its promise in the Chapter Outline.

 Under each chapter title provide a description of the chapter in paragraph form (about 100 words each). Try to convey both the content and the tone of each chapter. Where possible, use quotations, statistics, vignettes, anecdotes, and examples to describe your chapters. Avoid phrases such as: "in this chapter", or "such and such will be described". Be positive and vivid, as if the book were already written.


In this section, list the formatting details of your book. Include:

  1. proposed book length in number of words (an average book contains about 70,000 words or 250 book pages);
  2. state how many and what sort of photographs and/or illustrations (if any) will be used;
  3. list any special considerations or ideas about book size, format, design, or layout;
  4. estimate the amount of time you will need (following the signing of the contract) to deliver a completed manuscript (the average publishing contract gives you 12 months to complete a book).


This is a more detailed bio than you included in About the Book. Stress your background, experience in your field, and credentials relevant to your book; emphasize your authority to write this book. Be sure to include a list of previous publishing credits, if any. The bio is written in paragraph form in the third person and generally requires less than a full page. If applicable, you may append a C.V. or résumé.


Include one or two sample chapters, preferably not the introduction or first chapter, which will provide an example of your writing style and the actual content of the book.


In the event there are relevant documents (newspaper clippings, articles, statistics, pamphlets, letters, etc.) or other information which supports either your credentials or the market for your book, please include them. The contents of the Appendix should be listed both in the Proposal Table of Contents and in a separate Table of Contents directly preceding the Appendix.



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