#Writers can we talk about proposals for a minute? I& #39;ve acquired 3 books on proposal and they were fantastic--obviously because I bought them. I& #39;m here to say your proposal has to be as tight as a full manuscript + ideally shouldn& #39;t be less than 20 pgs.

Your #bookproposal should contain: summary of book project (2 pages or more ideally but TIGHT not rambly), bio(s), marketing insight (who do you know, who is the audience), comparison titles, breakdown of chapters, sample pages. Proposals are mainly for #nonfiction projects.

If you& #39;re sending me a proposal with (a) no sample pages--be it for an anthology ot your own book & (b) not a clear vision of who the book is for that& #39;s a no for me. Your sample pages are IMPORTANT and it shouldn& #39;t be one short (5pg) chapter because we need to see range.

Think of it from my perspective: I& #39;m going to pay you money for a partial project. A theoretical project. Whereas with another book I receive the full I know what I& #39;m getting/working with. I have to convince people in-house to love a partial as much as I do and I need specifics.

A big reason anything may get rejected is uncertainty. (And yes this is tied to bias. I& #39;m not gonna lie.) Where I& #39;m coming from though is if I don& #39;t know your investment & your confidence in the project as editor/author I& #39;m gonna have A LOT of questions and you don& #39;t want that.

And by Questions I mean any that aren& #39;t clear in the proposal and should be. I shouldn& #39;t wonder what chapters are involved? I shouldn& #39;t wonder what your writing looks like. I shouldn& #39;t wonder who you will help market to. Don& #39;t expect anything from me without clarity.