The Fast Track Course on How to Write a Nonfiction Book Proposal

by Stephen Blake Mettee

The hard, cold fact about getting a book published is that without something close to divine intervention an author is going to have to write a sales piece, called a book proposal, that will attract the attention of an editor or an agent. In fact, at most publishers, this sales piece is going to have to hold up under the scrutiny of a committee made up of a bevy of editors and a pod of sales and marketing people. With The Fast-Track Course on How to Write a Nonfiction Book Proposal, Mettee, a seasoned book editor and publisher, cuts to the chase and provides simple, detailed instruction that allows anyone to write a professional book proposal and hear an editor say Yes! According to Mettee, the first rule is: Do no harm. Too many authors don't pay enough attention to the small things like spelling and grammar and manuscript format that are needed to make their book proposals appear professional. They may have a great idea for a book and be eminently qualified to write it but they schmuck it up with slovenly disregard for the easy stuff. The last rule is: Be persistent. If you quit after your first rejection slip or after the thirteenth or the thirtieth, you'll never get published. Many books that are rejected scores of times go on to be best-sellers. You're not defeated until you give up.

Genres: Writing

128 pages, Paperback

First published April 4, 2001

About the author

Stephen Blake Mettee, is co-founder of Hummingbird Digital Media (HummingbirdDM.com) a tech startup that is democratizing e-book and audiobook retailing.
He's the founder of Quill Driver Books and The Write Thought (TheWriteThought.com) is the author of The Fast-Track Course on How to Write a Nonfiction Book Proposal and the editor of The Portable Writers’ Conference: Your Guide to Getting and Staying Published and The American Directory of Writer’s Guidelines.

All are Writers Digest Book Club selections. The Fast-Track Course on How to Write a Nonfiction Book Proposal has been adopted for use in a number of university publishing courses.

During his fifteen years at the helm of Quill Driver Books, Mettee shepherded two titles into Book-of-the-Month Club selections and one onto the New York Times bestseller list. Mettee sold QDB in 2008.

Authors published during his tenure include names such as Irving Stone, Dr. Ruth Westheimer, and America’s most popular medical columnist Peter H. Gott, M.D., as well as many first-time authors.

Quill Driver Book’s award-winning titles continue to be distributed nationally and in Canada. Foreign rights to QDB titles have been sold in a score of countries.

QDB has been recognized by industry periodical Book Marketing Update as one of the "Top 101 Independent Book Publishers" in the United States and by Writer’s Digest as one the 100 most new-writer friendly book publishers in the U.S.

Every chance he gets, Mettee immodestly points out that this is quite a list of accomplishments for an independent house.

Mettee served as chairman of the board of The Independent Book Publisher’s Association the nation’s largest book publishing association and the leading advocate for independent presses.

He regularly presents on writing and publishing in a number of venues nationally and internationally.

Mettee has published scads of nonfiction articles on subjects ranging from parenting to business including a chapter in the 2004 Writer’s Market.

He has content edited (or rewritten, as the case may be) more than 150 books.

He holds a BA in Journalism from Fresno State University and is currently working on two diet books: The Sexy Beast Diet for men and The Sexy Babe Diet for women as well as a novel set in the first century.



You can reach him at Mettee@TheWriteThought.com

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

As promised - a concise plan for writing your book proposal. Many good tips and tidbits. This book was published a decade ago, and I see that it is getting an update and new printing later this year. I'll be interested to see what the author says about how much publishing has changed... however, the proposal is still the preferred method of agents and editors, showing that some things will not change. Much to take away from this, regardless of its date.

[Dawn Livingston · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must-have book for me.

I have been considering writing a non fiction book for years. This book was just what I needed to read/know. The advice seems great (probably won't know 'til I try it though) and it was so encouraging. I was at a point when I thought my non-fiction book would never happen and I just wasn't good enough to write a book and the subject matter just wasn't good enough. Now, I'm convinced I can and will write that book!

[Josh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Concepts were good, but material was dated: no discussion of anything online or the email submissions.

[Bunny]

**Originally posted on www.bunnycates.com**

I always have a hard time blogging/reviewing non-fiction books. Its not like you can critique the story, or the characters. LOL… So this is just going to be quick.

As you can see from my reading updates on goodreads, I was taking notes before I was even half way through this book. Content wise, this book was superb. It is a small book, but that is ok because what is included, is useful. There didn’t seem to be any “filler” chapters. You know how in some books, it is almost like they just include some stuff to reach a certain page count? That is not in this book. I found the information very useful.

I am someone who has only ever read Writing Business books with regards to FICTION, I was shocked to see the differences between how you approach fiction vs. non-fiction. The entire process is different actually. The fact that there are example contracts and proposals inside WITH a breakdown of the information (so it is kind of idiot proof) makes the the book well worth the cost.

I can honestly say that I learned a great deal from this tiny book. Even though I do not plan on writing a non-fiction book, I think it is good information to have on my “back burner”.

In Conclusion:

I think this book was a MUST READ for anyone thinking about writing a non-fiction book. It is full of no nonsense tips and explanations that will help the reader gain an understanding of the “business side” of writing.




review placeholder: Excellent, excellent. The sample contract and explanation there of are worth the price of the book, alone. Not to mention all of the other resources listed.

Full review to come.

[Jon · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to write a nonfiction book, this book will tell you how to write a proposal. Excellent wisdom from an editor based on his experiences both great and horrible. He includes real life examples so you can see what to do, and he tells you why to do certain things and not others from the editor's perspective.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm currently writing a non-fiction book and picked this up to help me develop a proposal to send to an agent. This book is fantastic! It gives step-by-step instructions on what to include in the proposal, in what order, in addition to what -not- to include. It also discusses query letters. I highly recommend this to anybody interested in pitching a manuscript to an agent or publisher.

[Naomi North · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actionable and straight forward. I read the 2nd edition, which at times seemed out of date. Also, Mettee includes marketing and promotion points to include in queries that I've not seen elsewhere outside of the proposal. Likely this is because of his status as a publisher. Glossary is a great crash course in the industry.

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Useful brief overview of the basics of book proposal writing. Especially helpful were the sections on crafting the lead, the book proposal checklist, and formatting.

[Brook T. Amos · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book on writing the nonfiction book proposal. well written and easy to understand with good examples and many helpful resources. very informative and insightful.