The Everything Guide To Writing A Book Proposal: Insider Advice On How To Get Your Work Published

by Meg Elaine Schneider

The Everything® Guide to Writing a Book Proposal expertly instructs authors on how to create a proposal that will capture the attention of agents and book publishers. Writer Meg Schneider and literary agent Barb Doyen show writers how to grab an editor from the first page, fully research and explain the market, position the book against the competition, write an impressive author biography, and know what sample materials to attach. Schneider and Doyen fully explain how Create a proposal for any genre; Know what agents and publishers look for; Avoid phrases that move the proposal into the slush pile; Rework a proposal using suggestions from an agent of editor. The Everything® Guide to Writing a Book Proposal shows novice authors how to avoid blunders and build agent and publisher relationships with confidence.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Ebooks, How To, Reference

304 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2005

Reviews

[Joy E. Rancatore · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a great review for me since I've already read other books on writing books and on having them published and on writing proposals. It's a quick and easy read that covers all the bases for aspiring writers. I especially appreciated the information on tax deductions and on what to look for and expect in a contract. The suggestions for combating writer's block are great as are all the details on working through revisions. In the back of the book the authors included lists of resources, helpful web sites and contact info for various writers' organizations--a great resource for all aspiring and professional writers!

[Ezra Mourão · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Note: ebook was obtained as part of a bundle and thus not something I consciously selected)

Pros: there are some good tips in there about general author life. I particularly enjoyed the tip about storing ideas on flashcards and have incorporated that into my writing process.

Cons: this book was written in 2004. It mentions typewriters and still advises one to snail mail copies of books (Do editors even take paper copies anymore?)

Read it if you have it, but in 2025, there's no reason to seek it out as you can find much of the same information online.

[pianogal · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was better than the other Everything Guide I read about Book Publishing, but it was still pretty basic. Not a bad place to start for a beginner.

[Lisa Eirene · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was just okay. My book proposal is about 50% done so some of the information wasn't really helpful (I'd already done most of the research). I also skipped the parts that didn't apply to me (I was researching memoir/nonfiction proposals only).

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Writing a book is the first step. If one wants to be published there are procedures to follow. This guide addresses agents and their roles with authors and publishers as well as giving tips for writers.

[Mercedes Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is full of really great tips. I'm learning a lot and feeling like I can finally put a plan into action.

[Chelsea DeVries · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was very informative because it covered both fiction and nonfiction.

[Grant Sawyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is definitely a good read. It's very thorough as far as dealing with publishers,editors,agents, and the entire writing process. You can't go wrong with this one.