In which a Literary Agent Requests a Proposal
In my database where I track literary agents and when I've sent them materials and when they've responded, I have a field for what materials each agent wishes to receive: just the query letter (aka pitch)? the query with a sample of the book (ranging from 3 pages to 3 full chapters)? the query with a synopsis and list of the chapters? the query with descrip of the author's qualifications and background? the query with the full proposal? or perhaps various more complex combinations of these elements.
The first time I sent out a full proposal, it was by request.
In brief, a proposal describes the book and elaborates on the concept as described in the pitch, analyzes the potential market for the book, introduces the author including qualifications & background & prior publications, examines similar books in the same genre and how this one compares to the others (similarities and differences), examines likely strategies for promoting the book and reaching the market, provides the table of contents and synopsis of each chapter, word count, length in conventionally-formatted pages, attests to the completeness (or lack thereof) of the book, optionally incorporates early reviews and feedback, and provides some sample chapters or chapter excerpts. Proposals are used almost exclusively for nonfiction books. Memoirs are odd beasties, telling an entertaining narrative story the same way fiction does but nevertheless being works of nonfiction; and I eventually sent my query letter to a literary agent at an agency that had a submissions policy that said all nonfiction queries should include a proposal, so she wrote back and asked me to send mine. I didn't have one yet, so I drew one up, and that's how my proposal was born.
Her request for my proposal was what you might call a "partially favorable response": it was expected that nonficton authors include one, and if I had realized that (and had had one already at the time), I would presumably have sent the original query with the proposal attached, so in a sense she was merely requesting what I had left out of the standard query-package. On the other hand, literary agents don't waste time corresponding with authors whose book descriptions don't resonate with them to some extent, and she sent me examples of some proposals and some guidelines to use in creating my proposal. In the end, she said it wasn't a project she wanted to pursue.
Fast forward to the current query. This went to a small "boutique" agency where their submissions policy is just the query letter. So her request to see a proposal, while not as favorable a response as a request to see the entire manuscript, is a distinct positive response.
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The first time I sent out a full proposal, it was by request.
In brief, a proposal describes the book and elaborates on the concept as described in the pitch, analyzes the potential market for the book, introduces the author including qualifications & background & prior publications, examines similar books in the same genre and how this one compares to the others (similarities and differences), examines likely strategies for promoting the book and reaching the market, provides the table of contents and synopsis of each chapter, word count, length in conventionally-formatted pages, attests to the completeness (or lack thereof) of the book, optionally incorporates early reviews and feedback, and provides some sample chapters or chapter excerpts. Proposals are used almost exclusively for nonfiction books. Memoirs are odd beasties, telling an entertaining narrative story the same way fiction does but nevertheless being works of nonfiction; and I eventually sent my query letter to a literary agent at an agency that had a submissions policy that said all nonfiction queries should include a proposal, so she wrote back and asked me to send mine. I didn't have one yet, so I drew one up, and that's how my proposal was born.
Her request for my proposal was what you might call a "partially favorable response": it was expected that nonficton authors include one, and if I had realized that (and had had one already at the time), I would presumably have sent the original query with the proposal attached, so in a sense she was merely requesting what I had left out of the standard query-package. On the other hand, literary agents don't waste time corresponding with authors whose book descriptions don't resonate with them to some extent, and she sent me examples of some proposals and some guidelines to use in creating my proposal. In the end, she said it wasn't a project she wanted to pursue.
Fast forward to the current query. This went to a small "boutique" agency where their submissions policy is just the query letter. So her request to see a proposal, while not as favorable a response as a request to see the entire manuscript, is a distinct positive response.
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Index of all Blog Posts