The Two Ingredients You Need to Make Your Book Proposal Rise to the Occasion!

How do you know if you’re developing a book concept that is a passable idea versus a great idea?

If you’re pursuing traditional publishing, you must know two developmental elements that determine whether your concept is okay or great. These elements are like baking powder or yeast, which make the other ingredients rise so the final product tastes and looks great. We should never taste the baking powder or yeast, but we can quickly see when they’re missing because the baked goods fall flat.

Today, we will discuss the two book-crafting ingredients and how to ensure they are kneaded into your project and conveyed in your book proposal.

As a literary agent, my favorite book proposals are ones where I open the email and the author researches to ensure all necessary elements are present beyond the basics.

To make sure we’re on the same page, here are the essential elements of a book proposal:

• Captivating hook
• Good description
• Appropriate word count for non-fiction category or fiction genre
• Well-developed platform, including a robust email list
• Strong marketing plan
• Chapters summaries (non-fiction)/Full synopsis (fiction)
• Sample chapter

Those are the basics. However, these two crucial elements must be baked into the concept to capture an agent or editor’s attention. Here they are:

• Marketability
• Salability

In a world with millions of books on the market, marketability and salability lift a project so that it stands out from other similar submission. Let’s dive into the specifics of these elements: 

MARKETABLE: Does this book appeal to an established, growing audience?

Here’s three ideas to help you hone in on whether your book is marketable:

1. Abandon the “no one has ever written a book like this before” mindset. If there has never been another book like yours, then it’s doubtful anyone will be looking for it. Yes, there are groundbreaking books out there, but they are rare and let me humbly add, often an unforeseen success. When a book topic has an established audience this means readers are looking for concepts like yours. Discoverability is the golden grail of book sales. 
2. Check out your book’s category on Amazon to see how many recently published books are out here. It’s a good thing when a category contains new books are on a similar topic because it generates excitement like bees gathering around honey. On the flip side, if your book idea is coming toward the end of a long line of new releases in a category, that reader market may have moved on.  Consider re-vamping your concept to target a fresh angle or subcategory. You can also set the project aside and wait until demand for that topic increases again.
3. Choose a topical niche that isn’t too broad but not too narrow. I call this the “Goldilocks Approach.” There are so many books on the market in every category, so if your topic is parenting, that topic is too broad. Potential readers will want to know, “What part of parenting?” before considering your book. On the flip side, it’s possible to write to an audience that’s too narrow, such as Christian Parents of Children Who Don’t Like Cereal. Even if it’s a great idea, it will be a more challenging project to sell if there aren’t enough possible readers.

SALABLE: Does this book offer a unique concept or perspective that makes it an attractive “must-buy”?

Years ago, Janet Grant and Wendy Lawton wrote The Inside Scoop: Two Agents Dish on Getting Published, and they defined salability as a project’s ability to “hit the reader’s hot buttons.”

For non-fiction writers, this means tapping into their target reader’s strongest felt need, a deep aspiration or longing with a fresh solution or new language that addresses an old, stubborn problem. For novelists, salability includes an intriguing hook, captivating writing style, and compelling stakes. It’s the concept that prompts an agent or editor to raise their eyebrows or tilt their head and respond, “That’s fascinating!” For the record, the word “interesting” is a fairly generic response among agents and editors. Words like “I’m intrigued,” “That sounds fascinating,” or an enthusiastic “Tell me more” is a much better gauge of genuine versus polite interest.”

I concede the hazy line between what’s salable and popularity, but there are some insights you can glean on how to make sure your project hits those hot buttons.

1. Read the descriptions of 5-8 top sellers in your proposed categories on Amazon. What are their project’s hooks, plot, and unique selling proposition? Creating a spreadsheet to note the different hooks and overall premises might be helpful as you compare your project to theirs.
2. Drill down the hook or premise of your book into three sentences or less and test it with a small, trusted group of friends, preferably other authors. Invite them to share ideas on how you can increase the conflict or intrigue in a novel or better define the felt need or transformation journey in a non-fiction book.
3. Look at the social media comments from other authors’ posts in your category. This simple hack helps you see what people are saying about their journey with a particular topic (non-fiction) or what they enjoyed about a story (fiction). You can learn much about why people purchase a specific book from a certain author.

Join the conversation: Are you querying, pitching, or brainstorming a new project? What suggestions in today’s blog were helpful for you?