How to write a nonfiction book proposal wolf literary services. For a professional paper, this includes your paper title and the page number. A book proposal argues why your book idea is a salable, marketable product. Those two to three singlespaced pages of agony will never be seen by anyone else but editors and agents, so why. May 03, 2007 in most printed text that i read, whether in books, magazines, or newspapers, the margins are justified. Editorial specialties and email addresses are listed on our about the mnhs press page. What documents should an academic book proposal contain. However, for letters, emails, memos, and short reports, the standard format is to use single spacing and no indentation. Why are you the only person who can write this book. Maybe youve heard that a book proposal is the most professional way to present your nonfiction book idea. Individual program solicitations may eliminate this proposer option. The first is to help prepare you to research and write your thesis research term paper.
How to write a nonfiction book proposal wolf literary. May 28, 2017 a book proposal argues why your book idea is a salable, marketable product. While proposal length varies tremendously, most are somewhere around10 to 25pages doublespaced, not including sample chapters. You may have dreamed of the way youve always wanted your book to look in. Gordon warnock, partner, fuse literary agency take it from someone who has seen a lot of book proposals. High quality, fast proofreading of documents, proposals, or excerpts up to 15 pages double spaced. Double space the text of your paper and use a legible font e. Id recommend double spacing, 12point font, and having the font in anything not crazy.
Be bold, your own way if youre a quiet, stayathome writer. A key example noted is the screenwriting industrys monospaced standard for screenplay manuscripts, courier, 12point font, 75 although some works on screenwriting indicate that courier is merely. Start a separate header to insert page numbers start header on page 2. These type of proposals are like newlymade proposals that need to be approved in the same manner as the new one. Karen marken senior managing editor, reference content. The type size used throughout the proposal must conform to all three requirements. Lines should be double spaced with no extra spaces between paragraphs.
All submissions should be double spaced, 12point type, and include headings that support a clear hierarchy. Completed manuscripts will be 100 150 doublespaced pages 25,000 37,500 words, excluding title page, table of contents, preface, foreword, tables and figures, and bibliography. It breaks down what we are looking for as agents with useful examples and tips from our side of the desk. Unsure about what should be in an academic book proposal or what information academic book proposals usually contain. Here is a basic template for a book proposal, which many of our clients have used successfully. The application should not exceed 6 pages doublespaced, excluding references, curriculum vitae and writing sample. Formatting your manuscript for editors and agents lisa poisso. Doublespaced lines in a presentation is right out of a 1960s college paper. To create a header or footer, go to the insert tab on the toolbar, activate header, select the style you want, then select edit header, then type your surnametitle. Final drafts of letters will be single spaced, as a general rule.
Due to how typewriters handled proportionate spacing, it was easier to read typewritten documents which placed two periods between sentences. In the first paragraph, use around 300 words to write a brief but intriguing summary of your book. If you start double spacing you risk having pages that arent as satisfying as they could be and even though your work would be longer double spaced, the customer wont have the same sense of satisfaction. Research proposal guidelines michigan state university. Its also more difficult to read singlespaced material. Book proposal guidelines as a museum, research center, and publisher dedicated to the study and preservation of the history and culture of new orleans and the gulf south, the historic new orleans collection publishes works that reflect the scope of the institutions holdings, complement its exhibition and programming schedule, and support its mission. Manuscripts and proposals should be formatted in 12point, times new roman font. How to write a book proposal is the resource for aspiring nonfiction authors. Remember to use these as hintsdo not follow them slavishly as if a literary agent is going to spend their time critiquing your cover letter. Some writers naturally wonder whether they might not be better off just writing the entire book and trying to sell that. Its also more difficult to read single spaced material. Following are the major elements of a book proposal in the sequence i prefer.
When writing an ebook and publishing it, do you double space. Heres how james felici, the complete manual of typography 2003, defines justified margins. All material must adhere to american psychological association apa style. The form and length of your application should be adapted to the research that you propose to do. Every fiction book proposal must include a synopsis. At the risk of sounding like the tim gunn of proposal writing, be sure to edit carefully when it comes to the visual presentation. Proponents of double sentence spacing also state that some publishers may still require double spaced manuscript submissions from authors. Aug 12, 2008 double spacing is a distraction to the reader.
Refer to the publication manual of the american psychological association, seventh edition apa, 2020. Most writers use either doublespaced lines or singlespaced linesnothing in betweenbecause those are the options presented by word processors. Mnhs press submission guidelines minnesota historical. Of course, its best to set up your document before you begin. It acts as a business case or business plan for your book that persuades a publisher to make an investment. Nonfiction book proposal outline ted weinstein literary. A typical book proposal can be as brief as 35 pages and as lengthy as 15 pages. The outline below specifies the information which should be included in your application. Because the subject of book proposals is complex, its only natural to have questions about it when youre starting out on the path to becoming a published author.
Proofread grant documents and proposals by eeclements. Writing a nonfiction book proposal by scott mendel. Your book might be longer or shorter, ranging from 35,000 words a slim, 100 page volume to 200,000 words or more. By the way, we make a distinction between a cover letter and a query letter. Write a second paragraph that describes the essentials. This includes things like whether the lines are single or doublespaced. Materials should be set in a 12point font and double spaced. Book proposals vary in approach, length, and style, but certain key elements must be included for yours to succeed. Is the document single spaced, double spaced, or spaceandahalf consistently. Query letters and proposals should be emailed or mailed. Those two to three single spaced pages of agony will never be seen by anyone else but editors and agents, so why. Manuscripts and sample chapters should also have numbered pages, be singlesided and double spaced, and any submission should include a cover letter and complete contact information an. A table of contents to the proposal itself, with page numbers for easy reference to all major sections and sample chapters.
While line spacing singlespaced, doublespaced, etc. Type your paper on a computer and print it out on standard, white 8. These include a normal word space as between the words in a sentence, a single enlarged space, and two full spaces. In 10 to 25 pages, you must describe what you have to offer. Instead of writing the entire book, then trying to interest an editor or agent which is how it works with novels, you write the proposal first. Every single mentor i asked during my own process urged me to wait until the manuscript was written to submit proposals. Singlespace chapter titles with doublespaced document. Aug 24, 2009 im not prepared to aver that double spaces at the ends of sentences arose from crass commercial concerns, but i think it makes a quality rumor, and you can say you saw it here first. Advice that i find myself giving out again and again as an agent is guidance on how to write a nonfiction book proposal. Whenever you set out to produce a major research project, whether it will result in a scholarly article or book, or an undergraduate. If you have done any previous research as an undergraduate you must include a 12 page doublespaced summary of your research results or creative products. While line spacing single spaced, double spaced, etc. A description of the shape and format of your proposed book. Editors prefer to receive proposals by regular mail.
The high end business proposals look like they were written by booz allen, complete with doublecolumn formats, breakout boxes, tables and graphs, and the powerpoint. Writing a nonfiction book proposal by scott mendel updated. Sometimes its even difficult to write casual comments on single spaced material. The manuscript must be typed and double spaced, including references. Book proposal guidelines the historic new orleans collection. If your book ends up shorter than youd like just change what you call it. Debate about two spaces after a period in legal writing. Kelly hart is a proofreading contractor for book cover cafe and has been a slush reader for andromeda spaceways inflight magazine. Page count varies pretty widely, but each section in the proposal is usually about a page long, with the chapter summaries and sample chapters being longer.
Use double spacing throughout, including title page, references, and indented quotations. While proposal length varies tremendously, most are somewhere around 10 to 25 pages doublespaced, not including sample chapters. I never use double spacing unless im printing something out to edit it and plan on writing a lot of notes in pen i always use 1. If you are doing your plan on a computer use bold for the least important headings and bold with larger font sizes for more important headings. Chapters should be roughly the same length a maximum of 6,000 words or 25 doublespaced manuscript pages each. Provide a sample that is typical of the book as a whole, especially critical to your argument, potentially controversial, or a good overview of the book. You will need to adjust this by selecting the page layout menu.
When writing an ebook and publishing it, do you double. This ultimate guide shows you how to format your book stepbystep. The answer to this question is field and pressdependent. Your book might be longer or shorter, ranging from 35,000 words a. In this 1846 pocket volume for newlywed women, the sentences are as spaced out as the advice. How to format your manuscript even if you hate computers. This type of proposal is a request for the succeeding years funding, including the progress report of the project, the budget, etc. If properly developed and researched, a proposal can take weeksor longer to write. Publishing pros are perfectly capable of opening multiple documents, but every second they spend closing and opening.
This goes for academic assignments, articles, fiction or nonfiction manuscripts, legal documents, and many others. Spend the first few paragraphs describing your book. May 16, 2016 to create a header or footer, go to the insert tab on the toolbar, activate header, select the style you want, then select edit header, then type your surnametitle. As we all know, word is a robust program with a lot of capabilities that require time. Your essay should be typed and doublespaced on standardsized paper 8. Set the margins for your document at 3cm on all four sides. One of the most common diy errors i see in selfpublished books is doublespacing between paragraphs. Im not prepared to aver that double spaces at the ends of sentences arose from crass commercial concerns, but i think it makes a quality rumor, and you can say you saw it here first.
In most printed text that i read, whether in books, magazines, or newspapers, the margins are justified. Under the spacing heading, set the spacing option to 0 pt. The lessobvious elements of an effective book proposal. If you would like to publish a book with the naval institute press, please submit either a proposal andor completed manuscript. A good example of where it is used is in mla format, where having each page double spaced is a rule. Sentence spacing is the space between sentences in typeset text. May 07, 2020 spend the first few paragraphs describing your book. Double spacing means that there is space between two lines of text equivalent to the height of a text line. Industry standards for formatting your manuscript for submission to an. Hints for a great cover letter the steve laube agency. Doublespace your manuscript or manuscript excerpts. What does it mean to doublespace the document and how do. Guidelines for writing project proposals undergraduate.
This is not the doublespaced, stretched justification from your technological youth. The average nonfiction book is about 200 pages in typeset, published form, with approximately 400 words a page. You should estimate the length of the completed manuscript, either by word count or by the estimated. This is, on the surface, selfexplanatory, but youll want to answer the question. Since the introduction of movabletype printing in europe, various sentence spacing conventions have been used in languages with a latin alphabet. Mnhs press submission guidelines minnesota historical society. You are also welcome to listen to free audio recordings of teds book proposal bootcamp and other workshops and media appearances. Published documents may not use a blank line between paragraphs, substituting a onequarter inch indentation to mark the first line of each paragraph. Right from the start, you need to convince the agent or publisher that the book you want to submit will be successful in the marketplace. Looking back at my own documents, my project descriptiona sort of template book proposal that i then modified to conform to publishers guidelineswas 6 doublespaced pages. Double spacing just looks to me like someone is trying to make a short, crappy essay look long brings back memories of middle school homework assignments. For a student paper, this only includes the page number.
List your last name and the title of your book, such as cotner writing and selling an irresistible book proposal, on the upper left corner of each page. You should estimate the length of the completed manuscript, either by word count or by the estimated number of doublespaced manuscript pages. I like a singlespaced look for everything but the writing sample. You will use a half page single spaced document to type 250 words essay if your fonts match the ones mentioned above. Single space the text and double space between paragraphs. A typical proposal is an average of 50 to 80 pages, typed out in a 12point serif font, double spaced. The next step is to write a winning book proposaldesigned to persuade an agent to ask to see your manuscript and consider representing it to publishers. You may visit mcfarland in person for a tour or social visit, but we are unable to evaluate proposals while you wait. Its a perk of nonfiction that you can sell a book on proposal before sitting down to the write the whole shebang, and often receiving an advance will.
Here are a few suggestions for you to consider when approaching an agent. Overview describe your book in two or three paragraphs 500 wo. Requested manuscripts should be word documents unless otherwise specified, typed in 12point font, doublespaced, and paginated. A full book proposal should contain the following elements. We also help evaluate query letters or book proposals. Include a page header also known as the running head at the top of every page. To format your document all at once, press and hold ctrl and press a to select the whole.
Oct 23, 2018 academic book proposals and your timeline when should i submit academic book proposals. Book proposal guidelines book proposals welcome aaidd. Line spacing is the vertical distance between lines of text. How to format a manuscript lorincz literary services. If you look at a commercially published book, you will see that there is never an extra line between paragraphs. Preparing your book proposal or manuscript for submission. Are you getting ready to send a query for a novel or a memoir. If your book fits into a particular series at the press, mention that, and explain why. Justified text versus raggedright text adams on contract. A book proposal includes a prospectus and a sample chapter. Research grants american association for the history of. Poor formatting indicates that either you didnt read their submission guidelines or. How to format a novel manuscript writing academy scribophile.
Maybe youve wondered how to write a book proposal and what to include. In this 1846 pocket volume for newlywed women, the sentences are. Report on previous research experience please save and upload this as a separate document. Whatever font you choose, mla recommends that the regular and italics type styles contrast enough that they are each distinct from one another. This includes references, abbreviations, and guidelines for language bias. Material that is single spaced cannot be easily edited. The manuscript must be typed and doublespaced, including references. Published documents may not use a blank line between paragraphs, substituting a one. Now that everything is written on computers using fonts that do not have the limitations of typewriters, documents are now more readable if there is only one space after the period. Number the pages consecutively in a single sequence. Everyone who teaches on the book proposal says you need one.