The Hustler Diaries Part 5: How to Write a Nonfiction Book Proposal

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Last week, I completed a draft of my nonfiction book proposal and sent it to my agent. Now, the waiting begins. Here’s what I learned along the way:

Do your research

Nonfiction book proposals follow a template. There’s an overview, an author’s bio, a marketing plan, a comparative analysis, and an outline. There may be additional things, like a sample chapter. You can learn all about these bits and pieces on Google. The main thing I discovered this time around is the briefer the better. In previous drafts, I’ve over-delivered (which is to say: I tried to stuff it with too many things) or over-sold (in which case, it sounded more like puffery than promise). This time, I was more reserved, more elegant, more reasonable. I’d rather by a used car from the latter than the former. Wouldn’t you?

Go big or go home

Sometimes it’s hard to emotionally commit to a proposal. It is, after all, a proposal. Rejection haunts the hallways of your mind, and you’re just not sure if you’re giving someone you’ve never met (in this case, an editor) what they want. I think this is the part I struggled with the most. In earlier drafts, it was too memoir-y. Then it go too impersonal. This time, I believe I struck a middle ground. But the key was taking the time to realize how I wanted to tell the story. If you keep trying to figure out how they want you to tell your story, you’ll never end up telling your story at all. You’ll wind up delivering the story they wanted to hear.

Let it go

Last Tuesday, I realized it was done. I took a final pass at it, and then I emailed it to my agent. Typically, this is the hardest part. The waiting. The not knowing. The uncertainty of it. Which is why I’ve busied myself with other things. Like this blog. Or a movie. Or taking walks outside, where the roses are totally in bloom.

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