219
67
Your weapon for pursuing
publication is the killer proposal.
Every novelist needs to know how to put together a killer
proposal.
The killer proposal is what gets your book to the next
level of consideration, which is a request to see your full
manuscript. It’s what gets you through the fi rst door.
The three pillars of the novel proposal are:
•
the query letter
•
the synopsis
•
your fi rst three chapters
A great query letter is like a fi rm handshake. It makes
the recipient want to see what you’re about. A bad letter is
like a fi sh handshake or a Hello made with garlic breath.
A synopsis should read like jacket copy on steroids.
And then there are your fi rst three chapters (some
guidelines may ask for your fi rst fi ve or ten pages). Why
the fi rst three instead of just any three?
•
Because if you send some middle chapters, the
agent or editor will wonder what’s wrong with
your opening.
Z4273i_184-220.indd 219Z4273i_184-220.indd 219 9/24/09 11:21:34 AM9/24/09 11:21:34 AM
220
•
The opening is what hooks readers. Editors and
agents want to know you can do that.
By the way, the part of your proposal that usually
read fi rst is page one of your sample chapters. Why? Because
it saves time. If you can’t write, the reader doesn’t have
to bother with the rest of the package.
Good ROE for the reader.
What about a chapter-by-chapter outline? Submit
that only if it is specifi cally requested. Otherwise, don’t
bother. There is no way to make an outline of chapters
read well. Some novelists look at a book on proposal
writing and mistakenly believe that the requirements
of a fi ction proposal are the same as a nonfi ction book.
Not so. Outlines are essential to the nonfi ction proposal.
They are fi ne in that context because they are giving hard
information about the sections of the book.
But fi ction is about story, and chapter outlines do
not make for compelling narrative.
That’s it. Letter, synopsis, sample chapters.
Now all you have to do is make each of them like
Elizabeth Taylor in A Place in the Sun—irresistible. That is
up to you and your material, of course. The concept and
content of every story remains unique to the author.
But how you present you material in the proposal is
key. If you’ll keep it simple and follow the suggestions in
the next few pages, presentation will never be a problem.
Z4273i_184-220.indd 220Z4273i_184-220.indd 220 9/24/09 11:21:34 AM9/24/09 11:21:34 AM
..................Content has been hidden....................
You can't read the all page of ebook, please click here login for view all page.