Become a member

Loading

Pitching non-fiction

Crafting a book proposal

Outside of memoir and biography, most non-fiction manuscripts can be submitted to publishers and literary agents before they are completed. If you can successfully sell your concept or work-in-progress, you will gain financial and editorial support to help see you through the writing process — but first, you have to prove your work is worth the investment. 

Crafting an impactful non-fiction book proposal is a skill that requires an understanding of the essential proposal elements, from expected industry standards to the required materials and their content. You will also need to know how to position your work to stand out from the crowd and demonstrate market potential. 

Join award-winning author Rebecca Giggs for 2 one-hour sessions, where she will detail how you can compose your non-fiction proposal — the submission materials you need to prepare, how to identify and clearly communicate your hook, and how to avoid the common mistakes that can lead to rejection.

You will learn:

  • At which stage of your project’s development you should begin writing a proposal
  • How to think about the audience for your book proposal — apart from the target readership of your book
  • How to avoid the broad 'topic cover' proposal and make your specific stake in the subject clear
  • The typical approaches to structuring a non-fiction book proposal
  • How to demonstrate your timeliness and topicality, justify your selection of case studies or subject, and articulate your expertise, experience or authority
  • How to describe the shape of your book and compose a draft Table of Contents
  • How to put your book into a publishing context with comparative titles
  • How to approach submitting your proposal to a literary agent or publisher
  • To what extent the finished book has to marry up to the proposal

There will be time for questions.

Whether you’ve been submitting without success and want to identify the areas of improvement in your materials, or you’re new to the genre and want to know what publishers and agents look for, Rebecca’s expert guidance will equip you with the tips and knowledge you need to craft compelling book proposals.

Who is this for?

  • Non-fiction authors wanting insight into the industry standards and expectations for book proposals
  • Non-fiction authors preparing for the pitching and submissions process for the first time
  • Non-fiction authors seeking to understand where and how their submission materials could be improved to increase their chances of acquisition

About the Presenter

Rebecca Giggs
Rebecca Giggs
 Read more

Can't make it to the live session?

No problem! Everyone booked in to this event will be emailed a link and passcode to access the recording afterwards. This recording will be available to view for 10 days after the live session. This also means that if you wish to revisit the session after attending it live to take further notes, you can do so!

After 10 days, the link will expire and the recording will no longer be available to view.