Your Novel Proposal: From Creation to Contract : The Complete Guide to Writing Query Letters, Synopses and Proposals for Agents and Editors
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Your Novel Proposal: From Creation to Contract : The Complete Guide to Writing Query Letters, Synopses and Proposals for Agents and Editors
The only guide of its kind created just for fiction writers. Drawing upon the insights of experienced authors, editors and agents, it provides writers with crucial information needed to get published in today's rapidly-changing fiction industry.
Using examples from real novel proposals, this guide illustrates all the do's and don't of pitching a manuscript, including how to:
-target the right publishers -find a great agent -network and make important industry contacts -send a query letter that gets attention -avoid editors' and agents' "Top 10 submission pet peeves" -master the elements of a strong synopsis and killer cover letter
And you thought writing your novel was difficult! Now you have to wade your way through query letters, synopses, outlines, agents, cover letters, proposals, and, with any luck, editors and publishers. There is an etiquette to gaining representation for your novel, and you'd be a fool not to follow it after all the hard work you've put in. Stellar agents are not exactly twiddling their thumbs waiting for the phone to ring or the mail to bring in the next batch of writers' queries; one wrong sentence or mistimed phone call (but you wouldn't really wake a sleeping agent, would you?) can foil your chances completely. Blythe Camenson and Marshall J. Cook, authors and teachers both, have enlisted published writers (Elmore Leonard, Dick Francis, Stephen King), agents, and editors to help them teach us everything there is to know about turning that manuscript into a published novel. "Getting your novel published," they warn, "will take the same sort of creative problem solving, the same determination and persistence, the same refusal to quit that you brought to writing the book." True. Except this time, you have their help. What qualifications should you include in your query letter? How do you portray a whole novel in a one-page synopsis? How long should you expect to wait for a response? Camenson and Cook cover it all. The keyword to success here is professionalism, and, if you follow the advice put forth in this book, you'll learn how to be a professional in this business, from the very first query to the "firing the agent who isn't working out" missive. --Jane Steinberg
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
Much Needed Information:
Finally a how-to book for novelists who are writing a book proposal. This book takes you step-by-step through the process and shows you what is necessary to complete an acceptable proposal. The book includes insights from respected agents and editors. Camenson and Cook discuss marketing of your novel from the query through cover letter, synopsis, chapter outline and sample chapters, including many examples that worked for best-selling authors. On page 20 the authors write, "The purpose of the proposal is to... more info
The world of the author, with laughter instead of tears:
This book is wonderful. It made me laugh instead of cry. As a beginner in the publishing world, we often feel frustrated and discouraged. Blythe and Cook make jokes about silly things beginner writers do, turning the whole breaking-the-ice game into laughter. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and even though I am still back at the same place with query letters and the rest, at least now, I feel like I am bit smarter and a bit happier. Thanks for this great book.
Sent me back to the drawing board:
I thought I knew how to write proposals; and I did. For non-fiction. The whole approach for fiction is very different and this book guided me through the processes, but more important, through how to think about it. It's "thump you in the forehead" writing that permits no excuses, no evasions. The title says what it's about and it certainly is. Steps, examples and overriding principles. Examples of queries and synopses from their flawed first drafts to their polished conclusions. A great lot of information... more info
helpful but not miracle working:
Bad news: It didn't help me get my novel published, although I followed all the steps. Good news: It taught me some things I didn't know, but that would be true of almost any book on writing I've come across. What I found the most useful was sample synopsis, something that can be extremely difficult for a novice to the book-submitting game to develop. I also admire the upbeat and encouraging tone. I wouldn't hesitate to give it as a gift to a writer, but I would warn them not to expect... more info
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