Proposal Template

By Bill O’Hanlon

Use this Microsoft Word file as a template to create your trade book proposal. Fill in the blanks or my fake titles and content with your own and make sure you delete my stuff, except for titles of the sections. I have tried to put the parts to leave in, usually the section headings, in bold print. Also, remember to change the header by selecting Header and footer from the View menu and typing in your own title and name. The other parts are the parts you are to fill in yourself and delete my stuff. Always double-space everything in your proposal (don’t ask why, just do it-it’s the expected form and will look weird to agents and editors if you don’t).

On the following page is my proposal writing guidelines handout (delete it after you have finished your proposal: Page 2

HOW TO WRITE A COMPELLING PROPOSAL 1. Keep in mind these three elements in your description: The Problem: A succinct argument for what problem the book addresses. The Promise: What the book promises as a benefit to the reader The Program: Specifics about how the book proposes to deliver on the promise 2. Put forth some evidence that you can sell this book and that there is a market for it. Help the agent and the editor sell you and the book internally at the book company. 3. Usually the structure of a proposal is:  Introduction, which includes The Title, the Problem, the Promise and the Program in a succinct summary.  Something about the author(s). A short biographical statement, with heavy emphasis on things that will show the author(s) can write, complete a project, is easy to work with, is motivated to sell the book, is media-savvy or media-friendly and has some special marketing channels.  Chapter summaries for each chapter. Not too long, not too short. This varies with each project.  Expected length of manuscript, any special features (permissions needed, illustrations), and how long it will take you to deliver it in a finished form.  Analysis of the market and the competition. This is to show the book publisher and agent that you are not duplicating others’ efforts and that there is a potential market for your book. If there are too many other books, the publisher might think the market is saturated. If there are few books, the publisher might think there is no market since no one else is going after it. This is a delicate balance and your best bet is to show that there are other books out there that indicates a market for this kind of book, but that your book is really a unique take on the subject. Use Amazon.com or Books In Print in addition to visiting local bookstores to search for other books on the subject.  Sample writing chapter(s). The less you’ve written, the more of this is needed typically. 4. Diana Tonnessen (“3 Crucial Questions for a Winning Proposal,” Writer’s Digest, October 2002, pp.22-23; 45.) says there are three questions to answer in the proposal: So what?-What is the book about and why is it unique? Who are you? – Credentials and credibility; platform; the book’s origin story Who cares? – What/who makes up the market for your book?; population 5. Include other media materials with the proposal, like videos of television appearances, radio interviews, print articles, and so on. 6. If you have well-known people who have agreed to endorse your book, include evidence of that. 7. Make sure there are no typos or grammatical errors in the proposal. Have many people go over it before you send it off. 8. Most likely the book will have a new title when it is published, but you should try to come up with a compelling title that encapsulates the Problem, the Promise and the Program (almost impossible, of course). It’s not a hard and fast rule, but I have found that most successful books have one to four word titles (Divorce-Busting; Who Moved The Cheese?; Passages; Unlimited Power; Life Strategies; Life Makeovers), with the subtitle carrying more of the burden of giving specifics. Books to consult:  Herman, Jeff and Deborah Levine Herman (2001) Write the Perfect Book Proposal: 10 That Sold and Why. NY: John Wiley and Sons.  Maisel, Eric (2004) The Art of the Book Proposal: From Focused Idea to Finished Proposal. NY: Tarcher/Penguin. Page 3

Title page Proposal

Your book title (1-4 words if possible): Your subtitle (should have the promise and the program if possible)

Non-fiction: List the genre (like “self-help” or “spirituality” or “business”) of your book

By Your name here

Submitted by Your agent’s name and contact information here unless you are submitting directly to a publisher or don’t have an agent yet. If that’s the case, put your own name and contact information here Page 4

[Table of contents here with page numbers] Page 5

Overview and introduction

Write the briefest description of the project you can here, highlighting the point of the book, the intended audience and genre (self-help, memoir, how-to, and so on-if you are not sure what genre your book is on, visit a bookstore or look on your bookshelf for similar books and see what category is listed on the back cover (usually in the upper right hand corner, but sometimes elsewhere-this category listing helps booksellers determine in which section to display your book). Make sure, if your book is non-fiction, that you include the problem you are trying to solve with your book, the promise of what the reader is going to get after they read your book, and the program you propose for delivering the promise. I sometimes even break these out with heading of Problem, Promise and Program. Take as many pages as you need to do a thorough job but take as few as you can. Editors and agents are busy people and the quicker you can get the point across, the better. Brevity will also convey that you have done a lot of work to focus your project and that you can communicate it clearly.

About the Author Give a brief overview of why you are the best one to write this book (your qualifications and expertise, your unique perspective or slant) and what you can bring to the efforts to get the word about the book out once it is published. Page 6

Chapter summaries

Here you should write a summary of each chapter, in something like this form:

Chapter 1: Where are we going and why am I in this handbasket?: Crises, breakdowns, addictions and impasses as signals and callings to a different life

“If your train is on the wrong track, every station you come to is the wrong station.” –Bernard Malamud

Summary: Your current life and success strategies can take you only so far before they no longer work. Both the productive strategies and unhealthy patterns that got you to the place you are now are often insufficient to carry you into the future. Perhaps you have always avoided conflict, or you have developed the pattern of taking care of everyone else, or you have become rational and cut off your emotions. There are pros and cons to such strategies and patterns. They work in some contexts for some time, but in the end, they often break down. That aggressive sales style may work fine at work, but is a disaster in your marriage. When their strategies stop working, people often keep themselves distracted by staying busy or they numb themselves with drugs, alcohol or food. Drug and alcohol use, overworking or overeating only work up to a point and then those also come crashing down. Health problems ensue, someone close to you dies or leaves the relationship, you get fired, you find out you owe thousands of more dollars in taxes than you expected and will have to work even harder to pay it off. We have developed patterns and beliefs that are limiting our lives by keeping us too restricted. The next phases in our lives will require more resources than we currently have available, but in order to change, most of us need to confront a crisis so large that we can’t merely accommodate anymore; we must change. Internal and external crises can crack us open in Page 7 painful but good ways, helping us rediscover what we have left behind and what we need for the next parts of our life journey.

Rainer Maria Rilke wrote evocatively of this kind of breakdown: It’s possible I am pushing through solid rock . . . I am such a long way in I see no way through, and no space: everything is close to my face, and everything close to my face is stone. I don’t have much knowledge yet in grief –– so this massive darkness makes me small. You be the master: make yourself fierce, break in: then your great transforming will happen to me, and my great grief cry will happen to you.

Topics covered:

 Success strategies and coping mechanisms as attempted solutions that don’t work

forever

 Breakdowns and breakthroughs

 Wake up calls

Problems as signals and callings from the soul

Straws that break your back and break you open

When you can no longer go on like you have

Addictions, numbing and reawakening

Crises as invitations to questioning your current life and future path Page 8

Manuscript Specifications

Estimate the length of your manuscript (at approximately 250 words per manuscript page-use the word count feature under tools in Microsoft Word). [A typical non-fiction book is about 60,000 words, so you can just use that number if you want.] Will the book require illustrations or special permissions for cartoons, photos or excerpts from other works? Do you want the book to be a non-standard size? How long from the time you sign the contract can you deliver the finished manuscript (choose a time that is right for you, from six months [that’s pretty quick for most writers] to 18 months [more than that will seem too long unless the book will require lots of research]. Remember it will usually take several months or more to get a contract. It will usually take another year or so to get the book out once you deliver the manuscript.

Market Analysis: The Audience and the Competition If you have statistics or evidence on the size of the market or the strong motivation readers may have to buy the book, you can put it here. For example (and I am just making this one up): There are 5 million cases of Alzheimer’s in the U.S. today and more expected as baby boomer’s age. This book will offer a way to prevent Alzheimer’s from developing fully, thus appealing not only to the boomer’s themselves but to their caretakers. You can include publishing trends or cultural or population trends and statistics here.

This data suggests:

√ Women are seeking…...

√ Readers are hungry for help with …..

√ Boomers are grappling with…

√ 8 million adult children of aging parents are interested in practical

strategies and help dealing with their aging and ailing parents

√ The 900,000 quilting enthusiasts in the U.S and Canada would be potential

book buyers for a book on new digital textile printing techniques

Here you should also put in a quick overview of the other books that are similar to yours. If you think there are no competitors, you may be in trouble, because editors and agents may decide there is a good reason there are no competitors –no market for such a book. Don’t be nasty about it, but write about why the other books are not the same as yours and don’t speak to the market niche yours will. You want to strike the delicate balance of showing there is a good demand for such books and that yours hasn’t been written and will fill that demand. Here’s one I did: Page 9

The Market and the Competition

Rick Warren’s The Purpose-Driven Life is a current best seller, with lucrative spin-off workbooks and special sermon and group guides, but is too religious for people who are turned off by religious books. You must be a believer and Bible-oriented to get with this book. For many readers, this is a turnoff, even though the topic is compelling.

Other books in this space include:

The Path: Creating Your Mission Statement for Work and for Life by Laurie Beth

Jones (Hyperion; 1998). She’s the author of Jesus CEO, so again, if you are not heavily

Christian or Bible-oriented, this one probably loses you. Despite this limitation, it sells well.

The Purpose of Your Life: Finding Your Place In The World Using Synchronicity,

Intuition, And Uncommon Sense by Carol Adrienne and James Redfield (Perennial

Currents; 1999). He’s the author of The Celestine Prophecy. This book carries a woo- woo rating of 10 on a scale of 10. Very new-agey, much like The Celestine Prophecy.

Still, it sells well and has a different program and content than A Dent in the Universe.

The Power of Purpose: Creating Meaning in Your Life and Work by Richard J.

Leider (Berrett-Koehler Publishers; 1997). This one, again selling well, covers much the same territory, but more from a business/work orientation and with different principles. Page 10

Living a Life That Matters: Resolving the Conflict Between Conscience and Success by Harold Kushner (Alfred Knopf; 2001) is again fairly Biblical, with a Jewish slant, and also wanders around in many territories (What is a good person?; Can you be successful and a person who does good? Pursuing justice rather than revenge) that it is not as focused on purpose and contribution as A Dent in the Universe. I also differ from

Kushner in his setting up a conflict and dichotomy between success and conscience. Page 11

Writing sample

Include a section of a chapter from the book you are proposing here to show your writing style and ability. Choose your best writing. It doesn’t matter if it’s from the middle of the book. Page 12

Markets and publicity channels/promotional plan

If you have evidence of your ability to market or sell the book, put it in this special section. Mine is kind of long and may be intimidating for you, but these days, publishers and agents are looking for as much evidence they can get to help convince them and their customers and bosses that the book will sell before they buy it. Those of you who have taken my bookwriting course know this as “platform.” I usually include in the package with my proposal short excerpts of radio (audio tapes or CDs) and television (videotapes- not DVDs yet-wait a few years until everyone gets one in their office) interviews I have done, with copies of print articles that have featured me, my work or support the statistics

I have cited earlier on the size of the audience.

About Bill O’Hanlon, M.S., LMFT, CPC, LMHP

 Author or co-author of 21 books and 45 professional articles and book chapters

 Produced or co-produced seven audio-tapes, two computer programs, four internet

courses and five videotapes

 Regular foreign translations of many previous books (translated into French, Spanish,

Portuguese, Swedish, Finnish, German, Chinese, Bulgarian, Turkish, Korean and

Indonesian, Italian, Croatian, Arabic and Japanese)

 Extensive public speaking experience. Taught over 1200 seminars in the U.S.,

Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Japan, Scandinavia, Europe, South America,

Canada and Mexico, currently averaging four seminars a month with an average of Page 13

200 participants per seminar. Major faculty member or keynote presenter at four or

five national conferences per year with thousands of attendees at each.

 Developed a method of psychotherapy called brief solution-oriented therapy, an

approach which is sweeping the therapy field

 Appeared on the Today Show, Oprah Winfrey Show (as only and featured expert

for the hour), Canada AM and many other radio and TV shows

 Did two 10-city live publicity tours for previous books (Love is a Verb, Norton, 1995;

Do One Thing Different, Morrow, 1999/HarperTrade paperback, 2000); has done

three radio satellite tours

 Has had extensive media coaching

 Recently completed a TV pilot for “Possibilities”, as host-show is being pitched by

Producers Earthlingua

 Previous trade book a selection for Book of the Month Club, Quality Paperback Book

Club, and One Spirit Book Club ($15,000 advance)

 Previous books endorsed by Bernie Siegel, M.D. (author of Love, Medicine and

Miracles), Lonnie Barbach, Ph.D. (author of For Yourself), Ellen Kreidman, Ph.D.

(author of Light His Fire), Joan Borysenko, Ph.D. (author of Minding the Body,

Mending the Mind) and Michele Weiner-Davis, M.S.W. (author of Divorce-Busting)

 Previous trade book excerpted in Ladies Home Journal (January 2000); work has

been featured in Newsweek, Self, New Woman, Bottom Line and other national

magazines

 Has website (www.brieftherapy.com) with 30,000+ hits per month

 Has mailing list of 12,000+ people Page 14

 Has 4500-name email mailing list of people interested in his work and who receive

his monthly email newsletter

 Has toll-free number (800.381.2374)

 Licensed Mental Health Professional, Certified Professional Counselor, and Licensed

Marriage and Family Therapist

 Seminar leader of many “Book Writing and Publishing Boot Camps” Page 15

Comments on Bill’s book coaching and marketing abilities

Comments about Bill’s book coaching:

“A decade ago I consulted Bill O'Hanlon to get some ideas about presenting and publishing. Two hundred workshops and 8 books later, I'm glad I did! Bill's coaching is practical, user-friendly, inspiring, and likely to be effective--plus he's funny! If Bill's course sounds like what you're looking for, go for it!”–Michael F. Hoyt, Ph.D., national and international workshop presenter; author of Some Stories Are Better than Others,

Brief Therapy and Managed Care, Interviews with Brief Therapy Experts, and The

Present Is a Gift; plus the editor of several volumes.

"This has been an awesome experience. I've learned five years worth of info in five days." –Stephanie Wasserman, Ph.D. (from a participant in the face-to-face course)

“I attended Bill's bookwriting and publishing boot camp last summer (7/03) for both a non-fiction and some fiction book projects. It was excellent. It is fast paced and intense but he provided breaks and field trips. Bill is very bright, quick-witted, and serious about any project he takes on, so we certainly got our money's worth. Actually, I'd say he gives

150% of what he promises. He takes ‘producing satisfied attendees’ as a serious goal himself.” -Sharon McIntosh

"Overwhelmed with not only my private practice but the prospect of writing a book, Bill led me through the process and was able to break it down into feasible and do-able steps. Page 16

As a result, my book was bid on by several major publishers and finally picked up by one, with a sizable advance attached." –Ray Levy, Ph.D.

“Bill O’Hanlon believes that each person has something to say—a book to write. When I met Bill he told me this very thing. He was right. Through Bill’s mentoring and coaching, I have authored or coauthored 8 professional books and have three others in progress. Bill can help you to do the same by honing and organizing your ideas, creating clear outlines, structuring your writing, and creating sound proposals. I highly recommend that you take this opportunity to learn from a passionate leader with proven methods for success.” –Bob Bertolino, Ph.D., author or co-author of eight books including Therapy with Troubled Teenagers: Rewriting Young Lives in Progress, Even from a Broken Web: Brief, Respectful Solution-Oriented Therapy for Sexual Abuse and

Trauma, Collaborative, Competency-Based Counseling and Therapy, The Therapist’s

Notebook for Families: Solution-Oriented Exercises for Working with Parents, Children, and Adolescents, and Change-Oriented Therapy with Adolescents and Young Adults: A

New Generation of Respectful and Effective Process and Practices.

Comment from previous publicist:

“Bill O’Hanlon is a publicist’s dream! I have thoroughly enjoyed working with him on his publicity for Do One Thing Different. He is professional, flexible and readily available for anything that comes along. Bill is the type of author that makes a publicist’s job worth it!” –Jennifer Heeseler, Publicist, Krupp Kommunications, January, 2001 Page 17

Special marketing efforts and channels

Long-standing personal relationship with owners (Bobbie Somer and Gayle Shanks) of

Phoenix area largest independent bookstore, Changing Hands, in Tempe, Arizona

Pre- and post-publication announcement sent to my 4,500-person opt-in newsletter list.

This list grows by 100 or so per month.

Back of the room sales at workshops and conferences occur regularly throughout the year. My speaking contract specifies that books must be available for sale. Prepublication announcement flyers will be distributed as soon as they are available to workshop and conference attendees. (Average audience reached per year: 10,000).

Frequent overseas teaching trips results in the likelihood of translation rights being sold.

List of previous radio interviewers who expressed an interest in having me guest again for a future book based on past radio satellite tours.

I have hired outside publicists to supplement the publishers’ efforts for each of my previous trade books and plan to do so for each of my future trade books.

Even though I have had media coaching in the past, I plan to hire a media coach to help me focus and effectively communicate the message for this and any other future trade books. Page 18

I have contact information for local bookstores and chains where I live in Santa Fe and

Albuquerque (one hour away) and plan to set up local booksignings.

If the budget allows, the publisher could easily and relatively inexpensively piggy back on cities to which I will already be traveling and having my airfare paid during the promotional period. I could arrive earlier in the day or a day before I had planned to arrive to do local, live publicity (radio, television, newspaper, magazine or mini-lectures/ booksignings). These events sometimes happen and are arranged by my local workshop sponsors, but could be more extensive with a more thought-out and consistent approach.

I have begun to speak for writer’s conferences and plan to write short advice and experience articles for various writers’ magazines.

Writer’s Digest Book Club may be a large volume purchaser.