The day has come. You’ve written, polished, and honed the manuscript for your memoir. Go you! Now it’s time to get that baby out there, and for that you need your beautifully crafted book proposal. But does the thought of writing that beautifully crafted book proposal fill you with dread? Let me help with that. In my last two posts (here and here), I looked at what a book proposal is and why you need one. Now—what about the how? In essence, a book proposal consists of eight d

If you’re pitching your memoir to literary agents, the million-dollar question is this: how do you catch an agent’s eye? Impress the agent For the agent, their first step is figuring out why should they read your manuscript, out of the thousands on their desk. They want to know, “Does this writer have the chops? Can they actually write?” If you can affirm that with your beautifully crafted book proposal, then they will be excited to read your manuscript. What is it? Think of

You’ve written your memoir. Now what? Finishing your memoir is not the end of the path to publication. You’re going to need a book proposal. But why? Your book proposal is where the rubber hits the road. If your memoir is truly going to be published, you are going to have to figure out how to persuade an agent and an editor that it’s commercially viable—as well as creatively attractive. Your book proposal encapsulates the idea of your memoir, and helps you to explain why anyo

This week I’m launching not one, but two new courses to help writers who are wrestling with their book proposal—whether they’re already writing one, or wondering if they even need to. Baby number 1: How to Write a Book Proposal for Your Memoir—A Webinar I’ve teamed up with memoir guru Joanne Spataro to present a webinar specifically about writing a book proposal for your memoir. In this 90-minute, on-demand webinar, we answer all of the pressing questions like: · How ca