Writing A Book Proposal that Sells
Third In the Series of Articles

This is the third and last on a series about a formatting and writing a book proposal written by Michael Hyatt from Thomas Nelson publishers. I will be happy to send you the entire article if you wish simply by contacting me at michaelelmorechristianwriter@mchsi.com

I don't know about you, but I feel strongly that God has called me to write my book. Have you sensed that God has issued a call upon your life to reach out to others through writing. You may think that your writing isn't good enough, or that you have no experience or that no one would be interested in what I have to say. If God has called you to a writing ministry, then what you say will impact people's lives; writing is a ministry! Please enjoy the article, learn a lot, and let me know how I can help.

2. The Market (Who will buy this
book?)

3. The Author (Why are you the
best possible author for this
book?)

It should be no more than three to
five single-spaced pages in length (see
fig. 3-7, beginning on p. 4, for an
example).

1. The Content
Once an editor flips past the title page,
he then wants to know what the book
is about. You can best communicate
this by stating the book’s premise, setting
forth a few other details about
your book.

Premise. The premise is a two- or three
sentence statement of the book’s basic
concept or thesis. Usually, it identifies
the need and then proposes a solution.

Let’s return to the hypothetical
book. What’s the need you’re trying to
address? Isn’t it the lack of training in
money management that children are
receiving from their parents? Or, to
turn it around a bit, isn’t it the failure
of parents to teach their children how
to become financially responsible that
concerns you?

After a little work, you
come up with the following premise:
Most children will leave their homes
upon graduation from high school
with little–if any–training in money
management. As a result, they are
likely to experience many years of
struggle and frustration. The purpose
of this book is to equip parents to
teach their children the attitudes,
principles and skills they need in
order to enjoy a life free of financial
hassle and heartache.

Not Bad. You’ve identified the
problem, and you’ve said exactly what
the book will do to solve it. And
you’ve done it in three sentences!
Developing a good premise is one of
the most difficult challenges of good
writing. It is, however, absolutely vital.
Without it, your writing will lack clarity
and focus. With it, your writing is
more likely to be strong and forceful. It
is well worth investing the time necessary
to write a strong premise.

Unique Selling Proposition. Now that
you have a premise, you need to focus
on how the reader will benefit from
reading your book. This is what publishers
often refer to as the book’s “take
away” value–what the reader can
expect to “take away” after reading the
book. It is sometimes referred to as the
book’s unique selling proposition, or USP.

This proposition clearly identifies
what the reader will gain by reading
the book (i.e., the book’s benefits) and
how the book will deliver it (i.e., the
book’s features).

The simplest way to arrive at a solid
USP is to complete this sentence (fill
in the information between the brackets):
If consumers in the target market
purchase and read [name of book],