How To: Proposal Preparation ~ @AuthorKristina Knight

So you’ve written your book, that means you’re ready to submit to an editor, right? The simple answer is yes, but the actual answer is yes, but. 

It’s been a while since I’ve done a how-to post here on the blog, and I realize not all of this information will be helpful to everyone reading, but I think it’s never a bad thing to go through our personal proposal processes to make sure we’re putting our best author foot forward. So, here we go: 3 Steps to Prep Your Proposal for Submission. 

Step 1. Read the submission guidelines. And then read them again. I know, submission guidelines aren’t sexy or fun to read but there is a wealth of information in them, especially for houses that allow writers to submit without an agent. Those submission guidelines will tell you what the editors are expecting to get -- Do they way one sample chapter or three, should include a synopsis? What kind of information do they want in your cover letter? What formatting are they looking for – standard font and spacing. Then, read between the lines. Submission guidelines will tell you what the editor wants, but may also include information about the kinds of books they want – wholesome and small town, sexy in the city, ghosties in the house, fairies in outerspace, etc. This is information you can add about your book in the cover letter. 

Step 2. Do a final read-through of your manuscript and other documents. You wrote the story so you know it forward and backward, but now that you’ve read back through the submission guidelines, is there anything you feel needs to be updated in your book? Is there something that sets your book apart, that you can highlight either in your synopsis or covering letter? Did you find a few typos or grammatical mistakes that make you cringe? Reading through one last time gives you one last time to make sure you’ve hit all the highlights, dotted all those I’s and crossed all those T’s. 

Step 3. Upload and then move forward. It can be easy to stalk email waiting for a reply, but that doesn’t move you forward. So, upload the submission and then try – really, really try – to put it out of your mind. Celebrate by taking yourself out to lunch or to buy something fun. Read a favorite author. Watch a movie you’ve been putting off. Start the next book. Celebrating the little wins is so important because much of the writer’s life is very solitary so do something fun and then get on to the next story. 

Do you have any submission tips for our readers? Share in the comments!