We also help Natalie S. sharpen her pitch, learn how to keep going with Amy Shoenthal, a special invitation to the FIRST EVER Read Like a Writer Book Club, and some books we're feeling 🧡
This is so helpful! I’m starting on a new book proposal for a new book I’m dreaming up this month. Last time I wrote the book first. This time I’m wising up thanks to you two. Thank you! See you at book club! 💕
Hey there, Michelle. Great question! A lot of what we say about nonfiction can be applied to fiction, especially when it comes to knowing who you're writing for (your muse) and having a strong image, metaphor or trope (IMT) driving your story. Bethany writes both fiction and nonfiction, so we like to think about both. With that said, the big difference is that when writing fiction, you DO have to write the whole book first because there are no proposals to sell in the world of fiction. We hope this is helpful!
This is such a great advice. I’m at a weird stage where I wrote a memoir, it won two manuscript awards (which was encouraging) and so I started working on the proposal and really, really struggled to make it sound saleable. And then all of a sudden, a major storyline changed (my brother came out of estrangement), and I now have to revise my book and rethink what my “proposition value” is all over again. I’m a journalist and there are so many different “threads” I could pursue to make it a big concept memoir, and now I’m flailing.
This is so helpful! I’m starting on a new book proposal for a new book I’m dreaming up this month. Last time I wrote the book first. This time I’m wising up thanks to you two. Thank you! See you at book club! 💕
Hooray Cheria! This is music to our ears. See you next week! And yes a proposal is a beautiful thing. We're excited for you!
Hey, how much of this applies to fiction, if any? (I published a non-fiction book last year but am now working on another novel.)
Hey there, Michelle. Great question! A lot of what we say about nonfiction can be applied to fiction, especially when it comes to knowing who you're writing for (your muse) and having a strong image, metaphor or trope (IMT) driving your story. Bethany writes both fiction and nonfiction, so we like to think about both. With that said, the big difference is that when writing fiction, you DO have to write the whole book first because there are no proposals to sell in the world of fiction. We hope this is helpful!
Yes, thanks.
This is such a great advice. I’m at a weird stage where I wrote a memoir, it won two manuscript awards (which was encouraging) and so I started working on the proposal and really, really struggled to make it sound saleable. And then all of a sudden, a major storyline changed (my brother came out of estrangement), and I now have to revise my book and rethink what my “proposition value” is all over again. I’m a journalist and there are so many different “threads” I could pursue to make it a big concept memoir, and now I’m flailing.
We're so happy to hear it! If you're ready for a little early-stage advice, please feel free to submit your pitch for review in an upcoming post :)