After writing a book, the next step is to publish it. At this moment, a long journey begins to find the perfect publisher and, on that path, it is necessary to put together a good editorial proposal.
In the first place, we have to contact a publishing house that can promote us, and for that, we have to do an exhaustive search of the publishing houses available in the literary market. These companies have limited interests and objectives, and seek to attract particular audiences. It is time to ask yourself what characteristics your book has and, based on that, put together a list with those most similar publishers.
Once you have the list made, it’s time to contact them. But watch out! Do not send them your manuscript directly. In general, publishers receive so much material that it is impossible for them to spend time reading a manuscript if they do not have an idea of the book beforehand.
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What is the structure for making an editorial proposal?
This is where the importance of sending a good editorial proposal to publish your book comes into play: a document that synthesizes the key elements of the work. In this way, the editors will be able to get a preliminary idea of the material and, if they are interested, they will go on to do a complete reading. Next, we tell you how the structure for an editorial proposal is :
- Title of the work.
- Author information: the name, a telephone number, an email and any other information that you consider relevant must be included.
- Synopsis of the book: it is the skeleton of the work. In about 3 pages, you have to explain to the publisher what the most important points of your book are.
- Index: in this section, you must enter the names of each of the chapters. A brief description of each can also be added.
- Curriculum vitae of the author: mention must be made of other literary works carried out and any work or academic information that you consider pertinent. A website or digital portfolio can also be attached.
- Writing Sample – A snippet from some chapters for the editor to see your style. No more than 15 pages!
- Plan for the sale and promotion of the book: to convince the publisher of the profitability of your work, it is important to establish what the interest of the population is in that subject and what will be the modes of circulation and dissemination of the book.
- References – It doesn’t hurt to include third-party reviews or critiques of your book.
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Other tips for making an editorial proposal
Do not underestimate the editorial proposal! Once you have finished writing your work, your efforts should be put into selling it as best you can, and this document can be the gateway to the publication of your book.
Even if this is your first film, it’s best not to seem like a new author. Unpublished manuscripts sometimes arrive at publishers riddled with misspellings, and that’s enough of a decision to dismiss them outright. Any misspelling could leave you out! Therefore, it is necessary to make all possible revisions and corrections. Also, it is a good idea to send all the material in one Microsoft Word file. The body of the text must be legible and the document must be as clean as possible, without any decoration. You can also use bold or italics in situations where the text warrants it.
Conclusion
Now that you’ve learned how to make a good editorial proposal, all you have to do is write it and send it. The editors will contact you if they are interested in the proposal. In that case, they will ask you to send them the complete manuscript so that they can evaluate the work in depth.
It will probably take a while for the first publisher to respond, but it’s important to persevere. If your content is of quality and your interest in publishing is genuine, sooner rather than later that moment will come!
