Podcast: Creating a Book Proposal
We last chatted with Melanie Dale all about taking a book from Word doc to hold-in-your-hands paperback in episode 31. We mentioned book proposals in that chat quite often, and decided we ought to just go ahead and have an entire podcast episode about them, so here we are dragging Melanie back into the spotlight to walk us through what they are, why we have to write ‘em, and all the tips and tricks she knows to getting them in the right hands.
As a refresher: Melanie is the author of four books, It’s Not Fair: Learning to Love the Life You Didn’t Choose, Women Are Scary: The Totally Awkward Adventure of Finding Mom Friends, Infreakinfertility: How to Survive When Getting Pregnant Gets Hard, and her newest book, Calm the H*ck Down, is a parenting book releasing December 8th of 2020. Her essays are included in The Magic of Motherhood and she’s a monthly contributor for Coffee+Crumbs. In addition to writing, Melanie speaks at events and conferences around the country and hosts the podcast Lighten Up with Melanie Dale. She lives in the Atlanta area with her husband, Alex, and three kids from three different continents. You can internet stalk her on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
Resources we shared:
Melanie’s webinar on book proposals is the even-deeper dive than this episode.
Steph Smith’s Slant Letter is a must-subscribe newsletter for writers looking to be published.
Want to join Melanie’s launch team for Calm the H*ck Down? Click here to sign up, and then join the Facebook group. You’ll snag an advance copy for free -- which is an extra big deal because it’s our book club for January.
Need to race off and pre-order it for yourself? Here’s where you can nab your bonus chapters on Pandemic Parenting.
Mel’s Prompt for You:
Work on your comp titles. Try to come up with a list of 6-8 books similar to yours. Go down the list. How are they similar to yours? What does your book do that they don’t? What makes yours different? What are you offering that’s new?
An alternate idea? Do a stream of conscious author precis and write yourself into your book.
Mel’s submission idea for you:
The best way to find an agent is at a writing conference. This year Declare is doing online and in-person conferences, and we suspect other conferences are (hopefully!) doing the same. Conferences are a great place to get facetime with potential agents -- make sure to have a one sheet before you go!
Mel’s Quote for You:
“The scariest moment is always just before you start.” --- Stephen King
// How to Listen to the Exhale Podcast //
IOS instructions:
From your Apple podcasts app, go to library. Click edit at the top. Click “add a podcast by URL” and then enter: https://exhalecreativity.com/podcast?format=rss
iTunes Desktop:
Go to file, click subscribe to podcast, enter the URL: https://exhalecreativity.com/podcast?format=rss
Other options:
Click here to read instructions for other apps / Android users