Your writing samples should demonstrate your abilities as a writer in general, and, as much as possible, your ability to write on the topic you’re proposing. It’s not necessary to send a copy of a complete manuscript to a publisher (they generally prefer that you don’t, as a matter of fact). As with a job interview, give them a chapter or relevant section and offer to send them the entire manuscript if they want to take a more detailed look.

One of the most obvious writing samples to include may be a sample chapter from the book you want to publish. Although it’s frequently a bad idea to write the entire book before you have a contract (particularly in the computer book field), a sample chapter or two gives the publisher an exact gauge of your ability to write well on your chosen topic. Include sample screen shots/figures/photos, rough drafts of conceptual artwork, and appropriate references to other chapters in the book. (Be sure to put your copyright notice clearly on the bottom of each page. Accidents do happen occasionally.)

Another way to demonstrate your skills is to write articles. You don’t have to do this for magazines, though; there’s a wonderful site, Instructables.com, that’s perfect for this. It’s a DIY site where you can enter instructions for anything, with photos. Take a look at it and see what’s out there. You can write stepwise DIY instructions for anything. In fact, because people can make comments about your instructions, you can also demonstrate your ability to communicate. Who knows, you might even build a following right there! (Want an example of how this works? Here’s a recipe I wrote up for Instructables.)

In general, publishers prefer to work with people by email when they first meet them, as it saves time in the long run for everybody. (By the way, unless you know an acquisitions editor from previous experience, just send your proposal to the Acquisitions department at the publisher. They’ll make sure it gets routed to the appropriate people. The publisher’s website has information about making submissions.) Once you have a bibliography, you’ll be able to approach publishers directly, but it’s better to start by email. As such, you’ll need to start your book proposal with a cover letter that introduces you to the publisher, pitches a brief idea of the book you want to do, and sells the publisher on your ability to complete the project in a timely fashion.

The documentation plan (discussed later) gives a detailed explanation of the book, but as part of the cover letter, you need to come up with a brief statement of what the book is about. For example, all of these are probably adequate to get the editor to read more of your proposal if they have a niche for your book:

• This book introduces the reader to the undocumented features of Windows 7. It will have a conversational style aimed at the intermediate user, with graduated steps to increase their skill level so that they’re able to take advantage of the more powerful undocumented features.
• This book teaches gardeners how to identify useful weeds and wild plants, and cultivate them as companion plants, or food and ornamentation crops. There will be a reference section in the latter half of the book with line drawings of many of the more common useful wild plants in North America.
• This book is a tutorial on how to program using the new Adobe AIR language, with an emphasis on experienced developers who are learning this to build AIR applets. The book will contain extensive examples and exercises, and will have links to a website of sample code and a number of open-source and 3rd-party AIR development tools.
• This book is aimed at intermediate to advanced quilters who want to create their own patterns for their programmable sewing machines. The book will give a brief description of the general features currently available in programmable sewing machines and what to look for if you don’t already have one. It will then discuss how to create effective designs and how to avoid the eight common mistakes made when transferring a paper design to a programmable sewing machine. There will be a special section on creating very large designs and quilting patterns for programmable long-arm sewing machines.

Make sure that your idea is right for the publisher. You can’t sell books on computers to a publisher specializing in books on sailing… but you might sell a book that tells how to use computers when building wooden boats. Having an angle like this is often the best way to bridge the gap into a field of writing in which you have no direct experience.

Radiate your enthusiasm for the project. Refer to the writing samples and the resume items that show your depth of knowledge for this particular topic. Mention anything you’ve written on this subject before (and include it in your samples if at all possible). It’s very possible you’ll get asked for sample chapters of the book you’re proposing, so you may want to write something prior to submitting this. (This also has the advantage of helping you clear the cobwebs out and see what it’s like to start writing the book. It’s amazing how different the book you envision can be from the book you write.)

Also talk about things that you might have done with this topic or field, too. Be ready to sell your credentials here. It’s not enough to show the publisher that you have a good idea; you need them to know that you are the most qualified person to write this book.

Most importantly, you need to sell the publisher on your ability to meet your deadlines. Because of the topical nature of book publishing these days, it is extremely important for book publishers to get books out quickly. If your manuscript isn’t already finished–and it usually isn’t–you’ll need to produce it on a schedule that rarely allows for many delays. Depending on the type of book and the need for speed, the time between getting an idea approved and seeing the book on the streets can be as little as 7 months. Allowing 2 to 3 months for final editing, indexing, production, and printing, you’ll need to write the manuscript in 4 months. Fast work is 4 months from idea to street; really fast work is 3 months. Conversely, a “slow” book is one that takes 9 months or more. Large reference works may take this long, but the amount of time should be carefully documented and justified in the schedule.

It’s worth noting that publishers of types of non-fiction books that don’t deal with technology, politics, or current events—such as cooking, travel, or do-it-yourself books—have differing and more generous schedules than the computer book industry, but all publishers are speeding up their publishing cycles to be the first on the market. Any publisher will be impressed by your ability to turn out a book quickly. Nobody ever seems to complain about work done ahead of schedule.

The previous series of posts introduced you to the general ideas and concepts for being an author. Now I’m going to give you some details on an important piece of this: how to create a book proposal that gives you the best chance of selling your book idea to the publisher you want.

Preparing a winning book proposal is very similar to bidding on many other freelance documentation projects. In fact, as you read this, keep in mind that you’re going to be able to use this information to create documentation plans with the same information. (At the end of this series, I’ll also be providing a complete template you can use for creating book proposals and documentation plans.)

A book proposal is more than an outline and a schedule. A well-written proposal is a package of material that not only communicates how you intend to do the project, but also demonstrates your writing and organizational abilities. Moreover, a good proposal tells a prospective publisher that you have carefully planned all aspects of the book and that you’re ready to hit the ground running as soon as the book’s approved. And if you are one of several authors being considered for a specific project, presenting a solid, well-considered proposal can frequently be the deciding factor in getting the contract.

There are four parts to a book proposal:

• A cover letter
• Writing samples
• A resume
• A documentation plan

Each of these pieces will be covered in the upcoming blog posts.