Book Proposal Generator

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Book Proposal Drafter turns your manuscript and your platform into the multi-section proposal agents and acquisition editors ask for.

The Document That Decides Whether a Publisher Says Yes

An agent asks for your proposal. You have three days, a finished manuscript, and no idea what a competitive analysis section is supposed to contain.

Proposals are the least taught document in publishing. Everyone tells you to write a good one. Almost nobody shows you the shape, and the examples you find online contradict each other. So authors either stall for weeks or send something thin, and a thin proposal reads as an unserious author.

Book Proposal Drafter builds the whole document. Upload your manuscript, answer questions about you and your platform, and get back a proposal with every section a publisher expects.

You get back:

• An overview that sells the book in the first paragraph rather than warming up to it
• A target audience section that describes real readers instead of claiming everyone
• A competitive analysis positioning your book against comparable titles
• An author bio built from your background and your website
• A marketing and platform section that presents what you have without inflating it
• A chapter outline drawn from the manuscript you uploaded
• The supporting sections editors look for and authors forget

Use It To

• Answer an agent's proposal request in days rather than weeks
• Find out which sections you are missing before an editor does
• Turn a finished nonfiction manuscript into something you can sell
• Write the competitive analysis section that stops most authors cold
• Present a modest platform honestly and still make the case
• Give a co-author or agent a complete draft to react to
• Reuse one proposal skeleton across several publishers

Why It Works

Publishers buy a business case, not a manuscript. The book has to be good, and the proposal has to show that someone will buy it and that you can help sell it. Authors who write beautifully often submit proposals that answer none of the commercial questions.

The sections exist because acquisition editors have to take your book to a committee. Every section arms them with an argument. Skip the competitive analysis and you have handed them a book with no shelf.

Working from your actual manuscript matters here. A proposal assembled from vague intentions reads like it, and the chapter outline is where that shows first. Drawing it from the real text produces an outline that matches the book a publisher would receive.

You still have to check the numbers. Anything about your platform, your sales, or your audience size should be verified against your own records before it goes out, because an editor who catches one inflated figure discounts the rest.

Related Tools

Explore more Patron Toolbox tools that pair well with this one:

• Query Letter Writer - Draft the letter that comes before the proposal.
• Comp Finder - Find the comparable titles your competitive analysis needs.
• Timothy Finder - Build the reader profile behind your target audience section.
• Nonfiction Pitch Generator - Sharpen the pitch your overview section is built on.
• About Page Scanner - Strengthen the about page this tool reads for your bio.

FAQ

• What is Book Proposal Drafter? A Patron Toolbox tool that drafts a complete book proposal. It reads your manuscript and your answers about your platform, then produces the overview, audience, competitive analysis, bio, marketing, and outline sections publishers expect.
• Is this for fiction or nonfiction? Proposals are mostly a nonfiction instrument, since nonfiction sells before it is written. Novelists usually query with a finished manuscript instead, though some agents ask novelists for proposal-style materials.
• Do I need a finished manuscript? The tool works better with one, since the chapter outline comes from the text. A substantial partial still produces a usable draft.
• Will the platform numbers be accurate? Check every one. The draft works from what you provide, and any figure about your list size, sales, or reach should match your own records before an editor sees it.
• Can I tailor it to a specific publisher? Yes. Continue the conversation and ask for a version aimed at a particular imprint or a shorter overview, and it will revise.
• How much does it cost? Book Proposal Drafter is available to all Novel Marketing patrons at the $10/month level and above. You can become a patron at patreon.com/novelmarketing.