Novel Proposal

How to Write a

Proposal for a Novel

What is a Novel Proposal?

A novel proposal is an “idea pitch” to a publishing company. It works like a “resume” – that is, it is a way to “get your foot in the door”, to get a contract to work for the publisher. The proposal is evaluated in the same way a resume is, and then the novel is either published or rejected.

For every novel published, hundreds (sometimes thousands) are proposed first. Of the novels published, 70% sell fewer than 500 copies.

Publishing companies make money from publishing books. Publishing a book requires a serious financial investment on the part of the publisher, though, so they need a way to choose novels and novelists to invest in.

Novel Proposal

Take a minute to create a section of your notebook for your Novel Proposal.

There are several parts to the proposal, and you must be organized in order to keep it all straight!

Go back to your short story. Remember that you are now going to be reworking it now into a novel.

Even though you have already completed prewriting, etc. for your short story, it is time to do it again and rework what you already have and make changes for your novel proposal. You will have to write more now than one chapter.

Pre-writing: Main Character

Get a blank sheet of paper. Choose a pre-writing method.

Decide on a main character (the protagonist). For 10 minutes, brainstorm that character. Cover all of these areas:

– What he/she looks like.– What he/she is like. (i.e. his/her personality)– What he/she will do, accomplish, learn, and/or

discover during the story. (character development)

Pre-writing: Main Characters

Get a blank sheet of paper. Choose a pre-writing method.

Decide on another main character (the antagonist). For 10 minutes, brainstorm that character. Cover all of these areas:

– What he/she looks like.– What he/she is like. (i.e. his.her personality)– What he/she will do during the story. (character

development)

Pre-writing: Minor Characters

Minor characters serve functions of varying importance in a short story. Some are sympathetic to the protagonist, and some are enemies of the protagonist.

Friendly minor characters – tend to provide the protagonist with some help to overcome the antagonist during crises.

Enemy minor characters – tend to provide the protagonist with obstacles to overcome

Minor characters tend to be FLAT; that is, they do not change or grow throughout the story.

Create FOUR minor characters. Give them a name, a role, and a basic personality sketch (a sentence or so for each is enough). (10 minutes)

Conflict is what drives the plot of any story. The main characters must be in conflict in some way.

Decide on the main point of conflict in the story: What the protagonist and antagonist must compete over.

Brainstorm what the main conflict will entail. Is it mostly a verbal conflict? Physical conflict? Psychological conflict?

You must write about what the main conflict is and how it will be resolved. Brainstorm as many details as you can! (5 minutes)

Pre-writing: Conflict

Pre-writing: Plan Your Novel

Divide your page into three equal parts.

Beginning

Middle

End

Pre-writing: Plan Your Novel

Take 15-20 minutes or so and pre-write a novel. Focus on a very vague overview of the entire novel, from beginning to end.

This is very much like writing a short story outline! You do not have to provide many details, BUT you must make it seem interesting.

Remember, this is part of a proposal to CONVINCE someone to publish your novel! You must balance being BRIEF with being INTERESTING!

Parts of the Proposal

1. Title and Summary

2. Author’s Bio.

3. Character List

4. Genre fit

5. Competing Books

6. Marketing Plan

7. Novel Sample

1. Title and Summary

Choose a “working title” for your work. It should be creative and appealing.

Write a brief (1-3 paragraph) summary of the plot of your book (think: beginning, middle, end). Try not to be dry and boring; “spice it up” with interesting word choice. (You must balance being brief with being interesting.)

E.g.: Instead of, “Jack and Jill went up the hill”, write: “Jack tore up the steep mountain cliff as Jill panted along behind him.”

2. Author’s Bio.

• Give a brief biography of yourself – 1-2 paragraphs in length.

• In the bio section, you should mention anything that makes you especially qualified for writing this sort of novel. The idea is to give you additional credibility about the topic.

E.g. When introducing Dan Brown, his background in matters of art, religion, and science are often mentioned; Stephen King’s bio always includes mention of the other horror novels he has written.

3. Character List

• List the characters in the story in the order in which you expect them to appear. You must include any major and several minor characters.

• For each character, give the following information:

Name:Age:Occupation:Role in the story: (A sentence about the part this character

plays in the plot or any sub-plots.)

4. Genre fit

There are many genres of novels, including: romance, science fiction, fantasy, historical fiction, adventure, crime fiction, mystery, thriller, children’s literature, animal fiction, horror, etc.

This section is a brief paragraph about which genre you think your novel will primarily fit into, and some reasons why you think so.

This lets your publisher know what type of novel you see this as, and what type of people you see purchasing this novel.

In this section, you tell your publisher about other books that are like your novel proposal in a paragraph or two.

This section serves to compare your novel with others (to show how well they sell), and also identifies which books might be your main competitors in the marketplace.

E.g. Since the early 1990s, any proposal for a fantasy novel aimed at the 10-16-year-old market must use this section to show why anyone would choose this book if it is on the shelf next to the Harry Potter novels; horror novels must be able to be marketed in the face of Stephen King.

(If you choose to do a novel proposal for your final portfolio, you must research your genre online.)

5. Competing Books

6. Marketing PlanThis section (1-2 paragraphs) should contain TWO main

things:

1. Identify who you think your main audience will be.

Relevant factors include age, gender, and anything that connects the readers as a group.

Factors that may be considered include race, religion, geographic location, etc.

2. A plan for marketing your book. How do you think you can reach the audience you identify? How involved will you be directly (i.e. for book signings, etc.)?

7. Novel Sample

If you are writing a real book proposal, this is where you would include a sample of your novel (usually 3 chapters).

For your portfolio, you may submit 1-3 chapters, which must be at least 750-1000 words in length.

Assignment1. Work on Title and Summary2. Work on Author’s Bio3. Work on Character List4. Research Day – Genre fit, competing books, and marketing plan5. Novel Sample

Choose a pre-writing technique (brainstorming, clustering, listing, freewriting) and brainstorm for FIVE MINUTES.

Complete a novel proposal on a topic of your choice. Bring a draft version of the proposal to class tomorrow.