Please print out and fill in this form as completely as possible. The information you give us will serve as a guide for writing the proposal, and will help the publisher to better position, market and sell your book. If you are working with another author, please fill in your specific information and collaborate on the marketing and sales ideas so you don’t duplicate each other’s work.
Title:
Subtitle/Reading Line:
Author:
Home Address:
Work Address:
Phone: (hm) (wk) (fx)
Email:
Date of birth:
Please write a brief personal and professional biography that gives a sense of your personality and the things about you that are interesting, important, or unusual. Include principal cities in which you have lived, schools and universities you have attended, professional credentials and affiliations and any awards or prizes you have received. If you have traveled extensively or lived in any interesting places, let us know.
1. Sale Handle: If you had to convince someone you didn’t know to buy your book, and could only use one sentence or tag line: what would it be?
2. Description of Book: In 200 to 250 words, please describe your book, its subject, provisional table of contents, emphases, and, especially, its scope or intent. For whom was the book written? And why? What features make the book unique? Please attach an annotated table of contents, as you envision it.
(Two very valuable, related exercises: a) write the flap copy for your book b) write the ideal review of your book.)
3. Specifications: Approximately how long do you think the book will be? Number of words? Pages? Format? Do you have an idea of what the book design should look like? Number and type of illustrations?
4. What are the five most important things about your book? In order of priority.
5. If you could only say one thing to a reviewer about your book, what would it be?
6. Do you have any ancillary stories or anecdotes about the book's history or your work on it?
7. What was involved in the writing of the book? (Research, interviews, a history of experience in the field?) What led you to write it?
IV. COMPETITION AND SALES HISTORY
1. Please make a list of titles that are competitive with your book and/or do you know of titles coming out that are similar? If so, please give us the book title and date of publication. What makes your book different, unique, better? Start your list with successful titles in the genre/subject that demonstrate strong market support for the topic. Follow with titles that could be conceived as directly competitive/potentially problematic (the point here is: if I walk into a bookstore and go to the section where your book will be shelved, what else will I see that will tempt me, and why will I buy your book instead? (Amazon and the buyer of your very best independent bookstore will be your best sources of competitive information).
2. Please list your previously published books in this format:
Title
Format
Retail Price Publisher
ISBN
Pub Date
Number of copies printed and number of copies sold to date (based on a call to your editor to get CURRENT sales figures (gross sales and returns since inception, sales last year, year to date). This number should break out copies printed and sold exclusively to book clubs or foreign publishers or any exceptional special sales). Did your book reprint?
Any subsidiary rights sales: serialization, foreign editions, paperbacks, ancillary product, other.
3. Was there a publicity campaign for any of these books? Please describe it. Please attach the most important and best reviews of these books and copies of any serial excerpts with the cover of the publication Xeroxed as well.
1. In your opinion, to whom will your book most appeal? Do you think it might have any special markets, in terms of region, occupation, age, gender, or any other factor? Can it be sold in places other than bookstores? Please be specific (and realistic) and list markets/outlets in order of priority ending with “local” (see 5)
2. Are you willing to give interviews? Will you make personal appearances, give lectures, slide presentations, or demonstrations (if applicable)? Do you plan any trips during which interviews might be scheduled?
3. Have you had articles, stories, or reviews published in newspapers, journals, magazines, or on line? If so, when and where? If you are presently a regular contributor to any periodical, please indicate.
4. Have you appeared on radio or television, in newspapers or magazines, in connection with your book or for any other reason? Do you have tapes or copies of these interviews? Please provide them. Please provide us with a list of shows and stations on which you were interviewed.
5. Note specific cities where you have family and friends who will be on the look out for your book, and favorite local stores (yours or theirs) who might be interested in doing windows or hosting signings or other PR events. These can include bookstore, museums, galleries, schools, libraries, specialty retail stores, or anywhere else that is likely to help.[e.g. My sister and family: Bolton, Massachusetts. Concord Bookstore. My niece works there part-time and I am one of their best customers. They’ve already offered to host a party and do a window]
6. Exhibitions and other big events to coordinate with publication
a. List all gallery and museum affiliations/previous and planned shows. Shows and publications have to be coordinated perfectly. Can you guarantee an exhibit? Where and when? Will you try to get others and if so, where will you try and what is the REALISTIC likelihood of this happening for publication? The gallery or museum should be expected to work with the publisher to turn the opening into a media event that will help both book sales and exhibition attendance. Most publishers will NOT pay for anything related to an exhibition launch except, possibly, the cost on invitations. Please talk to your gallery, if you have one, about what they will do to make the opening a big deal.
b. If you expect some sort of launch party for the book, in most cases, the cost of this will have to subsidized by someone other than the publisher. These parties are nice, and will make you happy, but are generally useless from a sales and marketing standpoint unless they are major media-covered events. If you want one or think it would be a good idea, please elaborate with this in mind.
c. Are there any anniversaries or other newsworthy events which would offer opportunities for promotion if publication were timed to coincide. Please elaborate.
7. Internet Sales and Marketing: Please provide a list of likely sites to target for publicity, advertising, or other kinds of promotion/licensing of content – and let us know you’re general ideas for sales and marketing in this area.. This has become the single most cost-effective way to reach readers and to sell books. Include Amazon/B/N.com, and any of the large portals, but we are also especially interested in specialty sites (you could print out and annotate a search list from Google, Northern Lights, Alta Vista or Ask Jeeves (Google and Northern Lights tend to be the most comprehensive search engines).
8. Please suggest any media (including print, TV, radio, and internet) people who you think would be particularly appropriate to review and/or feature the book. If you have personal contacts in any areas of the media, please asterisk, provide contact name and title, and explain the connection.
9. Please supply a list of 6 to 10 sample questions for broadcast and/or print media interviews. These should be questions that will pique the curiosity of the audience: controversial, historical, or anecdotal.
10. Name and address of your college bulletin.
11. Any other marketing ideas (publicity, special sales, in store promotions, direct mail campaigns to special markets, mail order catalogues, in-store promotional materials (posters, bookmarks, etc))?
Is there anyone with a name reputation whom you can approach NOW for advance endorsements? Please asterisk people with whom you have a direct connection. Are there any other kinds of endorsements that you think would be helpful?
1. Please enclose two black-and-white photographs for possible promotional use, and indicate a photographer's name for credit.
2. Will you be buying copies back (generally these are offered to you at a 50% discount)? If so, how many and for what purpose (giveaway or resell)? If you anticipate any situations where you might be able to arrange to sell books yourself (speaking engagements/premium sales), please specify.
3. How do you feel about raising appropriate corporate or non-profit sponsorship subsidies for your book? This would mean that a commercial or non-profit sponsor would be thanked in the acknowledgements and credited on the copyright page, and it is possible that a special edition might be done just for them. Can you think of likely candidates for such an arrangement? Please asterisk any sources with whom you have a direct connection and provide contact names and numbers (email preferred).
4. How long will it take you to deliver complete text and art? If you have not written books before, do you need outside help in delivery polished text? If so, please specify
1. Have you submitted this work to any other packager/publisher (or anywhere else) for consideration? If so, please give the following information:
Date submitted:
To whom:
Title:
Company:
Response (please provide reasons if any were given):
2. In order of priority, please list specific desires (and influential contacts, if any) for where (and to whom) you would like your project submitted. For contacts, list name, title, division, relationship, phone and email if possible.
3. Have you ever had an agent? If so, who, and has your relationship been formally terminated? If not, what is the current status and the scope of your agreement (i.e. what are they responsible for representing?)
4. Do you have a lecture agent? If so, please provide name, address, phone, fax. If not, would you be willing to hire one at your own expense?
5. Would you be willing to have an independent publicist at your own expense?
Anything else you’d like to add?
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