Working title: Suggest a title that clearly expresses the essence of your work. Include possible alternatives as well.

Synopsis: Provide a paragraph or two that describes the subject and overall content of the work. This “elevator pitch” would become the main message for promoting the book going forward and should be carefully crafted with this in mind.

Need: Explain what the work intends to do for the reader and how it will accomplish that goal. It is important to include reasons for why this book is important—what will it offer readers? What about the book makes it topical or relevant to today’s audience?

Purpose: Describe what the work sets out to accomplish. How does it inform and what information does it present? Most importantly, how does this book go above-and-beyond previously published works on the same subject? What unique features of the book contribute to its field? What new insights, models or research add to current thinking and practice?

Knowledge base: Describe your background on this subject (academic and/or professional). How does your background enrich the work and give you a unique perspective on its subject matter? Please include the title, publisher, publication date, and number of copies sold for any previous books or articles you’ve written.

Audience: Describe the primary and secondary audiences for the book. Is the project designed for consumers, businesspeople, travelers, trainers, students, educators, government agencies or NGO’s? Is the audience global--North American, European, regional? Please be specific and avoid vague or generalizing phrases such as, “This book will be read by a general audience.”

Outline/Table of contents: Provide a chapter-by chapter outline of the contents with a sentence or two summarizing each chapter or section.

Sample chapters: Sample chapters are very helpful at the proposal stage. A single chapter plus an Introduction that is indicative of the content and shows your writing style is extremely useful in our decision process. Please do not send complete manuscripts at this stage.

Author information: Your biography, vita or resume should include relevant professional experience, previous publications, and your qualifications for writing this book.

Marketing opportunities:
Would you be able to promote your work:
• Within your community or professional organization?
• If you are a professor or teach professionally, through your classes or institution(s)?
• Through speaking engagements or training sessions?
• Through your own mailing lists and connections?

Publishing is a partnership, and we would like to understand your ability to help us market the book. It would help us to know about:
• Any professional associations you are a member of
• Your media contacts
• Any radio or television appearances you have made, especially if you make regular appearances
• Any publications - such as newsletters, e-newsletters, and blogs - that you publish. How large is your readership? How frequently do you publish?
• If you contribute to print or internet publications. If so, please attach some examples of these articles, columns, etc.
• Published interviews, stories, or articles about you
• Potential prominent individuals who would likely provide an endorsement or foreword for your book

Competing and related works: Please list the primary competition for your work and any titles that are similar to yours. What are the major differences? How is your work more useful or authoritative? It’s very important to describe in detail the ways your book will further discussion in its field.

Estimated length: Estimate the number of double-spaced pages, in your typewritten or word-processed manuscript (not the printed book). Please include the format of the manuscript (i.e. Microsoft Word document). Will your book contain art, figures, graphs, or tables?

Time Table: Estimate time needed to complete the manuscript and provide an approximate delivery date.

Other publishers: Please let us know if you have submitted or plan to submit this work to other publishers for consideration.