Anatomy of an academic book proposal

No matter what stage you’ve reached with your book – be it just an idea, or a complete draft script – a publisher will want to see an outline proposal, to gauge if they’re the right publisher for it. The proposal will explain who you are, how the book came to be, what the rationale for it is, who it is aimed at, how it fits into the existing literature – and the length of the script and number of any diagrams, tables or illustrations, if necessary. It will demonstrate to a publisher how good you are at understanding the point of your work, and at organising and communicating your argument.

Publishers will have a preferred format for a proposal, and many will have a guide available on their website.  A captivating, informative and concise proposal can be an indicator of a well-written script. A typical proposal guide will ask for these key things:

•            A rationale for the book, including a title, description of aims and its scope. What is the argument that the book makes? What is different or new about the book? What is the background to its genesis (for example, the research basis for it)? How does the book fit with the publisher’s list?

•            Information on the intended audience and how the work differs from other books currently available in the field.

•            A 200-word description of the book – as if it were the blurb for the back cover.

•            The contents list for the book, ideally with a paragraph describing each chapter.

•            Sample chapters, if available, or other material by the author that would be representative of the subject matter, writing level and style.

•            Information on the length of the projected (or completed) work in terms of the number of words, as well as the number of any illustrations, tables, figures and maps. 

•            The author’s curriculum vitae.

The rationale for the book is crucial, as an author is typically so close to their work that it is hard to step back and see the bigger picture. Can the author answer the “so what?” question? 

The market for academic books is tougher now than it has ever been. If the book is to succeed in both commercial and critical terms, the author needs to be as market-focused as their publisher. 

The blurb

In the checklist above, there is a request for a blurb of 200 words or less, written as if for the back cover of the book. This can be a good place to start when drafting a proposal, as writing an attractive summary of the book is going to be necessary eventually – not only for the back cover, but also for the publisher’s catalogue and for booksellers’ websites. 

• How to pitch a book to an academic publisher
• Six tips for writing a successful book proposal
• How to get a book published outside academia

Writing and refining a blurb for the book will help the author really think about why the book matters, and why potential readers should buy it. The mere fact that they have four years of research data, or that no one else has written about this before (unlikely), just isn’t enough. It needs to be packaged and sold. The proposal needs to sell itself to a busy commissioning editor and their colleagues in sales and marketing – none of whom will necessarily be subject specialists. Writing a blurb that can do all this is quite a challenge. 

Writing samples

Sample material is also important. Ideally, it would be actual draft chapters from the book, but it can also be published articles or a PhD thesis. The snag here, though, is that a thesis or articles (for a journal or a magazine) will have been written for different markets and in a different style to the book. For an experienced book author, the sample could of course be a previously published book. This would indicate that the author has made it through another publisher’s approval process – and if their book has garnered reviews and sales success.

Sample writing that isn’t from the actual book will need to be qualified with some explanation as to how the book script will differ. For example, a journal article will be written in a certain style, perhaps more heavily referenced and narrowly focused. A magazine article or blog post would be at the other end of the accessibility scale. Published journal articles demonstrate academic credibility, but a published magazine article, print or online, will demonstrate an ability to reach a broader audience. A PhD thesis, after all, is written for a market of about six people: the thesis supervisors and examiners. They’re not looking for saleability as a metric – far from it, as they are paid to read it.

Physical parameters

The length of the script is important. A book’s length will affect the cost of producing it and will have a bearing on its selling price. An overly long book is generally going to be less accessible and more challenging for readers. Authors want to see their book reach the widest possible market, and a high price will make that much less likely. 

However, there is no hard and fast rule here. A really long book might still justify a relatively low price by virtue of its market appeal (and that can include the profile of the author, or the sheer brilliance and originality of the work). But scripts above 100,000 words will, in my view, put the book in doorstopper territory. A publisher will prefer a maximum of 60,000 to 80,000 words. 

What is the minimum length? Here, again, there are no strict parameters, and we get into the realms of format, design, packaging and marketing. If the book is being pitched for a series that encourages short scripts (such as the Oxford University Press Very Short Introduction series, or Palgrave Pivots), then the decision will have been made already. 

The only issue with a really short book – 35,000 words or fewer – is that a publisher might not be able to justify a cover price high enough to make the book worth publishing – unless the likely market for the book is very large. Famously, On Bullshit by Harry Frankfurt, published by Princeton University Press in 2005, is fewer than 10,000 words long, but it sold many tens of thousands of copies and made it to the top of The New York Times bestseller list.

Richard Baggaley is interim press manager for University of Westminster Press.

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