A Great Book Proposal is the key to opening the door to your writing career. A poor book pitch will kill the chances of even the best book ever reaching the book shelves.
Our new one month online course will teach you how to write a professional book pitch and then take one step closer to getting published.
Just a word of warning: This course starts on 1 May 2010, anyone wishing to sign up must have added their email to the form below BEFORE 1 May 2010.
The course has been designed by me (Gary Smailes – look you can see my face, not the licking cow I show on Twitter) in conjunction with writers and publishers. I became obsessed with the art of writing a great book proposal, after learning of their importance from Terry Deary (you can read more of this story here).
This course has been constructed to guide writers through my book proposal writing system in a step-by-step manner. This system has worked for me time and time again (in fact, anyone following on twitter will know I have just sorted another two book deal using this method.)
Interactive Modules
The foundation to the course is four (4) interactive online modules. These are designed to teach every aspect of writing a great cover letter, synopsis and extract PLUS how to pitch your book.
Module 1 – How to Write a Cover Letter
- 1.1 It’s a sales document.
- 1.2 The Four Paragraph Approach .
- 1.3 Writing an elevator pitch.
- 1.4 Defining genre and identifying your readership.
- 1.5 Writing a writer’s biography.
Module 2 (FICTION) – How to write a synopsis
- 2.1 What is a synopsis.
- 2.2 Using the Character, Problem, Cost and Conflict method.
- 2.3 Two types of synopsis – describing or explaining.
- 2.4 The professional edge and avoiding schoolboy errors.
- 2.5 Formatting and online tools.
OR
Module 2 (NON-FICTION) – How to write a synopsis
- 2.1 What is your book about?
- 2.2 Unique selling point.
- 2.3 Manuscript overview.
- 2.4 Defining your market.
- 2.5 Formatting and online tools.
Module 3 Writing A Great Extract And Sealing The Deal
- 3.1 The job of an extract (or what not to include).
- 3.2 Quick guide to grammar, structure and avoiding basic mistakes.
- 3.3 How to self-edit.
- 3.4 How to make the most of a third party edit.
- 3.5 Formatting and knowing what is wanted.
Module 4 Finding And Approaching An Agent Or Publisher
- 4.1 Mapping out your career and planning for success.
- 4.2 Defining your writing goals: Big boy, indie or self-publishing.
- 4.3 Using the internet and other resources to discover an agent or publisher.
- 4.4 How to use our database to find an agent or publisher.
- 4.5 Dealing with rejection and moving on.
Personal Feedback
By far the most effective method I have found for helping writers is to provide personal feedback for their cover letter and synopsis.
So, I have included in the course a professional assessment by me of every cover letter and synopsis written. This is achieved using our in-depth line edit system. This way works well, though the feedback normally turns into a back and to affair, as we fine tune the pitch!
Just to get this straight, I will personally read through your cover letter and synopsis and then provide detailed line-by-line feedback on how to improve your pitch!!
List of agents
The interactive course and my feedback will provide all the support and information you need to write a great pitch. However, I have decided to offer one final juicy titbit.
By far the most popular request we have from writers looking to pitch their book is help constructing a list of agents to approach. Therefore, I have decided to give members of this course access to our internal agent database. Anyone signing up will be able to access this database and pull up a list of agents by GENRE. This is super useful and will save you hours of trawling the internet!
How it works
The course starts on 1 May 2010. Members are given access to a password protected site.
A different module runs each week for four weeks, with a lesson posted each day. By following the lessons you will build up a complete book pitch. The rate at which you work is up to you and the information will remain live long after the course is completed.
After the fourth week you are invited to email your pitch directly to me. I will then provide an in-depth line edit and feedback. We talk about how to improve the pitch in preparation for submission.
Finally, you are given access to the database and a chance to produce a list of suitable agents for your work.
The overall cost is a one off payment of £99 or $150 (your choice, though the course is tailored for both markets). Payment is made through our secure PayPal server.
To make it as smooth as possible you just need to add your email address below or email me direct at gary@bubblecow.co.uk with your questions.
Finally, the doors for the course open 1 MAY 2010. This means you have just a few days to sign up.