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PLEASE NOTE THAT PENGUIN ARE NO LONGER ACCEPTING SUBMISSIONS. HOWEVER, THE ADVICE REGARDING WRITING A BOOK PROPOSAL IS STILL VALID. Book publisher Penguin (UK) have announced that between August and October 2010 they are accepting unsolicited manuscripts from writers. This means that unpublished, un-agented writers have a chance of landing a book deal with a big publisher.

In this post I will provide you with the step-by-step guidance and advice you need to prepare your book for submission to Penguin.

Before we start with the nitty gritty of just how to prepare your book pitch email, let’s have a look at what Penguin are actually saying about the process.

This extract is taken from their website:

For a limited three-month period from the beginning of August until the end of October 2010, we will be inviting submissions to be sent in electronically to the following address: submissions@uk.penguingroup.com.

We ask that email submissions comprise a brief covering note and synopsis and not a full manuscripts. Please do not send attachments, please write out your cover note and synopsis in the body of the email. We will not contact you with feedback on your submission and will only enter into email correspondence with you if an editor within Penguin is keen to progress your idea.

WOW!

Submitting To Penguin: Covering Note

It looks to me as though Penguin have attempted to make the submission process as simple as possible and they are NOT asking for an extract of your book. At point of initial submission, all Penguin are interested in seeing is a cover note and a synopsis – simple. No attachments, no extracts and no full manuscripts. I don’t know for sure, but I suspect that they will simply delete any emails that have attachments, so be careful.

This means that the first step to preparing your submission is to construct a cover note. This is your one and only chance to impress the Penguin editors, so I would strongly suggest that you spend a significant amount of time getting this part of the submission correct.

The aim of the cover note is to demonstrate that:

• You understand the marketplace,
• Your book fits into their current list,
• Your book will sell enough copies to make it worthwhile printing it in the first place,
• You, the author, can support and promote your book.

Here is the structural outline we suggest to all writers who come to BubbleCow looking for help with their book pitch:

Paragraph 1:

The aim of the opening paragraph is to hook the Penguin editor, spark some interest in your book and explain to them rapidly what your book is about. All in one paragraph!

The opening paragraph is split into two sections. The first is the elevator pitch, which consists of a couple of lines that capture the essence of the book. This is a concise and targeted summary of the book in just a couple of sentences.

You can’t choose who you fall in love with and that’s especially true with football teams. (The Bromley Boys, Dave Roberts)

Belle de Jour is the nom de plume of a high-class call girl working in London. This is her story. (Belle de Jour, The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl)

Grosvenor HouseDeep in the City something had been woken, something so old and so ordinary that people had been walking past it for centuries without giving it a second look…(Stone Heart, Charlie Fletcher)

The concept of an elevator pitch is borrowed from the business world. The idea is that an elevator pitch is a brief two minute presentation that can be given to a potential investor during an elevator ride. Though in the case of a writer, the pitch becomes the sharp and snappy description you can give to the hundreds of friends who ask ‘what’s it about?’ when you inform them you are writing a book!

There are a couple of ways to construct an elevator pitch, but this post focuses on a method developed from Randy Ingermanson’s Snowflake concept for writing a novel. I have taken the essence of the Snowflake Method and stripped it down for use in elevator pitch writing.

Here are the Five Elements you must consider:

• Character: Who’s the main character?
• Situation: What is the situation that is forcing the main character to take action?
• Goal: What action does the main character need to take to resolve the Situation?
• Conflict: What is stopping the character from achieving their goal?
• Disaster: What is the pinnacle of the story, the moment at which the character’s goal may be lost for ever?

Before we go on I just want to say a brief word about conflict. In simplistic terms a novel is about the main character trying to achieve a goal. The plot tension comes from the conflict that develops. However, the conflict may not be in achieving the goal, it may come from a situation that stops the goal being achieved.

For example: Imagine the story of a kid from the slums trying to make it as a concert pianist. He is talented, has a piano at home and an educated teacher. Yet, his skills get him bullied at school, his father thinks he should get a ‘real’ job and his mother is too interested in home life to care. The conflict would not arise from him learning the skills needed. Instead, the conflict would come from his environment, which frowns upon his desires, seeing them as sissy. The pay off for the reader would not be the main character developing his skills, but the manner in which he beats his environment to succeed.

The second part of the opening paragraph is a brief summary of your book. This is not a synopsis just a very brief taster of what your book is about. At this stage you are simply showing Penguin the type of book you have written and giving them a chance to see if it will fit into their current list. Here is an example for the classic fairy tale, The Three Little Pigs:

This coming of age fairy tale, sees three little pigs leaving home to build a new life. Yet faced with the problems of building regulations and a vicious serial killer known as The Big Bad Wolf, each pig must find their own solution!

Paragraph 2:

The aim of the second paragraph is to present your book as a viable product. Having established your book’s theme and content, you must now demonstrate to Penguin that you understand the market and have a realistic commercial proposition.

This paragraph should include the following:

• The book’s genre,
• The book’s word count,
• An indication of the market with one or two representative titles,
• Notes of any images, illustrations or unusual requirements,
• An indication of if the book is written and if not when it will be finished.

The representative titles are important and should not be missed. The best way to decide on these is to think what readers of your book may also read. The examples will give Penguin a good indication of whether your book is the kind of product they can publish/sell. Please don’t rush this section. The competitive titles are important and should not be ignored.

Paragraph 3:

This is a very brief outline of your book’s plot. Do include the key characters, the problem they face and the point of conflict. But do not expand this to a full blown synopsis. Short and sweet is the key here.

This builds on the first paragraph and will drive home your book’s narrative and give the publisher a better feel for your story.

If we carry on the The Three Little Pigs story we get:

Set in the fairy tale land of medieval Europe, this tale sees three pigs leaving home to make their way in the world. However, their coming-of-age is overshadowed by the presence of the serial killer known as The Big Bad Wolf. The first pig opts to build a house of straw, but it offers little protection from the Wolf. The second pig tries sticks, but with the same results and he ends up as the Wolf’s second victim. The third pig develops a plan that involves a brick house, a chimney and a pot of boiling water – but will it be enough?

Paragraph 4:

This is about you as a writer. In the modern world of internet driven marketing the writer is increasingly becoming an important part of the process. Include a brief biography, containing any relevant information such as previously published titles. I would also suggest that you add information regarding your web presence.

My advice is to keep this submission as brief as possible, whilst including all essential information. However, here are a few topics that you might wish to include:

• Marketing ideas: If you have a strong web presence, or if you have a solid vision for the marketing and promotion of your book then this can be included. However, simply saying ‘I will do ten book signings’ is not the kind of thing that will get anyone excited. This said, making it clear to the Penguin that you firstly, understand that marketing is part of the writer’s job, and secondly that you as a writer are prepared to get your hands dirty is always a positive. This is also where you should include any unique media contacts you may possess.
• A book series: Another situation that may lead to an expanded book proposal is if you are pitching for a series of books. In this case it may be appropriate for you to include a one page synopsis for each title, plus an expanded description of your series in the query letter. This is especially true for non-fiction works that are more likely to NOT be written at point of proposal. However, unless your series is already written, I would not include an extended synopsis, instead simply say that you see the book as part of a series.

Submitting To Penguin: Synopsis

The aim of the synopsis is to give the Penguin editor a full outline of your book. This means explaining the complete plot, with all major character and plot twists – briefly. If you are pitching a non-fiction book then the synopsis becomes an outline of the key concepts and a chapter-by-chapter guide.

Fiction

The starting point of your synopsis is a chronological outline of the plot. However, before you start plugging away I would offer two pieces of advice:

• 1. Split your plot into scenes,
• 2. Squeeze your plot into a three act format – start, middle and end.

It is essential that you resist the temptation to write down every little part of your plot. The key here is to stick to the essentials. Your synopsis should only contain the scenes that are essential narrative to the plot.

This process will be helped if you go back to the Five Key Elements of your book.

As a reminder:

• Character: Who’s the main character?
• Situation: What is the situation that is forcing the main character to take action?
• Goal: What action does the main character need to take to resolve the Situation?
• Conflict: What is stopping the character from achieving their goal?
• Disaster: What is the pinnacle of the story, the moment at which the character’s goal may be lost for ever?

By using your Five Key Elements you should be able to determine which scenes are the most important. Personally, I would start by making a list of these scenes in order, perhaps pencilling in how each relates to your Five Key Elements.

This process will help you establish which scenes you are going to include, you now need to flesh them out. This is a very personal process. You should write a brief description of what happens in the scene. As you introduce new characters, try to include a brief sentence regarding their relationship to the main characters. The key is to stick to the facts, don’t include any ‘the character was thinking this’ or ‘the character did this because her father left her when she was five.’

Our brains have a natural tendency to see narratives in three acts – the start, the middle and the end. This is often referred to as the narrative arc. (I would suggest that if this is something of interest that you do a bit of background reading, if nothing else it will strengthen your skill as a writer. A simple Google search will give you loads of links.)

It will help you, when constructing your synopsis, to determine the narrative arc of your own story. This awareness will help you to pace your narrative, whilst determining which sections are essential and which are padding (if they are padding do you really need them!) As a general rule, I would not make direct reference to the narrative arc when writing a descriptive style synopsis.

The synopsis is a very personal document and it is very difficult to write a ‘how to’ guide. My advice is to dive in and start typing away. This said here’s a couple of guidelines that may help:

• Don’t talk about too many characters,
• Keep it super simple,
• Keep it brief,
• Get someone who hasn’t read your novel to read the synopsis and see if it makes sense.

Non-Fiction

The approach to writing a non-fiction synopsis is different. The reality is that with most non-fiction book submissions, the book has NOT been written and is simply an idea. Therefore, the key to the non-fiction synopsis is to clearly outline what your book is about and how the chapters will be structured.

The first step is to provide a detailed rationale of the thinking and concept behind your book. Explain what the book is about, clearly identifying the points of interest that are unique and will separate your book from the competition.

The second part of your non-fiction synopsis is a chapter-by-chapter guide. For each chapter you should include the chapter header and any sub-headers. You should also include a brief one paragraph explanation of what will be included in the chapter. The key is to be concise but detailed enough that your argument/debate/view point is clear to follow.

One of the most important aspects of a non-fiction book proposal is that your establish the market and your credentials to be the writer of the book. This can be done partially in the cover note and partially in the synopsis.

So what do Penguin publish?

This should leave you with a long(-ish) email ready to fire off to Penguin. However, before you hit the send button, you first need to determine if Penguin are the correct publisher for your book.

It goes without saying that it is a waste of time pitching a book to Penguin if they don’t publish your genre of book. I strongly advise that you spend some time researching Penguin and the books they publish. The list below should help.

Penguin UK consists of the following imprints:

Penguin Press

• Allen Lane
• Classics and Modern Classics
• Penguin Reference
• Particular Books

Penguin General

• Fig Tree
• Hamish Hamilton
• Michael Joseph
• Viking

Children’s

• Ladybird
• Puffin
• Frederick Warne

eBooks

• ePenguin

Illustrated titles

• Dorling Kindersley

Travel and Music

• Rough Guides

BubbleCow can help

BubbleCow provide a free course to help you write your book proposal — go here to sign up for free.