Write your book proposal with me in 2024
Or, power through it by the end of the year with a special offer for newsletter readers
Hello Manuscript Workers,
I’m a little behind on everything I had intended to get done this year (you too??), so I’m going to get right to the point today. My mission at Manuscript Works is to support you in finding the right publisher for your book, getting the response you want when you connect with them, and feeling proud of your book when it’s released. A key tool in this process is your book proposal. A strong proposal gives you power as an author. It shows publishers that you know what your book is trying to be, who it’s for, and why it’s important (which makes it infinitely easier for them to say “yes, we want to see more”).
I think a lot of us write book proposals without being very sure of any of that stuff. We come up with something that seems reasonable and hope someone will like it. I know that’s what I did for my first book—a revision of my doctoral dissertation—over a decade ago. I was so grateful that the first press I sent my book proposal to received it positively that I didn’t stop to think very hard about whether it was the right press for my broader career goals. And I was so happy that I would have a published book, that I didn’t think about whether the readership I was addressing with that book was really the readership I wanted to reach and spend the next several years in conversation with.
There’s so much about the academy and our careers and the decisions that publishers make that we can’t control. My little corner of the world is about helping you take control over the things you can: who you talk to about your book, how you talk about your book, and ultimately how you write it and share it with readers.
If any of this resonates with you, you might be a great candidate for my Book Proposal Accelerator, which has its next cohort starting on January 8th. This six-week course is designed for:
scholarly writers who have been spinning their wheels trying to write a book but don’t know if they’re going in the right direction
writers who have tried to connect with publishers but haven’t gotten the response they want yet
writers who haven’t even opened a blank document yet but want to approach the process of writing a book proposal in the most efficient possible way because they don’t have months or years to waste
I’ve been running this program since 2019. It’s time-tested and it works. I recently updated the curriculum and improved the organization to make it even easier to complete in a short time frame. The course is interactive, so I will get to know your project intimately and offer you personalized feedback, perspective, and advice based on what I’ve seen work for hundreds of scholarly authors over the years.
You’ll leave with a list of your best-fit presses, a book proposal that will stand out from the sea of other submissions, and a tailored submission strategy that will increase your likelihood of getting the responses you want on the timeline that works for you.
I’ve worked with early career scholars writing books based on their dissertations. I’ve worked with tenured profs from article-based departments and disciplines who want to finally publish that book idea they’ve been dreaming of for years. I’ve worked with seasoned authors who want to take more control of the publishing process this time around. Writers at all career stages are welcome, as long as you’re trying to publish a scholarly book with a scholarly press.
You can have a drafted manuscript in hand, or use the program to sketch out the book you plan to write (and seek an advance contract from presses if that’s what you want to do).
I want to keep this message short, so I’m not going to go into all the features of the Book Proposal Accelerator here. You can find that information on the main course page. That’s also where you’ll be able to register for the course on January 1st when enrollment opens.
If you have questions about whether the Book Proposal Accelerator is a good fit for you, please leave a comment or reply to this email directly and I’ll give you my honest answer. I’d love to hear about your book project and let you know if I think I can help.
One more thing: I know that some people prefer to work on their own, aren’t available in January–February, would rather knock out their book proposal in the next two weeks or stretch out the work over a whole semester, or don’t have a the budget for a full interactive course.
If any of those apply to you, check out my Book Proposal Shortcut for Busy Scholars. It’s a self-paced course with an identical core curriculum to the Book Proposal Accelerator. It doesn’t have most of the interactive elements that come with the Accelerator, but it does allow you to ask direct questions about the publishing process (I usually respond within a day or two) and meet up with me for group office hours about once a quarter.
The Shortcut has been closed for updates for the past several weeks, but the new version is finally open. The 2024 price will be $395, but newsletter readers can use coupon code SHORTCUTNEW at checkout to enroll for $325. This coupon will expire in the new year, so if you know you want to complete the Shortcut at some point in 2024, now would be a great time to get it. (There will always be a 10% discount for unemployed scholars, precarious scholars, and scholars without institutional funding support, but this coupon code still gets you the best deal.)
Ok, sorry, actually one more thing: If you want to get a taste of my approach before committing to one of my programs, come to my free webinar on January 3rd. I’ll be talking about how to publish a book from your dissertation and covering the most common pitfalls that dissertation revisers encounter when trying to pitch their projects to scholarly book publishers. There will be a recording for everyone who registers, though live attendance is encouraged (and I will have a few freebies to give away for those who are there live). Hope to see you there!