The first step in your 100-day book proposal challenge is to determine exactly what book you are pitching. That means researching to find the topic that fits your writing style like a glove. While the answer may seem obvious, be careful to collect all the data before drawing a conclusion. Only once you have taken the following three steps are you ready to write a compelling description that will get the eye of an agent and a publisher.
1. Start with some open ended brainstorming. Even if you have known since you were in third grade that you were going to write the Great American Novel about bacteria and fungi, start by writing all the terms that come to mind on the topic. Look for connections with recent headlines, controversial angles and eye-catching hooks.
2. Now the research begins. Collect all the information you can on your topic. I don't just mean look it up on wikipedia or google search. Be creative. Who are the faces behind bacillus? What do they look, smell and taste like? How do the good and bad microorganisms live together? What do they have for breakfast?
3. As you follow the meandering information trail, monitor your internal awe-o-meter for what interests you. What makes you want to know more? What makes you sit up in your seat and put down your coffee cup? Chances are those are the topics that will stir enough passion in you to keep you interested during the long months it takes to write a book. That passion is also what will keep your readers interested enough to buy and finish your work of art.
4. Your research also has to include an exhaustive search of all books written on that topic. And don't say this is a completely new subject. Chances are someone has already delved into the sex life of Escherichia coli bacilli. And that is a good thing in the eye of your future publisher. It means that there is a market for the topic. Now you just have to find your unique, timely, provocative take on the subject.
5. Write down a few variations. "Aquificae for Fun and Profit", "Tenericutes: The Nitrospirae of a New World" Maybe "Gemmatimonadetes goes Wild". Say your bestselling titles out loud. Do they make you want to know more? Try your titles out on your MasterMind group. Keep trying until you hit on an idea that has legs.
6. Congratulate yourself. This is important work. Plus, you are going to need all your strength for next week's project. Writing a description of your novella that has the potential to go viral.
Feel free to share.
Yours in Writing
Promtpmasters
Jennifer Sander
JT Long
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