How to Work with a Writer on a Book Proposal
A book proposal is a sales document. Volumes have been written on how to write a successful book proposal and we won't go into all the points here. Suffice it to say if you are contemplating hiring a writer to help you write a book proposal, hire a writer who has written one.
These days, a book proposal begins with a query letter to a publisher or professional literary agent.
Generally a query letter is one page long. Its purpose is to solicit a request from a publisher or agent for a full book proposal. Because a query letter is short and because publishers and agents see dozens in a day, a query letter has to be exceptionally well crafted and capture the reader's attention both immediately and forcefully, and yet without the common clichés that fill any publisher's or agent's email or mail boxes.
Accordingly, if you hire a professional writer to help craft a query letter, you have to convey to the writer the essence of the book, why the book is better than any potential competitor and why you are the person to write it (or oversee the writing by your ghostwriter). Likely your hired writer will dismiss some of your query ideas and introduce others. If you have chosen a competent professional, these suggestions will derive from experience.
Book proposals can be as long as 50 pages. So the would-be author may want to begin work before getting a response to the query letter from a publisher or agent.
The book proposal must meet an even higher standard than the query letter. It will be competing with hundreds of others for an agent's or publisher's time and resources. Agents and publishers often specify components they want to see in a book proposal – slant on the subject matter, marketing analysis, outline, and sample chapter are some; make sure your proposal follows these guidelines to the letter.
Allow your hired writer time to create the book proposal. Give your writer sample chapters, outlines and any other materials you have assembled or written. Then give feedback on a first draft, but be open to the professional's ideas.
Likely, considering the competition, a book proposal will be turned down at first. Try to figure out why. Let your writer re-craft the proposal for the second and subsequent efforts. Re-crafting is often the process that leads to eventual success.