This was refreshingly honest. Book proposals feel like being asked to prove you can swim after you’ve already crossed the ocean—but you’re right: it’s not about trust. It’s business infrastructure disguised as creative redundancy. And that shift in mindset is everything.
Thank you for naming the tedium without bitterness, and still making space for the real work writers do to get their ideas sold. This kind of clarity is gold for those of us gearing up to submit.
I respect this kind of clarity around a process that’s often shrouded in noise. I’ve written a book that dismantles illusion and performance in the transformation space, and I’ve watched how quickly that clarity either gets ignored or misunderstood—unless it’s backed by undeniable structure.
Book proposals force the mirage to collapse. You can’t hide in charisma, social capital, or relatability. The work has to make sense, and it has to translate. If it doesn’t, the publisher won’t bite—and they shouldn’t.
It’s not about proving yourself to them. It’s about proving your idea to the reality of the machine you’re asking to run with it. This kind of pragmatic truth isn’t a block to art—it’s a guardrail for delusion. If the book deserves to live, the proposal won’t kill it. It’ll sharpen it.
Unfortunately, I didn't find out about it until almost the end, but I still picked up some bon mots.
To hear her say she hates writing book proposals resonated. Especially considering she is such an accomplished writer. And especially because I also had to come up with ten pages of illustrations--which was the fun but labor-intensive part.
The graphic memoir I am writing delves into a tender and torrid online relationship that lasted three years. And I am in the Just Like That demo. So learning about how 50+ women negotiate pleasure is a forever fascinating topic.
While my adventures were tame by comparison, I have also been romantically lit in The City of Light.
I very much appreciate her voice. And it's good confirmation that there is an audience. I'm here for it.
The memoirs by Leslie Jamison and Lyz Lenz also struck a familiar chord.
I think I'm in the odd group, but I enjoyed writing my book proposal (hybrid memoir). It really brought the idea and themes together in a new way for me. It gave me a bird's-eye view of my project. It also reminded me of how much work I've done over the past 20 years. I had forgotten so much of it! (ETA: I love making lists. Lists of my publications were a grounding way to start.)
I don’t mind the non-fiction proposal format itself. It was a tremendous amount of work to put it together, but also proof of concept that what I have is indeed worthy of the book format. I see both points, just because it’s useful doesn’t mean it was enjoyable.
The timing of this post is WILD. I just interviewed Joanna Rakoff on my podcast, Memoir Snob, and I was basically like, Joanna, I'm writing my first book, do I really need a book proposal? Can't I just write my book and sell it? And she launched into the importance of book proposals and had so much insight about them. THEN towards the end of our conversation, she mentioned you Kate, and your new book, Write Through It, and then I subscribed to your newsletter and now you're in my inbox telling me, along with Joanna, the importance of book proposals.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go subscribe to Good Decisions and watch this whole thing. Thank you!
This is such helpful delineation. I am currently writing fiction, but I noodle non-fiction projects as well. The book proposal seems like a great proof of concept and tedious at the same time (similar to the dreaded synopsis). Great insight into the industry. Thanks!
This was refreshingly honest. Book proposals feel like being asked to prove you can swim after you’ve already crossed the ocean—but you’re right: it’s not about trust. It’s business infrastructure disguised as creative redundancy. And that shift in mindset is everything.
Thank you for naming the tedium without bitterness, and still making space for the real work writers do to get their ideas sold. This kind of clarity is gold for those of us gearing up to submit.
I respect this kind of clarity around a process that’s often shrouded in noise. I’ve written a book that dismantles illusion and performance in the transformation space, and I’ve watched how quickly that clarity either gets ignored or misunderstood—unless it’s backed by undeniable structure.
Book proposals force the mirage to collapse. You can’t hide in charisma, social capital, or relatability. The work has to make sense, and it has to translate. If it doesn’t, the publisher won’t bite—and they shouldn’t.
It’s not about proving yourself to them. It’s about proving your idea to the reality of the machine you’re asking to run with it. This kind of pragmatic truth isn’t a block to art—it’s a guardrail for delusion. If the book deserves to live, the proposal won’t kill it. It’ll sharpen it.
I very much enjoyed the session with Glynnis.
Unfortunately, I didn't find out about it until almost the end, but I still picked up some bon mots.
To hear her say she hates writing book proposals resonated. Especially considering she is such an accomplished writer. And especially because I also had to come up with ten pages of illustrations--which was the fun but labor-intensive part.
The graphic memoir I am writing delves into a tender and torrid online relationship that lasted three years. And I am in the Just Like That demo. So learning about how 50+ women negotiate pleasure is a forever fascinating topic.
While my adventures were tame by comparison, I have also been romantically lit in The City of Light.
I very much appreciate her voice. And it's good confirmation that there is an audience. I'm here for it.
The memoirs by Leslie Jamison and Lyz Lenz also struck a familiar chord.
loved this
Loved listening in to this live. So many great gems for authors!
"Your first album can't be your greatest hits."
I, too, laughed out loud.
I believe Glynnis's book is doing really well. If she's writing proposals, I'd lead with that.
We are both seasoned enough to know that information, thank you.
My comment is for those who aren't
I think I'm in the odd group, but I enjoyed writing my book proposal (hybrid memoir). It really brought the idea and themes together in a new way for me. It gave me a bird's-eye view of my project. It also reminded me of how much work I've done over the past 20 years. I had forgotten so much of it! (ETA: I love making lists. Lists of my publications were a grounding way to start.)
I don’t mind the non-fiction proposal format itself. It was a tremendous amount of work to put it together, but also proof of concept that what I have is indeed worthy of the book format. I see both points, just because it’s useful doesn’t mean it was enjoyable.
The timing of this post is WILD. I just interviewed Joanna Rakoff on my podcast, Memoir Snob, and I was basically like, Joanna, I'm writing my first book, do I really need a book proposal? Can't I just write my book and sell it? And she launched into the importance of book proposals and had so much insight about them. THEN towards the end of our conversation, she mentioned you Kate, and your new book, Write Through It, and then I subscribed to your newsletter and now you're in my inbox telling me, along with Joanna, the importance of book proposals.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go subscribe to Good Decisions and watch this whole thing. Thank you!
Wonderful! And all of us are right!! :)
Haha perfect!
This is such helpful delineation. I am currently writing fiction, but I noodle non-fiction projects as well. The book proposal seems like a great proof of concept and tedious at the same time (similar to the dreaded synopsis). Great insight into the industry. Thanks!
Paper! The price of paper never occurred to me! That’s a 🤌 point about proposals being business documents. Thanks!