Guides
How to write a book proposal for an essay collection
What a US publisher asks for in a proposal for an essay collection: overview, annotated contents, sample essays, comparable books and a plain account of readership.
What to take away
- A proposal is a sales document for a book that exists mostly as separate pieces. Its job is to show that the pieces add up to one book.
- US presses publish their own lists of what to send. Read the page for the press you are targeting before you write a word.
- Most proposals share five partsa cover letter, an overview, an annotated table of contents, sample material and comparable books.
- Some literary presses do not want a proposal at all. They ask for a finished manuscript, or they take submissions only through agents.
- Mark every essay that has already appeared elsewhere. Editors ask for it, and your rights record has to back it up.
First decide whether a proposal is the right package
A proposal is not the universal format. Presses disagree, and the disagreement is public.
The University of Utah Press, for example, asks creative nonfiction authors for the standard cover letter, a CV and an annotated table of contents, and then asks for the completed manuscript instead of a sample chapter. Its committee reads creative nonfiction twice a year.
Other presses are closed to unsolicited work. Milkweed Editions states on its submissions page that it is not currently open to unsolicited submissions. Graywolf Press says it is unable to consider un-agented prose manuscripts. Coffee House Press says it has paused its open submission periods.
So the first task is a short list of presses, each with its current rule written next to it: proposal or manuscript, agent or no agent, open or closed. A proposal built for one press can be adapted for another, but only after you know what each one asks for.
If you do not yet have a manuscript that is close to finished, a proposal gives you a reason to finish the book's shape. If you already have one, you may need only a cover letter and a contents page.
The cover letter
At some presses the cover letter carries the overview. Utah's author page lists what the letter should cover: a summary of the work, why you are writing it and why you are qualified, why it suits that publisher's list, the word count, what the book adds beyond similar books, who the readers are and how you plan to reach them, and a completion date if the manuscript is not finished.
For a collection, write the letter in this order:
- The book in two sentences. Name the thread that runs through the essays: a place, a question, a stretch of years, a way of looking.
- The state of the manuscript. How many essays exist, how many words, how many are drafted and how many are planned.
- The reader. Be specific about who picks this up and why.
- Your credentials for the subject, kept to the facts.
Princeton University Press asks for a cover letter of one page at most, including whether other presses are considering the book. Say so honestly if it is a simultaneous submission. The Minnesota guidelines add that simultaneous submissions are considered in some cases and should be stated in the initial query.
The overview: make the collection one book
This is where a collection is most likely to fail. A set of good essays is not yet a book.
Princeton asks for a brief description of one or two paragraphs that an educated non-specialist can follow, followed by a fuller description of one to two pages covering purpose, approach and what makes the book distinctive. Even if your target press does not use that exact split, the pattern is useful: a short version for the editor who skims and a longer version for the one who reads.
Answer these questions in the overview:
- What connects the essays? A shared subject is the weakest connector. A shared question or a shared voice under pressure is stronger.
- Why this order? Say how the opening essay sets up the closing one.
- What is the reader left with at the end that they did not have at the start?
If the essays began as separate assignments, say so, then show the revision that makes them speak to one another. The same discipline applies when you turn a topic into an essay question: the question is what holds the pieces together.
The annotated table of contents
Every press page quoted here asks for some form of this. Minnesota asks for the table of contents with chapter summaries. UC Press asks for a paragraph-length description of each chapter, showing how the chapters relate to one another. Princeton asks for a brief paragraph on each chapter and an indication of any previously published material.
For each essay, give:
- the working title;
- the word count;
- two to four sentences on what happens and what the essay argues or discovers;
- one sentence on how it connects to the essay before or after it;
- its publication statusunpublished, or published, with the outlet and date.
The publication status line matters more for a collection than for any other book. UC Press asks proposers to note chapters drawn from previously published material, and it asks about planned publication elsewhere and permissions needs. Minnesota says unrevised dissertations are discouraged; the equivalent for essayists is a stack of magazine pieces with no revision. Show what you changed.
Before you list a reprinted essay, read the grant of rights you signed. The comparison of first, exclusive and reprint rights explains the terms. If a magazine held exclusive rights, find out whether they have reverted. A publisher will ask.
Sample essays
Presses vary on how much to send. Minnesota asks for at least two substantive sample chapters. UC Press asks for a sample chapter or two if available. Utah's author page asks for an introduction or preface and an optional sample chapter. Princeton lists a draft chapter as optional and asks you not to send the full manuscript unless requested.
For an essay collection, choose:
- the strongest essay in the book, which shows your best sentences;
- the essay that is most representative of the whole, which shows the thread;
- if you have an introduction, include it, since several presses ask for one.
Do not choose the two most similar pieces. The editor has to see range and coherence at once.
Comparable books
Princeton asks for a few comparable titles with author, publisher and year, and a statement on how yours differs. UC Press asks for books from the past three to five years, each discussed in its own paragraph with strengths and weaknesses.
A good list for a collection:
- three to five books published recently;
- a mixone close in subject, one close in form, and one that reached the readers you want;
- one honest paragraph on eachwhat it did, and what your book does that it does not.
Avoid bestsellers that have nothing to do with your book. Avoid writing "there is nothing like this." Princeton allows that no comparable title may exist, but tells you to check thoroughly before saying so.
Readership and reach
Say who the readers are. General readers, students in a particular course, or readers of a particular region or field each call for a different list at a press.
Utah's page asks how you plan to reach the audience. Answer with facts you can verify: the magazines that have published you, readings you have booked, institutions that know your work. Leave out audience numbers you cannot document.
The author section and CV
Princeton asks for a brief bio with previous books and relevant publications. Minnesota and Utah both ask for a CV. List your published essays with outlet and date, prizes, residencies and teaching. If you are new, say so plainly and let the essays carry the proposal.
Length and format
Utah's author page gives a manuscript range of 75,000 to 90,000 words for scholarly and general nonfiction. A collection of essays can run shorter, so state your actual count and the number of essays instead of guessing at a range.
UC Press and Princeton both say not to send a full manuscript unless asked. Princeton wants everything combined into one file and reports a wait of up to eight weeks. UC Press says editors aim to respond within eight to ten weeks. Minnesota says four to six weeks. Plan your follow-up dates around the press you chose, and keep a submission log.
A final check before sending
- Does the overview say what connects the essays in one sentence?
- Does every chapter entry carry a publication status?
- Are the sample essays your best and most representative?
- Are the comparable titles recent and specific?
- Does the package match the press's own page, down to file format and who receives it?
