THE PROPOSAL

After the writer submits a query letter to an agent or editor, if the project fits the agency’s or publisher’s interests, they will request a proposal. So, how do you write a proposal?

Begin with a cover letter. This is similar to the query. In the first paragraph, remind the editor that he asked for the proposal. In the last paragraph, describe the enclosures.

 The next page is the title page. Your name and contact information single-spaced and in block-style goes in the upper left-hand corner. Using 36-point and italicizing, center the title. Make it five words or less, have it be catchy, and indicate something about the story.

A table of contents is optional. If you use one, place it after the title page.

 The executive summary introduces the project in a succinct form. Often the editor will make a preliminary decision based only on a scan of this summary and a few of the submitted pages. Write its nine points in an outline form. The first point is the title. Follow with: the genre and sub genre, then the high concept sentence, the target audience, the length, indicate whether the project is polished and available or give a completion date, next comes a one paragraph summary, then a short one-paragraph biography. End with a short marketing summary.

 Ideally, a high-concept one-liner contains twenty-five words or less. Confine yourself to one or two major characters and stay with one thread of the story. Show how the character is in conflict and use words that promote empathy.

 Be specific about the target readers. Select them based on their worldview, interests, gender, age, or anything that narrows down the pool of readers to indicate particular people to whom the marketing should aim.

 The word count for adult fiction runs between 60,000 and 120,000 words, depending on the genre and the publisher. Always check guidelines before you submit.

 The next page of the proposal contains the competition. Research Amazon.com and find three to five books in your genre. List their titles and authors. For each one, write a short paragraph summary and tell how it is similar to and different from your work.

 Though not mandatory, you can include character sketches. Write approximately a page for each major character. Include any essential back story, their goals, and how they relate to the story.

 A two-page single-spaced or a three- to five-page double-spaced synopsis comes next. Write it in third person present tense. Focus on the main plot points and write them in order, showing the story’s beginning, middle, and end. The first time a character appears, write his name in capital letters. Open with a hook that contains the main character and a crisis. Show how he intends to solve the crisis. Be sure to include motivations and emotions.

An expanded version of your biography comes next. Write it in third person. List your credits, pertinent education, and life experiences.

 The all important marketing section appears last. The editor wants to know about your platform and who you can reach through organizations, speaking engagements, columns. Include the URLs of your website and/or blog.

 Your well-written proposal is the first step in a long process. If the editor is interested, he’ll ask for the complete manuscript. If he likes that, he passes it on to the first of several committees that ultimately decide whether the book will be published.—Quinn

 

HOW TO WRITE A QUERY LETTER

So, you or your homeschool writer have completed and polished a manuscript, and are ready to have the story or article published. The first thing thing to do is study market guides. You can find agents and editors to query in such books as Sally Stuart’s Christian Writers’ Market Guide, Writer’s Market published by Writers Digest, and the 2013 Guide to Literary Agents edited by Chuck Sambuchino. All can be found on Amazon. For convenience, editors and agencies are presented by genre.

Each publisher or agency lists the types of fiction and/or nonfiction it handles. Follow their contact instructions. Some only accept referrals or contacts they have made at conferences. Others request a synopsis and sample chapters. Many will only accept a query letter.

So what is a query letter? It is a one-page sales pitch whose purpose is to entice the agent/editor to ask for the full manuscript. This is one's opportunity to make a good first impression. Whether by e-mail or paper mail, use Standard English and follow a business letter format.

Set up pages with one-inch margins. The lines should be single space and paragraphs should be block style. Use Times New Roman and 12 font size. Center align your letter head. List your name in slightly larger font and your contact information—address, phone number, e-mail, web address—in slightly smaller font.

Align the inner address against the left margin. Always spell the agent/editor’s name correctly and use his proper title.

The first paragraph in the query’s body is a hook that is supposed to catch the agent/editor’s attention. It needs to contain the story’s title, genre, and word count. It can mention the name of a referral, part of the story line, or some fact within the story. To show that the query isn’t a form letter, mention something gleaned while researching the company.

The second paragraph resembles a book blurb such as seen on the back of book jackets. Summarize the first quarter of the book and name the protagonist, describe a bit of the setting, reveal his inner conflict, and explain the story problem. End the paragraph with a question.

The next paragraph is the writer's bio. Tell the agent/editor why this story is different from others of its kind and why the author is the one person who can tell it. Present credits, if any. Describe work or life experience that’s pertinent to the story and how the writer can promote the book. In the last paragraph, politely thank the agent/editor then ask whether they'd like to see a synopsis or proposal and sample chapters. When sending a paper letter, be sure to include a self-addressed stamped envelop.

Then the writer waits for the listed response time. If nothing appears, send a polite e-mail with the submission’s name and date and ask whether they received the query or whether a decision had been made. Once I waited twice the allotted time before contacting an editor who had requested my manuscript. She told me her computer had died, and she lost all her data. She asked that I resubmit. I would have lost out on a publication had I not e-mailed her. So, unless requested otherwise, make contact.

The following is my idea of how L. Frank Baum might query the Acme Agency if he was looking for a home for The Wizard of Oz today:

 L. Frank Baum

1 Writers Lane

Kansas City, Kansas

L.F.Baum555@searchengine,com

www.L.FrankBaum,com

 

C.C. Smith

Acquisitions Editor
Acme Agency
121212 Park Place #4
New York, New York

February 28, 2013

Dear Mr. Smith,  (Note: Double check the title and spelling)

Your client John Rabowski recommended that I query you about my 60,000-word fantasy novel The Wizard of Oz. It is the story of Dorothy Gale, an unhappy Kansas farm girl who learns there is no place like home.

Dorothy dreams of evading her problems by escaping to a land over the rainbow that is a much happier place. To her surprise, a cyclone picks up her house and carries her to a sparkling land filled with music and flowers and happy munchkins. Though she is welcome, she misses her family and wants to go home. The only one who can help her is the great and mighty Wizard of Oz. But he lives faraway at the end of a yellow-brick road that’s fraught with dangers from winged-monkeys, witches, fighting trees, and a deadly poppy field. Can a young girl survive such obstacles and return home?

Having grown-up in Kansas and having studied American Folklore, I believe I am uniquely qualified to tell this American fairy tale. My short stories have appeared in such publications as The Story Teller Magazine and Knights and Dragons. I am on Face Book, have 3,500 Twitter followers, and receive 5,000 hits per month on my blog.

Thank you for your consideration. May I send a synopsis and sample chapters?

Yours truly,

L. Frank Baum

 

So when should a writer query? For a novice, after he/she has completed and polished his/her manuscript. It is a good idea to have others read it before submitting. Moms will love it no matter what, so find objective readers who can give sound advice. Next, we'll look at the proposal.—Quinn

HOW TO WRITE ROMANCE--Plot Part 5

Romance is one of the most popular plots. It is character driven, and the basic structure is boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy either recovers girl or loses her forever. The best romances have sympathetic characters, great dialogue, and unique settings. Since they are short, usually around 200 pages, character development is stressed.

 

In this plot, there are two major characters, the man and the woman. Since the readers are predominantly women, the point of view (POV) character should be the woman. She must be real, appealing, and in familiar situations so the reader can identify and project herself into the character. The POV must grow over the course of the story and display weaknesses as well as strengths, flaws as well as abilities, interests, dislikes, and an occupation relevant to the story. Conflict increases if the man and woman have differing views that require one of them to change.

In the beginning, where boy meets girl, often attraction exists, but there is dislike on one or both their parts. If love develops, don’t tell about it, show it. At the end of the first part, something separates them.

Boy loses girl in the story’s middle section. Usually three obstacles occur which have nothing to do with the relationship. Each attempt to resolve the situation results in more conflict and the stakes rise. Finally, an overwhelming crisis develops.

In the final section, the pair either overcomes the crisis resulting in a happy ending or the crisis pulls them apart forever. In commercial fiction, readers prefer happy endings.

Romance may appear in all genres, including adventure, mystery, suspense, science fiction, fantasy, historic, and all their sub genres. A related plot is forbidden love. Obstacles in this plot include social taboos, triangles, and differences in age, culture, or social standing. Next, we’ll look at the Rescue.—Quinn

HOW TO WRITE THE CHASE--Plot Part Four

Next, we’ll consider the Chase. This is an action driven plot, high in tension and stimulating. Often, it’s unique and high concept, having larger than life situations, like alien invasions, pandemics, killer storms. The main character (MC) may be the pursuer or the pursued. There is always a strong reason for a chase, with duty or obsession motivating the chase itself. As always in story, there is a beginning, middle, and an end.

 In part one, the writer must establish a reason for the pursuit and determine the pursuer. The stakes must be high. Capture dangerous. If the MC is the pursued, he may be the victim of a bad situation, a mistake, or a misunderstanding. He may have done wrong for a good reason. A motivating incident presents itself by the end of this section.

 The middle contains the chase. It is filled with near captures, dangers, and physical action. Unrelenting tension builds as the pursuer repeatedly closes in on the victim, only to have him escape.

 Part three is the resolution. Here, the pursued is either caught or he escapes, relieving tension.

 The Fugitive is an example of a chase plot. In part one, Dr. Richard Kimble finds his wife murdered. The killer, a one-armed man, flees the scene. Instead of going after the real killer, the authorities arrest Kimble and try him for murder. On the way to Death Row, there’s an accident. Kimble escapes from the crash scene and decides to clear his name.

 Part two contains several narrow escapes as Deputy U.S. Marshall Samuel Gerard tries to recapture Kimble. Kimble goes to a hospital to treat his wounds. Someone recognizes him, but he escapes. While Gerard has him cornered on a viaduct, Kimble leaps into raging water. He goes to a hospital to look for a list of people with prosthetic arms. Gerard is close behind. Kimble locates the one-armed man, Sykes, and discovers that his friend, Nichols, hired the murderer as a hit man.

 The resolution takes place in part three as Kimble confronts Nichols. They fight while Gerard and his men close in. Aware that the authorities now know the truth about the murder, Nichols tries to shoot Gerard. Kimble stops him, then surrenders to Gerard and is exonerated.

 Moby-Dick is an example of a Chase plot. Ahab hunts the whale. In Les Miserables, Javert tries to recapture Jean Valjean. Sherlock Holmes seeks Moriarity. And in Master and Commander, Aubrey pursues French merchant ships. Next time we will look at Romance—Quinn   

HOW TO WRITE THE ADVENTURE--Plot Part Three

Unlike the quest that is character driven, the adventure story is all about a journey. The character is action-driven and doesn’t have to grow in any way. The reader vicariously experiences exotic, strange, or dangerous places as the main character (MC) seeks something. As in all stories, there is a beginning, a middle, and an end.

 At the beginning of the adventure, the story world is ordinary. Then, a motivating factor comes along that encourages a change. It launches the MC into the middle. On the journey through a new story world, the MC encounters obstacles and conflicts that are almost impossible to overcome. In the end, he arrives at the goal and receives a reward.

Fairy tales are simple adventures. Let’s look at Tom Thumb. In the beginning, Tom is born into an ordinary home. Though he is only the size of a thumb, he finds ways of helping his father. Some men who would exploit him for monetary gain want to buy him. His father refuses the offer. But Tom recognizes an opportunity to see the world. He asks his father to sell him and promises to come home again.

The middle shows Tom during his journeys. Before the men reach the town where Tom will go on display, he escapes [adventure one] and hides in a mouse hole until they give up searching for him. He wakes from a night in a snail shell and overhears robbers that plot to burglarize the parson’s house. He offers to help them [adventure two], but when he is inside the house he raises a ruckus that scares the robbers away. While hiding in a hay pile, a cow eats him [adventure three]. He cries out. Thinking that the cow is possessed, the parson kills it and throws its stomach on a dung heap. A wolf comes along and gulps down the stomach in one piece [adventure four]. Tom directs the animal to a place where he can get all the food he wants.

The journey ends when Tom’s father finds the wolf in his house, kills him, and frees Tom. Tom’s reward is returning safely to his home and receiving his parent’s love.

The adventure is one of the most popular plots. Examples of this story form are: Mort d’Arthur, Around the World in Eighty Days, Robinson Crusoe, Grapes of Wrath, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and the Left Behind Series.—Quinn

 

HOW TO WRITE THE QUEST--Plot Part Two

While the quest may involve action, this plot form is character driven rather than action driven. The main character (MC) goes on a journey in which he seeks some object, person, or place. Along the way, he encounters new things and meets new people. By the end of his search, he has grown in some manner. As in all stories, there is a beginning, a middle, and an end.

In the opening scenes, the writer identifies the MC along with a motivating incident in the form of an obstacle, a loss, or a challenge. He has the MC explain why he is going on the quest, what he thinks he is looking for, and how he will define success.

The Wizard of Oz presents Dorothy as an unhappy Kansas farm girl who feels unappreciated and needs to save her beloved dog from a neighbor who is trying to kill it. She runs away to a carnival where a worker convinces her to return home.

The middle is the journey in which the MC fights and loses a series of battles. He has at least one traveling companion with whom he interacts, a helpful character, and a nemesis. The companion has his own motivations for joining the MC, and the obstacles effect a change in him as well.

When Dorothy arrives home, she encounters her first major obstacle, a tornado that picks up her house and transports her over the rainbow. The helpful character, the good witch Glenda, tells her to follow the Yellow Brick Road to the City of Oz where a powerful wizard might help her find a way back to Kansas. Dorothy decides to go in quest of Oz. However, the Wicked Witch of the West has a grudge against her and places obstacle after obstacle in her path. Along the way, three companions join her. The Tin Man believes the wizard can give him a new heart, the Scarecrow wants a brain, and the Cowardly Lion needs to find courage.

At the end of the story, there is self-doubt followed by a final battle which determines whether the quest is successful or not. Afterwards, the MC reveals what he has discovered and how he has changed.

Dorothy finds Oz, and her companions discover what they desired was within them all the time. However, since the wizard turns out to be a fraud, Dorothy believes she will never see home again. She receives hope when the wizard decides to ride a balloon over the rainbow. But hope is dashed when she misses her ride. Glenda appears and tells Dorothy that her ruby slippers can take her home. Dorothy returns to Kansas with a new attitude. She now believes true happiness is found in one’s own backyard.

The Quest is a plot form used since ancient times. Gilgamesh sets out to find immortality. Jason seeks the Golden Fleece. While he tries to right wrongs, Don Quixote searches for Dulcinea. Lord Jim attempts to regain his honor. As they journey toward their goals, each changes in some manner.—Quinn

HOW TO CHOOSE A PLOT--Part One

So, you may ask. What is the difference between plot and story? Story is what happens, related in chronological order. Plot is story plus why everything happens. The following are examples.

 Georgia punched in Jake’s number and waited while the phone buzzed.

“Yeah,” Jake said.

“You need to come home now.”

“I’m busy.”

“I’ve been waiting two hours.”

Silence.

“Okay,” Jake said. “I’m leaving now.”

The phone clicked in Georgia’s ear. She waited in the parking lot. (Story)

 

Georgia’s hand shook as she punched in Jake’s number. Her queasiness grew with each buzz.

“Yeah,” Jake growled.

She gulped, pressed the phone harder to her ear, and listened to the giggles in the background. “You need to come home now.”

“I’m busy.”

I bet you are. “I’ve been waiting two hours.”

Silence.

What are they doing?

“Okay,” Jake snapped. “I’m leaving now.”

The phone clicked in Georgia’s ear. Only a moment until they slither out the back way. She opened the car door and pulled the gun from her purse. (Plot)

 Plot is composed of a series of cause and effect relationships that reveal what happened and why. There are a number of basic plots from which a writer may derive a story. We shall explore a few.—Quinn