their personal perspectives. But this template will give
the important basics and make the time spent reaching
out more manageable.
It’s in this space, too, that you’ll want to be clear on
things like deadlines, word counts, potential topics (you
can include the outline of topics brainstormed here as a
means of getting the contributor’s mind going), and, as
important, payment. What will you be paying them and
when? You might not know your budget and whether
you or your publisher will be responsible for payment, so
it’s OK to note that this is to be determined (and when
you do have the details clear, update the template email
to include it).
Th is proposal letter should also include how you
anticipate working with them as contributors. Will you
be available throughout the process? Do you anticipate
heavy editorial notes once a draft is turned in? Will you
work with each individual however they prefer to work?
Th ese all are personal decisions, but they should be noted
clearly in the solicitation letter, as it allows contributors
to know what to expect of your relationship.What Else to Include
If you haven’t at this point draft ed what you want to
include personally for the collection, this is an opportu-
nity to do so. If you don’t plan to include your own work
or aren’t yet sure what you plan to include, use this space
to write what you envision the introduction to your col-
lection to be. Although I have never ultimately used
what I’ve draft ed in my own collections, including this
piece in the outline for proposal has helped me revise the
proposal to ensure that I’m nailing the voice I anticipate
using editorially throughout the book.
Another option here is to include the text of or links
to pieces that you’d like to include or that convey the
goals of the anthology. For (Don’t) Call Me Crazy, I had
no idea what I wanted to contribute to the anthology at
the outline stage, and I also wasn’t entirely clear how I
wanted an introduction to look—this is normal, espe-
cially for a topic as personal and raw as mental health,
wherein I suspected that the contributions from other
writers would be the biggest tools in craft ing the edito-
rial agenda. I chose to include at the end of the outline a
piece I’d written and published previously, with the note
that it captured the feeling I hoped readers would take
away from the collection.
If youchoosetousea piecenotwrittenbyyouorfor
whichyoudon’townthepersonalcopyright,notethat
aswell.FinalNotes
Whenyouproposetheanthologytoanagentoreditor,
beawarethattheymayprefera differentformat.This is
theformatthathasworkedforallofmycollections,both
intheproposalstageaswellasintheexecutionstage.
The workonthisendcantakea longperiodoftime,
dependingontheprojectandfeedbackfromstakehold-
ersinthepublicationprocess.Butthisis thefrontload-
ingofworkthatgiveseasetotheactualworkofput-
tingthebooktogether:Youhavea roadmaptohelpyou
figureouthowallofthemovingpiecesworktogether.It
mightnotlookthesamewayattheendoftheprojectas
youenvisionedwhenproposingit,butthat’spartofwhat
makesanthologycreationa joy.Youhavea tooltohelp
yougetstarted,butsometimesthetwistsandturnsalong
thewaymakeit a collectionevenmorepowerfuland
outstandingthanyoucouldeverimagine. WDKellyJensenwasa teenlibrarianbeforepursuinga full-timecareer
in writingandediting.ShecurrentlyworksforBookRiot(bookriot.
com).HerbooksincludeHereWeAre:FeminismfortheRealWorld
and(Don’t)CallMeCrazy. Herthirdanthology,BodyTalk, is forth-
comingfromAlgonquinYoungReaders.THE OUTLINE PROPOSAL TEMPLATE
For those who are visual learners like myself, here’s
a snapshot of what the outline proposal includes, as
explained in the details of this article:- Your elevator pitch.
2. The book’s description, which should include
word counts, comparable titles, timelines, why
this book is necessary now, and other key aspects
of the collection.
3. A topical outline.
4. Potential contributors to the anthology.
5. The pitch letter to contributors.
6. An introduction and/or piece you see including in
the book.
WritersDigest.com I 41