I may choose another way at some other time, but right now, I do it this way, and it's
the right way for me."(^)
In addition to your bio, if you have publishing credits you'll want to mention them
here. Your publishing credits should be paid credits, rather than work you've done for
promotional purposes, or material for which you weren't paid.
What if you don’t have any publishing credits? Everyone has to start
somewhere. If you don’t have any credits, don’t worry about them. If your proposal is
excellent, and a publisher wants to commission the book, then your lack of credits
won’t count against you.
Write the Overview
Now you'll know why you spent time writing your blurb. The Overview, the
description of your book, is the first part of your proposal that agents and publishers
will read. It's your book in a nutshell. It's also merely an expanded version of your
blurb.I've included a sample Overview below. It's from^ the proposal for my book^
Writing to Sell in The Internet Age.^
Sample^ Overview Writing to^ Sell^ in The Internet^ Age^
The^ Internet^ gives^ writers^ unlimited^ new^ opportunities^
Writing To Sell In The Internet Age empowers writers by revealing the immense new
earning power that Internet technology gives them. While many writers are
comfortable using the Internet for email and research, most are unaware that they now
have many new opportunities, including:
- Clever new ways to market their work and services with tools like
autoresponders, email mini-courses, ebooks, auctions, and promotional ezines;^ - The opportunity to develop a loyal following of readers. They can write and
publish instantly, to a worldwide audience millions strong, with tools like Web
logs (blogs). This loyal following makes a writer more appealing to traditional
publishers;^ - The ability to target specific niches, and to garner an income much more
quickly than they can via traditional publishing routes. A writer can write an
ebook or report this month, and sell it forever.