entrepreneurs are developing to use the Internet to make excellent money in many
new ways. These writers are exploring their new options with amazement and delight.
It's an exciting time. I'll be including their stories and tips in this book to inspire other
writers that they can do it too.What^ I^ won't^ be^ including^
I won’t include descriptions of technology and the online environment. Information
on how to build a Web site, how to sell online, how to create a mailing list and other
technical minutiae is readily available online. Also, because technology is advancing
so quickly, technical information rapidly becomes outdated. What won't change
however are the basic concepts of writing to sell in the Internet age.
Include in your Overview:^
-^ A description of your book;^
-^ Why your book is important;^
-^ Something about what's included in^ your book;^
-^ Why you're the person to^ write this book.^
Don’t^ hype,^ BUT^ DO^ INCLUDE^ EVERYTHING^ RELEVANT^
Please don’t try to hype your book in the Overview. Just tell your story as quickly and
as clearly as you can.
Also, don’t hold anything back. I've read many proposals from beginning
writers where the writer has tried to be coy: "For the complete details, you'll need to
read the book!" This kind of thing will work against you. You're asking a publisher to
invest around $30,000 to publish your book. Anyone who's going to spend that
amount of money wants all the details. Please provide them.
Your^ Overview's^ length^
Your Overview can be as long, or as short, as you feel it needs to be. Some proposals
have one-page Overviews, in others, the writer needs five pages to describe the book.
Use your own judgement here. If you need five pages, then by all means, use them.
However, if your Overview is long, make sure that you haven’t repeated information.