Write a Spellbinding Sample Chapter

One of the most important parts of every book proposal is the sample chapter. The sample of your writing must be compelling because it is a taste to the agent or editor of what will be written in the book manuscript.

When I presented a book proposal at the publishing house, several of the executives didn’t read the first part of the proposal that included the overview, chapter summaries, author bio or the marketing plan. Instead, they turned to the sample chapter and read it first. If the sample was excellent, they read the rest of the proposal. If the sample was poor, then they had formed their opinion (and likely a final decision) regarding the suitability of this book to add to our publishing list.

In many ways, this type of reading pattern is smart—because the writing should be what sells the publishing executive on a particular project. It’s why they have to publish your particular project, so make sure you invest a substantial amount of energy and excellence into your writing. It should be compelling, and the stories should make the reader (editor) turn the page to learn more. You need a combination of personal experience and how-to information in a nonfiction book that is appropriate for the particular publishing house.

And what are you adding “extra” to the sample chapter? Beyond your storytelling (which needs to be excellent) and your information (which needs to be simple, yet profound), are you adding some questions for the reader to think about or sidebar articles to give additional tidbits of information throughout the book? What special feature can you add that will make your book stand out?

Here’s one caution as you add this “extra” feature to your sample chapter:

Make sure you consider the cost of this feature. Sometimes authors will create a plastic “gimmick” to go with the book without thinking how this “gimmick” will be produced and what it will add to the value of the book? If the feature is something that can be printed like the rest of the book, it will not be an issue. But if it involves artwork (read extra cost for the publisher) or design work (again more production cost), then your “extra” may be a cause for rejection rather than help your proposal.

Children’s authors tend to lean more toward using gimmicks.

I once met with a new author who was also an artist. She had produced a series of removable Christmas tree ornaments in a book format that would celebrate the days leading up to Christmas. While the concept was interesting, the production costs would be astronomical. This author looked at me like I was crazy when I asked, “And what will be the retail price of this book? A hundred dollars?” I’m certain she thought I was trying to blow off her idea, but I was simply trying to get her to realize the cost of such a feature. The idea wasn’t a practical one that a publisher could execute without a high retail cost or a huge volume of printing.

You may have noticed that best-selling authors’ books have some very nice features.

Possibly beautiful artwork or the author’s signature is embossed into the hardcover underneath the paper book jacket. These features are possible if you are going to print two million copies at the same time and are able to gain strong economic discounts and economy of scale. In most cases, however, new authors can’t ask or expect such features as the publisher will be taking enough of a risk in simply printing their book. Adding the “extra” feature has to pay off for the publisher.

Take extra time to polish your sample chapter so every member of the publishing committee will be eager to get your book under contract and become a part of their forthcoming publishing plans.

This is something you can do as the author to help build enthusiasm inside and outside of the publishing house.

W. Terry Whalin, a writer and acquisitions editor lives in California. A former magazine editor and former literary agent, Terry is an acquisitions editor at Morgan James Publishing. He has written more than 60 nonfiction books including Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams and Billy Graham. To help writers catch the attention of editors and agents, Terry wrote his bestselling Book Proposals That $ell, 21 Secrets To Speed Your Success. Get a free copy of his proposal book (follow the link). Check out his free Ebook, Platform Building Ideas for Every Author. His website is located at: www.terrywhalin.com. Connect with Terry on Twitter, Facebook, his blog and LinkedIn.