Let’s say you have a book idea, a book in progress, or a bunch of fragments that you hope will someday come together as a book. Let’s say that you’re unable to see exactly how everything should fit together or what the glue of the narrative is. Perhaps you’ve kicked around an idea for years but haven’t really committed to it, or possibly you’ve written the book already or are halfway through and have stopped. If this sounds like you, then you might consider writing a book proposal, whether you intend to submit this proposal to a publisher or not. Book proposals don’t have to be submitted to a publisher, but they can be an opportunity for you to understand your book more clearly and help you finish it.  

In this weeklong workshop, we will go through the process of writing proposals to potential publishers (or to yourself). While submitting a book proposal makes the most sense for writers of nonfiction or memoir, as it’s rare for a book of fiction to sell on one, anyone who wants to get a better handle on a longer project, regardless of genre, will benefit from this workshop. Even finished books need proposals sometimes to whet the appetites of agents and editors. We’ll learn about sample chapters, comparing your book to others, identifying your audience, and the chapter-by-chapter outline. Come to the class with one idea or several, or an outline (no more than 500 words) of your book in progress, or simply your frustration that the book you started years ago still isn’t done. While we can’t promise a cure-all, the book proposal might be a helpful tool for you. The class will largely be generative and will include daily exercises.   

In this workshop, we will generate new writing through guided exercises and prompts; offer feedback/first impressions on writing you produce in our week; workshop writing you bring from home.