Crafting Non-Fiction Book Proposals: Fight Magic Items by Aidan Moher
Much like Mary Kenney (I posted her proposal for Gamer Girls just the other day), Aidan Moher is another non-fiction author I was following for a long time before we ended up working together.
And as always, I have to preface a project like this with exactly that. Some non-fiction happens because an agent or an editor sees what you’re up to, and reaches out with a “hey I think you’ve got a book in you” sort of email.
This was the case with Aidan and Fight Magic Items, a book that was born of his fantastic, moving essays about playing JRPGs.
How did the proposal come together? What did it look like when we shopped it to publishers? Well, here we go my friends. Let’s dig in. Because this is what it looked like when we sent it around to editors at publishing houses.
Now, the annual fine print:
What works for me as an agent, might not work for someone else. There are some great additional proposal guides written up by Jane Friedman, Brian Klems at Writer’s Digest, and Nathan Brandsford. Learn as much as you can.
Make sure you are reading agency guidelines before sending anything. An agent might want something ENTIRELY DIFFERENT. But I imagine a lot of what we are going to dig into here, such as author platform, proposed contents, sample pages, etc… will be across the board for everyone who requests a proposal.
And last, if this helps, please order yourself a copy of FIGHT MAGIC ITEMS or request it at your library. And if this is helpful, buy me a coffee! The cafe near my house is open again!
Let’s dig in.
THE BASICS
I’ve said this in previous proposals blog posts (gonna cut and paste a little bit here), but when it comes to crafting a really great non-fiction book proposal, there are a few sections you should have in every single one.
In my opinion, the breakdown should look a little something like this, and we’ll dig into each of these in a minute.
About the Book: Exactly what it sounds like. What’s the jacket copy (ie: the back of the books on your own bookshelf) look like? What is this book?
Meet the Author: Let’s get to know you. Remember, part of non-fiction is explaining why you are THE person to write this book, why you’re the expert. A quick glimpse at Aidan on social media definitely reveals this, as well as his personal website, but still. You need to spell it out here.
Author Publicity & Platform: What’s your platform like (this doesn’t just mean social media!), where do you write, who will support your book, what are your numbers? This could also just tie into the Meet the Author section, though if you have a lot to dig into, break it off. Give us a whole section. As someone who writes for many gaming places, this was an easy one to write up with Aidan.
Comparative Titles: What books would yours sit with in bookstores? What book would fans of your book, also potentially like?
Potential Media Relevance: Covering a topic that gets dug into in the media? Shows us a bit about that, if possible.
Manuscript Overview & Proposed Contents: What you’ve got so far, and where you see the work going.
Now, when it comes to non-fiction proposals, there will sometimes be sections that are pretty specific to that kind of proposal. If this were a cookbook, you’d likely have some sample photography. If you’re a social media influencer, then sure, social media counts.
Varies book to book.
Aidan’s book is an essay collection that digs into the history of JRPGs (Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, etc) while touching on his personal history with them. It’s a blend of historical and personal, making for a collection that’s not just an academic dig into a topic, but one that connects his childhood and life.
Now, let’s break down these sections a bit more. I’ll include summaries of what we discussed in the proposal as well as some screenshots, which I hope will give you a helpful overview of what goes into one of these.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Right out of the gate, here’s the part where you tell us what the book is. Imagine this, if your book was already in a bookstore, this is what a potential reader would see when they pick the book up and flip it over, reading the back. The jacket copy.
Here’s what the jacket copy for Aidan’s book looked like. And now, a sliver from the proposal. As always, I can’t really give you the entire Word .doc for this book proposal, but I am very happy to share screenshots, formatting, and the basics of what was in there.
Here’s a glimpse at what the opening pitch for the book looked like:
One thing we were pretty specific about here with the opening, was hammering home the “why” of this book right away. An essay collection on JRPGs is what many would call a “niche” topic here.
But it’s a niche topic with an absolutely massive audience, and we wanted to make that clear as soon as possible. I also wanted to use the word “besotted” somewhere in a pitch letter.
The remainder of the about section talks about what Aidan’s book would be doing… and that’s digging into the history of these games with a personal flourish, while mentioning other huge, bestselling titles that potential editors would recognize (like Kingdom Hearts and Dragon Quest).
Minus the big Final Fantasy screenshot there, this opening was only a page long. Short and sweet. This is what the book is about, who it’s for, and how big the audience is. All in a page.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Remember, when you’re selling non-fiction, it’s not just about the book. You’re also trying to sell the publisher and readership on YOU, the author. Why are you the person to write this? How are you an expert? Why should they pick up a non-fiction title from you?
When it came to Aidan’s about section, we stressed his awards and his publishing list, which is wildly impressive!
I think I was still actively wearing my own flat cap at the time we pitched this around, so I really loved that author photo.
As you can see here in his about section, we stressed all his gaming outlets, his wild love for Chrono Trigger (and he is correct, it’s the best game of all time), and further down the page, we listed more places his work has been published.
Remember when we talked about jacket copy? This is what you might see for an author bio on the flap of a book. This one is a little longer than the jacket flap, sure. But it tells a reader immediately why he’s THE person to write this and why you can trust him to tackle the topic seriously.
AUTHOR PLATFORM
I stress this all the time but I’m going to do it again here. Platform isn’t just social media. It’s nice if you have it! It truly is! But it also exists in showing you’re an expert (ie: Mary Kenney has a video game writer, writing a book about women in games), like in the way Aidan does here through publication.
His platform section did a lot of what his author bio did… listing the places he’s been published, talking about video games and JRPGs. His list is impressive! Kotaku! Input (RIP)! Tor! EGM! The list goes on and on, and that’s exactly what you want to see.
COMPARATIVE TITLES
It was easy to find comparative titles for Aidan’s book, while stressing how different his was.
A large part of the appeal of Aidan’s collection was the stress on the personal hooks. His connection to the games, how they shaped him, and subsequently, shaped the world.
None of these were “Aidan’s book is just like these books” because that’s not what a comparative title IS. It’s showing books in the market that prove this book has a place, while also giving the reader an idea of what to expect… a deep dive into gaming.
MEDIA & MARKET
Okay, this was a particularly important section for this book.
Not every editor I would be pitching this book to, would be familiar with this specific branch of gaming. That’s just impossible. And to my geeky friends reading this, yes, it is very possible for someone to be entirely unfamiliar with Final Fantasy. But, great publishing professionals don’t just pick up books because they deeply understand them. No, they pick up books because they understand THE READER.
Putting together a detailed breakdown of the media and market for a title, helps with this. It lets a potential editor (or agent!) know the relevance of a topic they might not be totally familiar with.
This section was a little beefier than the others, digging into the market for the title (look how popular these video games are!) and then showing how popular they are in the media.
Again, I know this might look silly. But you have to stress the why of a niche topic here.
Remember, it’s not just an editor who has to say yes at a publishing house. There’s marketing and publicity. There’s the sales team. There are a lot of people to get on board. Even if the editor completely understands this specific nature of a book, the rest of the team might not. So here, I try to give an editor as much as they need to get that yes.
You should do the same when pitching agents. I have a few non-fiction books in my agent life that dig into subjects I’m not an expert on. From Sophie Saint Thomas’ marijuana and witchcraft focused books to Brianne Hogan’s astrology titles… I’m far from a pro when it comes to those subjects. But they make it clear who the reader is and why these books would work.
You, as an expert, can absolutely do the same.
MANUSCRIPT OVERVIEW
Now, I can’t post the screengrabs from Aidan’s book here. But I can talk about the breakdown for you.
Non-fiction is this unique category in publishing where the book doesn’t have to be finished to pitch it out… but you do need to show you can write it. For Aidan’s proposal we had a LOT here, a little over 15,000 words.
Here’s what the manuscript overview looked like:
A Chapter by Chapter Breakdown: Aidan had an outline for what each chapter would dig into, through each era of gaming. This was about three pages long and detailed seven key sections. Was this a Final Fantasy VII nod? Probably.
Sample Pages: Here, Aidan had FIFTY PAGES of sample essays. This included a prelude, which was something of a “letter to the reader” in the opening, explaining the why of the book and what these games meant to him, and a full first chapter.
And there you have it. A non-fiction book proposal, for an adult pop-history book.
If this was helpful, please consider ordering Aidan’s debut book, FIGHT MAGIC ITEMS, available from Running Press / Hachette. And if it wasn’t helpful, please still do that.
