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Your Book Proposal Must Have a Fresh Angle!


Lots of people have written lots of books about God's love, and shame, and neighbor love, and racial reconciliation, and social justice, and healing, and neighbor love, and redemption.

If you're preparing to write your own book on a popular topic, I don't say that to bum you out. I say it to let you know that you need to bring publishers a unique compelling angle. So your job is, in the words of editor and wordsmith Stephanie Smith, to offer "a fresh frame for a timeless truth."

You must craft a premise that makes plain the clear takeaway value for the reader.

To help you think about the fresh spin you're bringing to the topic, here's a little pitch template:


Your unique angle/concept/spin/premise is that "big idea"!
  • How is your big idea different from what others have written on this topic?
  • What are you saying that others aren't?
  • How does your big idea offer value to the reader?
I want you to assume that the editor receiving your book proposal has already read 100 proposals on the very same subject. Today. How is yours offering something fresh and new?