You have a killer book idea. Now what?

I think the first thing is to make sure you have a full, complete tightly-written book proposal to blow any editor away- here is what you need:

intro: what the book is about
why the book is needed/market potential: graph explaining what makes it different
target audience:
comparable titles: list books that are in the same spirit, along with a comment of how your book is better or different
highlights: bullet points of main features, tip boxes, etc anything different that you are going to include
about the author: why YOU authoring this book makes it even more special
book outline: full-on detailed chapter outline and project list. you literally have to have each chapter laid out, along with each prject and a small summary of that project.
intro fully written
one sample chapter (one complete chapter as if it were ready to be printed)
photos of projects to go with the sample chapter

all together, this can add up to about 30+ pages.

it is a lot of work, but worth it.

first, it shows editors that you really know your concept inside and out, this makes their job easier.
second, once your book sells to a publisher, your editor knows exactly what to expect form you, so there are no surprises or misunderstandings.
third - when you go to write the book and make the projects, you will have an easy laid out guide to follow because you've already done the hard work!

i do know a complete proposal is crucial when pitching a book. especially now because there is so much competition, the more info the better! but even that is not a guarantee, i've had some awesome proposals that editors loved but for just one simple reason, they got rejected! i know my sewing book that i just finished with random house, i had to redo the proposal FIVE times! on the last one, i made each of the committee members a personal sewing kit! finally they said yes!

the good thing is the first sewing book prop i did was for harper in 2006. they made an offer but i turned it down. later i was so mad at myself! but i saved it in my files. two years later, random house rejected a proposal of mine but asked if i would be inerested in doing a sewing book. i was able to pull out that other one and dust it off and revamp it.

it's a lot of sweat and tears, lots of late nights and second guessing, but stick with it! my best advice to have a nice, strong proposal when you approach an editor. because say you have a good idea and so does someone else. the editor will then have to decide whom to choose. they will look at both of your materials and likely choose the one with the more complete proposal. even that rule can be broken. i know of one author who didn't even have to do a proposal! they just liked her work so much, they put her on the fast track!! but that is a one-in-a-million lana turner at the coffee shop chance, so i'd be safe and do the former ;-)

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* All content/photos copyright, © Kathy Cano-Murillo, 2008.