How to Actually Get a Non Fiction Book Deal in 2025: My Step-by-Step Framework That Sold $1M+ Worth of Proposals
Lessons from a bestselling ghostwriter 💌 Maxiemize Advice Column #4
Dear Maxie,
I've been a creative my whole life. I’ve built a killer culinary career and have become relatively “known” because of it. No matter how many new restaurants I open, I’ve never been able to stop dreaming about the book I'd write "someday."
Well, someday feels like now. I have an idea that won't let me go. I know what I want to say, and I think it matters. But I have absolutely no idea how to turn this into an actual book deal.
Do I write the whole thing first? Do I need an agent? How do people even get publishers to pay attention?
I feel like there's this whole publishing world that everyone else seems to understand, and I'm just... not in it. But I really want to be.
Where do I even start?
— Ready to Write (But Lost on Logistics)
Dear Ready to Write (But Lost on Logistics),
Such a good question!!! And honestly this is my favorite topic to talk about. Publishing can be such a closed door experience, and I love blowing that door wide open (I’ve been ghostwriting books traditionally since 2018 and have seen it all! Including a bestseller!!). Where you are is exactly where I was sitting in 2016 when I had no clue how to turn my idea into an actual, traditional book deal. Thank god for a strong leader in my life who introduced me to my now literary agent. And thank god for that lit agent who has helped me build my publishing career, both my own books and ghostwriting for people like you over the last decade (BB, you are a gift!).
Before we dive into this topic, I want to also say that there is no silver bullet. No straight shot. You can write a f**king amazing book proposal and not get a book deal. You can miss the timing of the market. Your big idea can get passed on by every editor under the sun and then become a perennial bestseller because some tiny publisher across the pond took a chance on you (See: The Psychology of Money)
What you’ll find when you get deep into the worlds of publishing is that getting a non fiction book deal is more strategic than anything but still requires a strong current of great editorial. Meaning, you’ve got to be able to “write like a motherf*cker” to quote
(fun fact: I got almost fired from a job I hated in the early tens because I posted a photo of that famous line printed on a cup to facebook. And my then boss thought the board would see it?? Well, I did WLAMF, I did get published, and I did show them!!!!)Oh, and what no one will say out loud about getting a book deal: it requires some serious luck. But I’m a firm believer that luck favors the prepared and this post is mean to get you P-R-E-P-A-R-E-D.
You're absolutely going to need to write a book proposal, whether you go traditional publishing or not. I always tell people to think of it as a business plan for your book. Because here's what I've learned after ghostwriting $1M+ worth of book deals for amazing people like you…and selling my own: there's writing a book proposal, and there's selling a book proposal. And both skills need to happen in concert.
A non fiction book proposal is typically 40-60 pages of the most strategic planning you'll ever do about your creative work (whereas if you’re writing fiction, you write the whole manuscript first. If that’s you, and you dream of getting a book deal for your novel this post is not for you. Go see the fabulous
for help there!! I wrote my first novel Daisy with her and am working on my second under her fabulous tutelage). When done right, a book proposal can take anywhere from 8-12 weeks for a solid first draft, then months of refinement. It can take longer, but I don’t prefer it. My general advice is don’t be too precious. You have to meet the market where the market is at, and if you’re spending forever being precious about your idea, you might miss the wave.But before you write a single page of that proposal, you need to nail your sellable idea. This is where most people get lost—they have a vague sense of wanting to write a book – but they haven't done the hard work of figuring out what book the market actually needs, what it wants. And that part is hard. It probably, among other things, leads to stats we see in my world all the time that: 81% of people say they want to write a book…15% actually start writing their book…6% make it to the halfway mark… And only 3% will ever finish their book.
If you’re wanting to write non-fiction and want a book deal…do NOT start writing your actual book. Start working on your book proposal by following these steps instead:
Step 1: Find Your Sellable Idea (Do This Work First)
Most people I’ve worked with come to me with what they think is an idea, but when we dig deeper into the frameworks you’re about to read, it becomes something entirely different. That’s all just part of the process. When I was trying to figure out my idea for You’re Not Lost, I remember when the head of editorial I was working with asked me a simple question: "What are the women you spend time with always saying to you?" My answer was "they feel lost," but that wasn't my book idea yet. That was just the seed.
The real work happened when she kept pushing: "Why do they feel lost? What's currently out there that's supposed to help them? Do you agree? Do you think they should feel lost? Is anyone talking to them? Why is your answer different than what other people are saying?"
Those questions turned a vague observation into You're Not Lost—a book that rejected the entire premise that feeling lost was a problem to be solved rather than a natural part of growth, something that’s a sign of the growth that is coming, actually.
Finding your sellable idea is not easy. Here's the framework I give every potential author who is looking for their big idea. Get out a notebook and work through these questions seriously. Don't rush this part—it's the foundation of everything that comes next.
1. What urgent need could you solve on behalf of the reader?
1.a - What's the specific need? (Not "people need personal finance"—that's been covered. But maybe "People who are the first in their families to build wealth need personal finance steps tailored to their experience.")
1.b - Who exactly is that reader? Describe her demographics, but also her emotional state, her daily reality, what she's tried that hasn't worked.
2. What books are already out there covering your topic? Go to the bookstore. Spend an afternoon on Amazon. Make a list of everything that's adjacent to your idea. This isn't to discourage you—it's to help you understand the conversation you're joining and where your voice is different.
3. What's your fresh, controversial, unique, not-already-out-there take on either the solution or the problem? This is where your voice and perspective come in. Maybe the problem isn't what everyone thinks it is. Maybe the solution everyone's offering is actually making things worse. Say what you really believe, and permission to make it provocative (assuming you have proof to back it up).
4. How is the problem being misaddressed right now? What/who is currently failing the reader? I was working on a disruptive book about education and our beliefs about what it means to be educated in this country (oof), and we spent weeks mapping all the ways current approaches were missing the mark. Not to tear down other authors, but to show why a new perspective was needed.
5. Where is your ideal reader now? Where do you want them to be by the time they finish your book? Think beyond information and get into their transformation journey. What changes for them? Who are they when they begin your book? Who are they when they finish?
6. What can you say that no one else can say, because of your expertise, background, perspective, or experience? This is your unique angle. Maybe you're a Hollywood Producer who writes about human connection in a way only a producer can. Maybe you're a cultural anthropologist who writes disinformation. You and only you, that’s what we need from this book idea. If anyone can write it, anyone can write it. We need a book idea only you can write.
7. Why do you care? Why do you want to write this book and solve this problem? Your personal investment in the topic needs to come through. Readers can sense when you're just chasing a trend versus addressing something you genuinely care about. An area you’ve invested in. A topic, interest, belief, area that you’d go absolutely nutso about (because you’ll be spending years on this…)
8. Why should others (your audience) care? This is your "why now"—what's happening in the world, in culture, in the data, in the trends that makes this book not just relevant, but urgent? And be able to back it up.
9. Imagine writing the sales page copy for your dream book. Try and tell me about that big idea. Write the back-cover copy. Write the Amazon description. What would make someone stop scrolling and think "I need this book"?
10. Take a stab at a Table of Contents. What themes or ideas would your storytelling cover? Don't worry about perfection here. Just map out the journey you'd take your reader on.
I give these ten prompts to everyone who tells me they want to write a book, because a lot of people want to write a book, but a lot of people don't know what book they want to write. Or they know what they want to write about, but it's not something that would ever sell in a traditional space (which is OK!! The world is bigger than traditional publishing btw).
These questions will help you get to a book idea that serves your reader and can actually find its audience, whether you go traditional, indie, or hybrid. If you want to weigh the differences between publishing journeys, reference the famous
’s comparison of publishing routes.Step 2: Structure Your Book Proposal
Once you've nailed your sellable idea, here's how to structure the proposal that will get you a book deal. As UTA mega-agent
puts it in an AMAZING conversation with : "The way I describe a book proposal is in some ways it's like conducting a symphony because it's a sales document, but it's an editorial document."Watch that conversation here:
She's exactly right. There’s a bunch of people (read: stakeholders) that your proposal has to work for: editors (who care about your voice and what you have to say), sales teams (who care about market positioning and how this book will sell), marketing departments (who care about audiences that they can get this in front of), and publishers (who care about profit potential and their bottom line). As Christy puts it, every section has to sing in harmony for all of these people (hi! Not easy!!). But seriously, go listen to her convo with
. I’m playing insider baseball, but she’s playing insider 3-D chess.Let’s talk about those book proposal sections, shall we? Here’s the outline of a proposal, but we’ll take each one section by section:
Overview
Audience
Comparative Titles
Publicity + Marketing
About the Author(s)
Specs
Table of Contents
Sample Chapter
Section 1: Overview - Your Book's Business Case
This is your hook, your elevator pitch, your "why this book, why you, why now" all wrapped into 2-3 compelling pages. Here's the secret: write this section last. It's literally an overview of everything else you're about to present. Or write it first (I do because I know I’ll come back and rip it up, but it gets me anchored) – if you follow my chaos just know that you’re ABSOLUTELY going to rewrite it.
I remember my first meeting with my lit agent at the pre-dawn of what would become You’re Not Lost. I'd been working in the women's leadership space, and this was prime time for books like "Lean In" and "Girl Boss"—basically any book with a rich woman on the cover and a lot of you go girl vibes. She looked at me and said, "You’ve got what it takes. But get me a really good idea that hasn't already been written, because we don't need another girl boss book with your face on the cover." Great, because I never imagined my face on that cover.
That sent me back to do those exact questions I just gave you. The result became my overview: the “why this book” urgent need (women feeling lost in the face of unsustainable "lean in" culture), my unique solution (permission to feel lost as a natural part of growth. That women don’t need confidence, they need the generative sustaining self belief (a skill!!). They “why me” – I’d been at the helm of building 30-city global network for a venture backed company that was like a LinkedIn for young women at the time, focused entirely on their career pursuits. No one knew this demographic like I knew them. No one had had more in person conversations with them over 6 years than me. And no one was better positioned to prove that this book was needed now, right now (the cultural moment when women were ready for a different message).
Your overview needs to crystallize all that thinking work you just did into a compelling narrative that makes an editor think "we need this book."
And don't underestimate the power of a great title, which always EMERGES. Sometimes with ease, sometimes by banging your head against the wall with three other smart people in publishing also banging their heads against the wall. This part always feels like true muse, true inspiration. My best titles have emerged in a conversation that’s never about the title. And when you hear it, it’s a full body feeling of: that’s it. One time, I had written four concepts for a book – which means four different titles and subtitles – and then in a random conversation adjacent to the book ideas, the title was said out loud in an entirely different context. And I knew! That’s it! That’s the title! As Christy Fletcher says in the conversation above: "The title is so important. The two most important decisions that get made about a book are the title and the cover." Start thinking about this now, even in the proposal stage. But at the same time don’t get too attached to “your title” because it is likely to change.
Section 2: Audience - Prove You Know Your Reader
This is where question #1.b from your idea work pays off (1.b - Who exactly is that reader? Describe her demographics, but also her emotional state, her daily reality, what she's tried that hasn't worked.). This section needs to tell a story that proves you really know who you're writing for both demographically, but emotionally. If anyone can write this book, no one should be writing this book. It’s gotta be you, it’s gotta have a POV, and that point of view has to be entirely yours.
That positioning has to come through in your audience section. You're describing who will buy your book. You're proving why you're the exact right person to serve them.
I worked on a wealth-building book for first-generation Americans – but we defined that by first generation of money in their family, not immigration timing. Brilliant, because that cuts across so many demos, and it was written by a powerhouse leader, woman and expert who shared the experience. Her audience section had yes, demographics, but mainly it painted a picture. We wrote about people who don't have a family accountant to call, whose friend conversations aren’t necessarily about stock picks, people who are building wealth without a roadmap or inherited knowledge. We brought in data, problem sets, real needs, and showed how this book would solve an urgent gap currently missing in the personal finance market. This audience was massive, and they didn’t have the book they needed (yet).
The audience section should help an editor (who might not be your reader) understand why this specific group of people desperately needs your book right now.
Section 3: Comparable Titles - Position Your Book in the Market
This is where your research from question #2 becomes crucial (2. What books are already out there covering your topic?). You're not just saying "this book sold well, so mine will too." You're doing the delicate dance of "I'm writing/pitching this successful book, but I'm also filling the crucial gap that this book over here leaves open."
That means your differentiation needs to be clear and significant. Subtly isn’t your friend here. Pick 3-4 books from the last 2-3 years (don’t go grabbing comps from the aughts) that would sit next to yours on the shelf. For each one, explain how your book relates but also what crucial piece it's missing that your book will address.
For that wealth-building book, we used a recent perennial bestseller, but we made the case for what was missing: "While it offers excellent tactical advice for building wealth, this approach assumes a level of family financial literacy and cultural capital that many first-generation wealth-builders don't possess. Our book addresses the specific psychological and cultural barriers that..."
This positioning work helps editors understand not just what your book is, but where it fits and why the market needs it.
Section 4: Publicity and Marketing - Prove You Can Sell Books
This is where people panic about not having 100K Instagram followers. Stop. I've worked with people who had massive platforms, most watched documentaries of all time and multiple TV shows who didn’t get book deals (though they’d go on and get them later), and people with virtually no social media who got six-figure advances. Lean not on scale but on proving people will buy things from you. Whether that’s a brand campaign, an online course, or a viral $10 ebook, if you can prove that audiences will buy from you, you’re in a good spot.
Here's how I approach this section:
Establish Your Platform First: Create subsections for Press, Mailing Lists, Influencers & Endorsements, Podcasts, Speaking Engagements, Organizations & Companies for Collaboration, and Social Media. In each section, list all your proof with numbers and hyperlinks attached. Dazzle them with what you’ve done and who has purchased from you!!!!
Speaking engagements, by the way, remain powerful. Don’t glaze over this. I tell authors to list everywhere they’ve been paid to speak, what the topic was, who/where brought them in, and how many people were in the room. This is powerful stuff, because anyone can write what they WOULD do, but you need to first prove what you’ve already done.
I did a proposal for a very accomplished duo with no real social media following. We mapped every press hit they'd ever gotten, every podcast appearance, every speaking engagement, every professional organization, every mailing list they had access to through their network. By the time we were done, we had "555.5 million estimated reach" at the top of their platform section. That says something about what they’re able to make happen.
If the first part of this platform section lays the groundwork for what your platform is, the second part shows how you’ll then Activate That Platform: You’re proving to editors you know how to answer: "How will I actually drive pre-orders, sales, and reviews?" This is where you paint the picture of everything you’ll do to make your book as successful as possible: press tour, podcast tour, speaking engagements, street team ambassadors, bulk sales, digital marketing campaigns.
Remember, publishers handle the B2B (as in, they get books into other businesses- booksellers), but they're looking for authors who can handle the B2C (as in, get consumers to buy the book from those said businesses.)
Section 5: About the Author - Your Unique Credentials
This is your bio, and—it's the story of why you're the exact right person to write this specific book.
Don't hide your credentials. Your expertise is your edge. You just need to present it in a way that shows how it serves your book and your reader. This is typically a handful of paragraphs that show the “official” extent of your background, career, achievements, and bio.
Section 6: Specs - Your Vision for the Physical Book
Usually brief (we’re talking a couple sentences) but important if you have specific ideas about format, size, or visual elements. For most books: "Standard trade paperback format, approximately 50-60,000 words." And when you expect to deliver it. Within six months.
Section 7: Table of Contents - Chapter-by-Chapter Breakdown
Each chapter gets a title and 4-6 sentences describing what's covered. Make these descriptions compelling—they should make an editor think "I need to know more about that." They need to show your writing prowess. Your ability to bring both story and insight to life. And the reader journey from beginning to end. It’s a chapter summary, but you need to do the most with that summary: make it compelling to read, make it insightful, make it make sense where it’s placed. Like tasting the mint chocolate chip gelato on a tiny hot-pink plastic spoon at the ice-cream shop, you want them buying two scoops of what you’re serving in a waffle cone.
Here's a little trick I use once I’m done with chapter summaries: in the overview section, I'll often pull out bullet points highlighting the most controversial takes, the most counterintuitive insights, the stories that make you go "wait, what?" These come straight from this table of contents.
Section 8: Sample Chapters - Where Your Writing Shines
Usually a complete chapter, sometimes more. This is where it all has to sing, because that writing gets you in the room and your positioning gets you the deal.
Choose chapters that showcase both your writing ability and your unique perspective. For prescriptive nonfiction, include a chapter that demonstrates your framework or methodology alongside really strong stories and research. For memoir, choose scenes that illustrate your main themes while showing your narrative skill. I always follow the rule my agent gave me of writing the introduction and first chapter so I can show prowess out the gate, instead of looking like I’m cherry picking only my best stuff.
Pulling it all together:
Let’s review the prompts to find your big, sellable idea:
Proposal Prompts:
What urgent need could you solve on behalf of the reader? What’s the need? Who is that reader (describe her demographics!)
What are books already out there covering your topic? Or covering things like it?
What’s your fresh…controversial…unique….not out-there-already take on either the solution or the problem?
How is the problem being misaddressed at the moment? What/who is currently failing the reader?
Where is your ideal reader now? Where do you want them to be (by the time they finish your book)?
What can you say that no one else can say, because of your expertise, background, perspective, or experience?
Why do you care? Why do you want to write this book and solve this problem.
Why should others (your audience) care?
Imagine writing the sales page copy for your dream book that you’d author. Try and tell me a little bit about that big idea, dream book…
Take a stab at a Table of Contents, what themes or ideas would you want your storytelling to cover?
Book Proposal Sections
Overview - Your book's business case in 2-3 compelling pages. Your hook, elevator pitch, and "why this book, why you, why now" all wrapped together. Write this section last since it's an overview of everything else you'll present.
Audience - Prove you know your reader. Tell a story that shows you understand who you're writing for both demographically and emotionally. Paint a picture of their daily reality, what they've tried that hasn't worked, and why they desperately need your book right now.
Comparing Titles - Position your book in the market. Choose 3-4 recent books (last 2-3 years) that would sit next to yours on the shelf. For each, explain how your book relates but also what crucial piece it's missing that your book will address. Show clear and significant differentiation.
Publicity + Marketing - Prove you can sell books. First, establish your platform with concrete proof and numbers (press, speaking, mailing lists, social media). Then show how you'll activate that platform to drive pre-orders, sales, and reviews. Focus on what you've already done, not just what you would do.
About the Author - Your unique credentials. Tell the story of why you're the exact right person to write this specific book. Don't hide your expertise—your credentials are your edge, presented in a way that shows how they serve your book and reader.
Specs - Your vision for the physical book. Usually brief but important if you have specific ideas about format, size, or visual elements. Include expected word count and delivery timeline.
Table of Contents - Chapter-by-chapter breakdown. Each chapter gets a compelling title and 4-6 sentences describing what's covered. These descriptions should showcase your writing prowess and make an editor think "I need to know more about that."
Sample Chapter - Where your writing shines. Usually one complete chapter (often introduction + first chapter) that demonstrates both your writing ability and unique perspective. Choose chapters that showcase your framework, methodology, or narrative skill.
From finished proposal to book on shelf is typically 2-3 years minimum. The proposal might take 2-4 months to write well. Finding an agent and editing with them can take 2-6 months months. Selling to publishers takes 1-4 months. Then book production is 12-18 months. None of these timelines are guaranteed, except for one: This is NOT a fast dream.
When we sold You're Not Lost in Feb 2017 for August 2018 publication, we timed it perfectly with the cultural moment when women were ready for a different message about success and ambition. And it’s only because of a wildly talented team of people that it did as well as it did (My incredible agent!! My editor(s) – three!! the PRH publishing team!! My friends and family who turned up!!!) So not included in this post is a call to build your community, because they will be who gets you to this finish line a beyond. It takes a very large, loving village :)
Sometimes you do everything right in your proposal and it still doesn't work. I had a proposal for my second book that didn't sell—not because the writing wasn't good, but because we missed the cultural zeitgeist. A million books with a similar messages had beaten us to editors’ desks. That’s the luck/timing part!! But the opposite could be true – you could be working on a book proposal idea, and then some major cultural shift happens that makes yours the PERFECT book to buy. Luck meets preparation baby!!!!
What to Do Right Now
Start with those idea questions, the prompts: Don't move forward until you have clear, compelling answers.
Research your market: Read 2-3 recent books in your area. Skim another 10-15 while standing in the bookstore. Understand the conversation you're joining. Ensure you know what’s already been written.
Map your platform: Go through each category I mentioned. You'll be surprised what you actually have access to.
Watch my book proposal masterclass: It’s free for readers of this post! Watch it here. (Code: MAXIEMIZE)
Find an agent: Research agents who represent your genre. Pay for a membership on publishers marketplace where you can see every deal being done by every agent to what editor. Their contact info is there, and enough to see if they rep books and topics like yours. If you have a killer book proposal done, agents are easier to get in conversation with than if you’re just another person, with another idea, for another book you want to write… one day. Even if you get an intro through your network or other author friends, the first thing a literary agent wants to know is do you have a book proposal ready. Hopefully with this post, you’ll be able to answer YES! And then you two will go on revising your proposal together.
Reach out to my team if you have questions about ghostwriting. I’m closed to new projects, but we can point you in the right direction: hello@maxiemccoy.com
Books – especially getting a deal – are a wild, tough, super fulfilling journey. As you can probably tell…I’m obsessed with them, and with the process. If you found this post valuable (which I hope you did!!!) please consider becoming a paid subscriber and sending some goodness back my way :) Or you can support me by buying one of my books:
You’re Not Lost: An Inspired Action Plan for Finding Your Own Way (Non fiction/self-help)
Daisy: A Novel of Juliette Gordon Low (Historical Fiction, page turner!)
I love when book deals go to writers who understand that creativity and strategy are both needed. They’re perfect collaborators. It’s art, and it’s business. It’s commercial and it’s creative. And hopefully, you’re next!!
The best is yet to be made,
Maxie
Building a creative career that works for you? I answer questions weekly from ambitious creatives navigating art, strategy, and everything in between. Submit yours here: hello@maxiemccoy.com