Writing A Book Proposal Step Five – Comparison Sheet.

This is actually a step I do early in the process, before I start writing anything. I go to the bookstore (not the library because library books can be old and already out of print) and I search out my competition. I’ve said this before – you HAVE to know which section your book fits into if a bookstore is going to carry you. You will find your competition in that section - your competition may be your guide to the section. This research is always fascinating. You get to see which publishers publish your competition. You get to see what’s selling right now. You get to see how your competition has handled a similar subject. You probably have half the information at home in your library but a trip to the bookstore is always instructive. NOTE – do not skip this process or just skim over it. You want to read some of these books if you haven’t already. You have to know and write down what your competition is writing, what you have to add to the conversation that is similar and what you bring to the table that is different. List at least five current books (those in the bookstore today rather than your library or on Amazon) Remember that you’re going to be approaching the same publishers so they know what’s current. They’re looking to you to make the comparison and contrast). Write title and author at the head of a paragraph and then describe briefly what each book is about. Finally describe what’s similar about your book and most importantly what’s different about your book.