Before you can write a good proposal, you must know three things:

• the needs of the students and educators for whom you are writing,
• your competitor’s strengths and weaknesses, and
• how to create a better book, computer program, Web course, or whatever you have in mind, than any of your competitors.

Your publishing proposal is the way you demonstrate these three things to us, to the reviewers, and ultimately, to the marketplace. It is the foundation for everything you and we do together in the future. Consequently, you should take the time to prepare your proposal and samples as clearly and in as much detail as possible. These guidelines will, we hope, help you do that.

As with anything you do for a publisher, you should prepare at least two copies of the materials you submit for review, keeping the original yourself and sending only a copy to us. You should include in your samples rough sketches, charts, graphs, or descriptions of illustrations where applicable. You should use a word processor to prepare the material, and submit the proposal and samples on disk as well as in hard copy. (We prefer to receive documents prepared using Microsoft Word on a PC.) However, samples need not be in final form, such as the form in which you would submit a thesis or dissertation.

If your proposal and sample material review well, we proceed to estimate the cost of the project and to forecast its sales potential. If the sales and costs reach a favorable balance, your acquisitions editor will present the proposal to our editorial board, who are responsible for the decision to publish or decline the project. If the proposal has reviewed well and the financial aspects are favorable, the Board will be very likely to approve the project with much enthusiasm.

The materials that comprise a proposal are a PROSPECTUS, TABLE OF CONTENTS, and SAMPLE MATERIAL.

These help the author

• organize and define his/her ideas.
• realize the extent of his/her commitment to the tasks involved.
• define the coverage and intent of the project.
• clarify the scope, focus, specific subject matter, and approach of the project.
• create guidelines and a framework for the actual writing of the project.

These give the publisher

• an overview of the material.
• a definition of the coverage and intent of the book.
• a format for preliminary design.
• information for marketing projections.
• samples of the author's writing skills and style.
• specific material to which reviewers can react.

PROSPECTUS

The Prospectus describes the format, subject matter, scope, approach, and intended audience of the proposed project. It is similar to the preface of a book, but provides the publisher and reviewers with more detail on which to judge the project's viability, and it is your chance to present the case for publication. Given the detailed table of contents and the representative samples, consider what else you should say that will put the project in the most favorable light.

  Describe the Project

• Philosophical approach to the subject. Briefly and specifically describe the project's rationale, approach, and purpose. Suggest a tentative title.
• Format. Tell us whether this is a print or electronic product. If the project has more than one component, describe each individually.
• Type of product. For example, basic text, advanced text, supplemental text, or reference text if a print product, or software, CD-ROM, on-line course, etc. for electronic product.
• Subject matter and scope. For example, what aspects of the subject will you cover? Is the treatment of the subject to be broad and all-inclusive, or is it to be limited to a specific aspect of the subject?
• Major theme or approach. How will you handle the material? For example, will you emphasize theory, clinical application of knowledge, clinical skills, or a balance of these? What is the conceptual framework for the organization and presentation of material? What is the unifying element?
• The market. For what level is the information most appropriate-freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, graduate, professionals? Identify the target audience. For what course would the information be adopted, and is it a required or elective course? Are there prerequisites for the use of the information? If it is not for use in an undergraduate course, in what area will it be useful: graduate education, continuing education, as a reference for practitioners or clinical specialists?
• Important features. Identify those features that differentiate your project from others of a similar nature. Indicate which features you consider to be most important and why. For example, in a print product, what pedagogical tools will you use: chapter objectives, questions, problems, glossary, summaries, bibliographies, annotated bibliographies, appendices, etc. (Please describe.) For electronic product, what will it do and how?
• Mechanical specifications. Estimate the size (in the case of print product, height and width and number of printed pages; in the case of electronic product, number of disks). Estimate the number of illustrations to be included, according to halftones (photographs and X rays) and line drawings (drawn by an artist or on a computer, including anatomical drawings, charts, graphs, etc.)
• Timetable. Estimate, if you can, when you expect to finish the manuscript. Plan a timetable for completing each stage of work, and treat your writing as a scheduled activity. Because timing is so important in publishing, the author and publisher should discuss and agree upon schedule.

  Describe the Ancillaries

• Supplementary student aids. If you plan to have supplemental teaching aids for the student, such as a laboratory manual, workbook, case materials, tests, etc., please describe them, and briefly explain why the materials will be useful to students.
• Supplementary instructor aids. If you plan to include supplementary teaching aids for the instructor, such as an instructor's manual, transparency package, test construction software, etc. please describe them.

  Analyze the Competition

• The market leaders. What you consider to be the best because of content, level, etc., may not be the one that sells the most, so you should first identify the best sellers.
• Advantages over the competition. Compare your project to each of the leaders topic by topic, feature by feature, ancillary by ancillary. (You will want to construct a grid to make the comparison easier.) Spell out how your project will be similar to, as well as different from and better than the best sellers. Even if your project competes only marginally with something else, include it in your discussion of the competition. In this way, we and the reviewers will get a more complete picture of the market. If there is no direct competition, ask yourself why. Is there no need for your project? Or have circumstances changed so recently and dramatically, and is the need new enough, that no one else has had time to fill I?.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Table of Contents provides information on the scope, specific content, and organization of your material. It may include Section, Part, or Unit Numbers and Titles. These are general titles that pertain to groups of related chapters or information. It definitely will include Chapter Numbers and Titles. These are the specific titles that highlight the content in the chapters within each section or unit. Chapter numbers are continuous from the beginning of the book, regardless of whether you use section or unit titles. Under each chapter number and title, you can either provide chapter overviews (brief descriptions of the chapters contents and highlights) or subheadings for the specific material covered within chapters.

SAMPLE MATERIAL

Samples provide us and the reviewers with a means to evaluate your presentation skills. In the case of print product, one or two sample chapters, representative of the rest of the project in writing style, level, format, and pedagogy (not introductory material), allow us to assess your writing style, how you organize your thoughts, the appropriateness of your material for the intended audience, and whether you meet your expressed aims. On the other hand, we recognize that samples are drafts, and we dont expect them to be perfect.

If you plan to use contributing authors, provide a list of potential contributors, their affiliations, and the topics you will assign each of them. They can use your sample chapter as a guide for their own work.

If you are proposing electronic media, actual samples may be too difficult to produce. In that case, sample story boards or scripts, or the proposal itself may be enough on which to base our reaction.

CURRICULUM VITAE

It is absolutely necessary that you include your curriculum vitae with the other proposal materials. If you plan to invite co-authors, please identify them and include their curriculum vitae as well.

Here is a list of people you can contact for submitting a manuscript.