Book Proposal Bootcamp
the course
Are you ready to make your dreams of becoming a published author come true? Awesome, you’re in the right place!
Course Overview
03. Student Testimonials
02. The Process
01. The Course Details
05.How it works
04. meet your teacher
06. FAQs
The Book Publishing World Is Not For Sissies. Straight Up.
The thing is
The publishing industry works a very specific way, and you don’t really know until you know, you know? You need to learn the rules—and learn when to break ‘em, too.
IT'S
REGIMENTED
Everyone has a book inside of them, but breaking into the traditional publishing industry is gifted only to a select few. You need to know how to be one of the chosen.
IT'S
EXCLUSIVE
You want to become a bestselling author but you don’t know where to start—it’s all so confusing! You need help from a pro book wizard to demystify the process.
It's
mysterious
That’s right—you don’t even need to have your book written in order to sell it.
Cha-ching!
The first step in getting your nonfiction book sold to a major publishing house is to create a kickass book proposal.
What will you do with your one wild and precious life?
Live the dream
Imagine a future where you wake up every morning, pour a hot cup of coffee (or tea if you’re British, mate), and sit down to write your book without a care in the world because you’ve already received a cushy cash $$ advance from the publishing house of your dreams.
Can you feel how good that’d feel?
When you sell your book idea to a major publisher, this will be your reality! And all you need in order to make this dream life come true is a killer book proposal. If you’re ready to learn how, carry on!
+ Writegesit’s kickass, highly instructional book proposal template
+ Eight live on Zoom one-hour classes (one per week, for eight weeks) with Arizona Bell in a small(ish) group setting to learn the ins and outs of crafting a magnetic book proposal
+ The Dos and Donts of writing your query letter
+ The lowdown on how to pitch agents professionally
+ Ample Q&A time to ask any and all questions about the mysterious publishing landscape
Course Meeting Days & Times
(Replays will be sent out of all classes if you can't make it live)
Feb 18 at 12pm EST
Feb 25 at 12pm EST
Mar 4 at 12pm EST
Mar 11 at 12pm EST
Mar 18 at 12pm EST
Mar 25 at 12pm EST
April 1 at 12pm EST
April 8 at 12pm EST
THE COURSE INCLUDES
It’s time to get fit, wordsmiths! Led by senior writer and author (Soul Magic: Ancient Wisdoms for Modern Mystics), Arizona Bell, writegeist’s Book Proposal Bootcamp will train you to be a sought-after writer that publishers can’t ignore—and kick fear’s sorry ass in the process!
Book Proposal Bootcamp is for aspiring authors who are serious about success as a traditionally published nonfiction author.
Course Overview
Being a writer is a solitary profession, and we can get real sad, ya hear?! Enjoy the perks of a like-minded community to push you to your best work and remind you of your damn humanity.
Find your
community
We provide a book proposal template and guide you step-by-step through each section. All you have to do is write—oh, and gear up to be the next [your fav author here]!
create your
proposal
First impressions matter and knowledge is power. Take a peek behind the curtain of the enigmatic publishing industry and learn how to best present yourself as a pro.
Learn the
ropes
The Process
designer
— Susan Grau, acknowledgment note published in Infinite Life, Infinite Lessons (Hay House, 2024)
“Thank you, Arizona Bell, for helping me find my words and communicate my ideas effectively. Your guidance, support, and creative talent were instrumental in shaping the Infinite Life, Infinite Lessons book proposal. Your talent precedes you.”
designer
— Barbara Albright
“What incredible help Arizona was to me and my writing! We worked on a book proposal together for a few months and her insights, guidance and honest feedback were just what I needed to clarify and sharpen my work. Her help was invaluable to me.”
designer
— Lonneke Botello Hernandez, author of The Food Fountain of Youth
“I have great news, I have been offered two publishing contracts for my book. I appreciate all the help you gave me when I wrote my book proposal.”
designer
— Former Student
“Arizona is a personable, kind and intelligent guide who seriously helped snap me out of some inner bullshit! She is professional and fun and knows what she’s doing. Thank you Arizona!!”
designer
— Former Student
“Arizona is an amazing writer and teacher of so much! She gets right down to the nitty gritty and invites all participants to ‘go there’ in their individual capacities. So refreshing and succinct! Thank you, Arizona, from a student and a fan!!!”
designer
— Former Student
“Arizona created a safe space and really set up the group for success and support. I felt so comfortable sharing my writing and I felt like the feedback was tremendously helpful and encouraging. Would absolutely participate in another Arizona-led class.”
I’ve been writing professionally for nearly two decades, and am the author of Soul Magic: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Mystics (Macmillan). I am also a bestselling, traditionally published ghostwriter. My biggest passion, though, is teaching the art of crafting killer book proposals and helping rad aspiring writers like you get published.
Meet the teacher
Here’s How It Works
The Deets
Fast, Furious & Fun!
Step-By-Step
Live Online
For eight weeks, we will meet once per week (for one hour) live on Zoom in a small-ish group setting. Like running, writing with peers takes you further.
You’ll receive a kickass book proposal template and we’ll go through each section in detail, unveiling the industry best practices as we go.
There is no need to take a year to do this! You’ll have your proposal completed in eight weeks, and you’ll laugh the entire time ‘cus we fun af.
Get Connected
Quality Q&A Time
It’s all sooo mysterious! With ample Q&A time, everything you want to know about the book publishing industry will be right at your fingertips.
Alongside a book proposal, you’ll need to write a seductive query letter—and it needs to be fiiiire. You bring the gasoline, we’ll bring the match.
Each student will receive our ‘little black book’ of literary agents to begin sending their proposals out into the wordsmith-ether!
Query Letter Counsel
FAQs
Think of a book proposal as your book’s first impression and its business plan. It showcases not only your genius writing talent and topic idea but also the book’s marketability to potential publishers. Essentially the book proposal explains who you are, why your book should exist, why it will succeed and why a publisher should be confident in making an investment into you.
If you are looking to publish with a traditional publisher, the next step is to send your book proposal to literary agents. All major publishing houses require a literary agent to serve as the broker in book purchases. Once a literary agent picks up your book and takes you on as a client, they will then help you polish the proposal and start “shopping it around” to various publishing houses.
No! In fact, you shouldn’t. Not for nonfiction book proposals (fiction is a different story, no pun intended!). The most you’ll need for a nonfiction book proposal is 1-2 well-polished sample chapters. And please note: even if your book manuscript is complete, you still are not off the hook for writing a book proposal—it's required to play in the big leagues.
While proposal length varies tremendously depending on project, most are somewhere around 25-50 pages double-spaced (10,000-20,000 words) not including sample chapters, and it’s not unheard of for a proposal to top out at 75 pages once sample chapters are included. In other words: writing a book proposal is no small endeavor!
What is a book proposal?
When the proposal’s done, what’s the next step?
How long is a book proposal?
Do I need to have the entire book written first?
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