Positioning Yourself for Success By How You Handle the Targeting in Your Book Proposal

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Taking a "position" as an author is essential. By this, I mean the following few things:

1. Deciding where you and your target reader will intersect. Imagine a vertical line crossing a horizontal line. That point of connection represents the "location" of your book. In a book proposal, you are turning on your GPS tracking system. From the beacon of how you state your position, the publishers find you! This decision then sets you up for ultimate success when your book comes out.

(FYI, I talk about how to GPS navigate your proposal in The Book Proposal Intensive.)

2. Choosing who you want to be in the public sphere. Is your dream and your immediate goal to be the go-to expert on home decoration, on nutrition, on bicycle maintenance, on personal finances? Writing a book is a way to establish yourself with the reputation of an expert. In preparing a book proposal, you are stepping into the zone of the information that you will share with the world. Your authority comes from being adept at everything that is trending in this zone of expertise. Your background research seals your intention.

3. Clarity of purpose will keep you from getting lost. Oh, I understand the temptations of detours! It's so much fun to follow the winding highways and intriguing byways we come across in everything we do. Wandering can be fun and inspiring, and I'd even say, at times essential. But when you set about to do a book, you begin to need to pin things down. This kind of clarity has its own special intensity that is spectacular. Like looking at vibrant particles in a spectrometer, clarity of focus heightens our vision and feels electrifying.

4. Making a stand that is distinctly yours. There is incredible liberation in taking a stand and speaking your truth. A book proposal gives you a forum and vehicle to make a case for what you believe--based on your life experiences, your background, your training, and your insights. This is your opportunity to contribute relevant opinions and knowledge to your community. It's a chance to lead from where you are! You can be as controversial, as compassionate, as wise as your position requires. You only have to articulate it. Pull out your soap box and megaphone. Dust off your podium and reach for your notes. Publishers are waiting to "hear" what you say on the page.

In The Book Proposal Intensive that I'll be teaching for the next five weeks (from October 20 to November 21), I'm going to walk my students through every section of a book proposal, one by one, constantly returning to the question of their position until it is nailed down, articulated, and celebrated in a way that is indelible.

Registration is open and you are welcome to join in this adventure: http://bit.ly/TheIntensive

In this course, which is taught by webinar and teleseminar, as well as in private laser coaching sessions, I'll be giving you a ton of my time live to ask and be answered, to hold you accountable, and inspire you.

I like to say, when you decide to get it done, DOING IT QUICKLY is easiest. That's why I now teach in short and detailed steps where action comes right on the heels of instruction. Small assignments build to big discoveries--and those who throw themselves into the process experience tremendous outcomes. I've literally seen lives changed, I've literally seen businesses transformed, I've literally seen great emotional healing come from the experience of doing a book from the ground up with an established plan in place.

We're in a shifting landscape in publishing, and yet it is only the delivery mechanisms and production systems that are shifting--it's NOT THE CONTENT! Authors are more than needed--without us there would be no publishing industry. Kindles would be empty. Nooks would be Gameboys. Blogs would be templates.

Publishers are buying manuscripts to fill their pipelines. Opportunities exist. Your job is more than to persuade them, it's to understand YOUR POSITION so you can write a book that is timely, relevant, and meaningful to the audience you serve.

Get it?

Are you ready to write a book proposal?

Then please join me for The Book Proposal Intensive that starts later this week. Seriously! What the heck are you waiting for? Someone's permission? If you've got a good idea, then give yourself permission. Step up to the plate. Swing your bat. Aim for the outfield. People like me are earnestly interested in YOUR IDEAS.

Read more about The Book Proposal Intensive.