A Sample Book Proposal

Dear all, this is a sample book-proposal that might help you if you are a fresher author….







The Name of Book…




By: Author’s name


XYZ Publications








Table of Contents




1) Preface

2) List of Chapters

3) Why one should care to read?

4) Synopsis

5) Why XYZ Publications should publish this book?

6) How can we market the book?

7) 3 stories : a) 1st chapter

b) 2nd chapter

c) 3rd Chapter


8) Acknowledgements

9) My Resume




Preface


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The list of Chapters


1. 1st chapter

2. 2nd chapter

3. 3rd chapter

4. 4th chapter

5. 5th chapter

6. 6th chapter

7. 7th chapter

8. 8th chapter

9. 9th chapter

10. 10th chapter

11. 11th chapter

12. 12th chapter





Why should one care to read?

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Synopsis



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About the author



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Why should XYZ Publications publish this book?



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How can we market the book?




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“Q and A” for my book – In Their Shoes…

1. Hello Dipen, tell us something about 'IN THEIR SHOES...'.

Hi. “In Their Shoes” is an English phrase, which means, ‘from other’s angle’. This book is about how the world looks by being in the shoes of different people such as – a 24 year old mentally challenged girl, an uneducated corrupt politician, a saadhu baba, etc…I have take such 17 different and ordinary characters and have tried to visualize how the world looks like from their angle…

2. How did you think of the concept of this book?

Last February, I attended a wedding of a cousin of mine. In that wedding was a drummer who was playing drums. Along with the drummer was his daughter in a red colored frock. She kept on observing my sister who dressed as beautifully as a fairy; She kept on looking at the stage where the pheraas were going on, She kept looking at the decoration all around, the guests dressed in their best, etc… All this while, I was wondering as what she must be thinking about this whole wedding and that is how I came up with the first character of my book…I then made a list of 25 characters for the book and started visualizing the world from their angle.

3. And in what span did you complete the writing process?

It took me 1 month to make the book proposal and then 3 months to complete the whole book.

4. You must be kidding! You just took 3 months to complete the whole book?

Hahahahahaha..yes… seriously. See, the thing is that people normally believe that writers take at least a year or so to complete a book. I guess it is a myth that a writer HAS to take at least a year to imagine, draft and complete the manuscript. “In Their Shoes…” has 17 different characters. So, all I had to do was to get ‘into the character’ of one character and fully complete that character and then move onto the next character. Being simultaneously in the shoes of 2 or more characters is mentally very draining.

5. But, how was it that you used to write a whole story? I mean, what was the thought process and all behind every story?

That’s a good question. Before starting with any character, I used to spend a lot of time imagining that character. Once that was done, I used to take an imaginary interview of that character. I used to ask questions like “what was the most happiest or depressing moment of your life?” or “what are your dreams?” etc. Then I used to ‘get into that character’ and then try to visualize the world around! That helped me try to understand the psychology of that character very easily.

6. Can you give us any example of that?

Oh sure! Hmm… let me take the example of a character called as “8^th std kid – Vineet”. This is kind of a character that I would like to be if God gives me a chance to rewind my life. The way he behaves in front of Rhea-his crush, the love-letter that he writes, the way he enjoys his life in school, the way he plays pranks on his friends and teachers….all that is what I would like to do if I get a chance to rewind my life!... Ok, so before I started writing “Vineet”, I took an imaginary interview of that naughty character. Along with the naughtiness of that character, I also realized that there are many other serious issues that should be raised – like for example – the Comparison syndrome, the usless lesson diaries that we complete, etc… I have tried my best to touch upon those issues too… I hope the readers understand those points properly…

7. You have highlighted some social problems creatively, with a touch of humor. Did this serious writing, anytime, take a toll on you?

Oh yes!... It’s mentally very tiring to be in some other character and visualize the world around that character. Initially, I was going to write on 25 characters. But, after writing 17 characters, I felt really drained out! I mean, it is very difficult to keep hopping from one shoe to the other and try to FEEL or SEE the world around. There were a few characters that were very easy to write and a few very very difficult to write. For example, I thought of writing a character called as “Saadhu baba”. One day, after coming from office, I sat down to write 6 pages of this character. I kept typing from 11.30 PM to 3.30 AM! I was so much into the character that I could literally see a hut, a dense forest, a stream of clear water flowing beside a hut, the froth getting generated in that stream flowed! I am sure that if I hadn’t stopped writing that character at that point, then I would have gone mad!!! :-D.. One needs to know when to give up on a character! I have tried my best to compare Froth in a stream to the way we live life. The last 3 pages of this character are on different interpretations of life. I hope you like those different perspectives on life…

8. Coming to you, how and when did you take up writing?

I had been blogging since april 2007. But I wasn’t serious about it till last year. The book-writing bug bit me in the start of 2009. In March 2009, I started writing a book (which I might think of publishing if you all accept me as a writer and if my publisher thinks that it is a good book) based on the life of an imaginary Gujarati character. After writing some 100 pages, I circulated it amongst my friends. The response that I got from them was just amazing! I mean, I couldn’t believe that my book would be liked by my friends so much! In a hurry, I made a book proposal and sent it to the top publishers in India. In a week’s time, my work was rejected! I tried to analyze the reason of my first failure. I still believe that the reason of my book getting rejected was that I hadn’t made a good book-proposal. But, one of my friends from office told me that he felt that a serious book would work and that I was good at writing serious stuff. I thought chalo serious book likh ke dekhte hain… Then I spent a week brainstorming over topics. I came up with 5 topics and finalized on “In Their Shoes…”! Since childhood, I have been fascinated by trying to visualize what others keep thinking. Whenever I travel, I look at people around and try to visualize as to what they must be thinking. Do you remember the essay questions in school exams? Out of 4 topics for essay questions, there used to be at least one topic on Autobiography of XYZ (xyz could be anything – Rs. 5 note, a donkey, a horse, a pen, etc.) I always used to attempt Autobiography questions. I somehow had a knack of thinking from others’ angles. After finalizing the topic – In Their Shoes…, I started thinking about the characters on which I would write the book.

9. Do you want to convert your passion into profession? What/Who was the motivation/inspiration behind you taking up the task of book writing?

Sure! I do want to take up writing as a profession. See, in today’s time, I sincerely believe that a person should have a passion or a hobby which he can convert into his main profession by the age of 40 or 45. So, pursue a job out of your qualification and work till the age of 40 or 45. Simultaneously, start nurturing your passion slowly and steadily so that when you are bored of your 9 to 5 job, you can bank upon your passion to sail you through the rest of your life. I am lucky that I tried to take my passion to the next level so early and if my dear readers accept me as a writer, then I would surely like to churn out more books!

10. Lastly, do you want to give any message to your readers?

There is one very simple message that I want to give to my readers. See, if you open a dictionary and try to find the meaning of ‘ordinary‘, you will find it defined as people or things that are normal and not special or different in any way. Simplicity appeals to me a lot. And I feel that ordinary people are simple people. But, the problem with this world is that for you to get noticed by the world, you have to be something great or different. Simplicity simply goes unnoticed. That is why I chose to write on such simple and ordinary characters that we see every day but don‘t ‗observe‘! I want the world to take notice of such simple characters too! Even those ordinary characters have a story to tell; even they have a life that you would be intrigued by; even they have a wish, a few moments of sadness, happiness, many unfulfilled dreams...

The next time you see an ‘ordinary‘ person around you, take a few moments out of your precious time to ‗observe‘ him/her. In short, try to be in their shoes, and be happy that God has at least been more kind to you than majority of the people around you!

If you all accept me as a good writer, then I would like to come up with few more books that have ‗’ordinary‘ characters as the protagonists. I want my book(s) to be

By the ordinary,

For the ordinary

and Of the ordinary!

The Making of the book - In Their Shoes...

The book-writing bug bit me in the start of 2009. I am not trying to blow my own trumpet, but I am more famous amongst my friends for my humour than anything else. So, in March 2009, I started writing a book (which I might think of publishing if you all accept me as a writer and if my publisher thinks that it is a good book) based on the life of an imaginary Gujarati character. After writing some 100 pages, I circulated it amongst my friends. The response that I got from them was just amazing! I mean, I couldn’t believe that my book would be liked by my friends so much! In a hurry, I made a book proposal and sent it to the top publishers in India. In a week’s time, my work was rejected! I tried to analyze the reason of my first failure. I still believe that the reason of my book getting rejected was that I hadn’t made a good book-proposal. But, one of my friends from office told me that he felt that a serious book would work and that I was good at writing serious stuff. I thought chalo serious book likh ke dekhte hain… Then I spent a week brainstorming over topics. I came up with 5 topics and finalized on “In Their Shoes…”! Since childhood, I have been fascinated by trying to visualize what others keep thinking. Whenever I travel, I look at people around and try to visualize as to what they must be thinking. Do you remember the essay questions in school exams? Out of 4 topics for essay questions, there used to be at least one topic on Autobiography of XYZ (xyz could be anything – Rs. 5 note, a donkey, a horse, a pen, etc.) I always used to attempt Autobiography questions. I somehow had a knack of thinking from others’ angles. After finalizing the topic – In Their Shoes…, I started thinking about the characters on which I would write the book. This is how I came up with the characters…:

1) Bindiya – A Drummer’s daughter: Last February, I attended a wedding of a cousin of mine. In that wedding was a drummer who was playing drums on the arrival of the groom’s family. Along with the drummer was his daughter in a red coloured frock. She kept on observing my sister who dressed as beautifully as a fairy; She kept on looking at the stage where the Feraas were going on, She kept looking at the decoration all around, the guests dressed in their best, etc… All this while, I was observing her. Then I thought, why not try to visualize what she must be thinking about the whole wedding and that is how I came up with the first character of my book…

2) A 24 year old mentally challenged girl: This character was more like a creative challenge for me. There was no basis of selecting this character.

3) A heart-broken lover boy: A few months ago, one of my very good friends got dumped by his girlfriend. He was in a state of depression for at least a month or so. Then, I thought- why not have ‘a heart-broken lover boy’ as a character in my book! Then I thought of a story for the character! This is how I came up with the character – a heart-broken lover boy!

4) Phobic: A phobic is a person who has a lot of phobias. This is a character that we don’t normally see in everyday life. A phobic is an abstract character. For this book, I wanted to have a few characters which are ordinary but not normally seen or observed! I am afraid of dogs, high speed, height, etc… so I thought, lemme extend this list of phobias and insert a few incidences around the character and then try to show why and how the character is not able to get rid of phobias!

5) 8^th std kid – Vineet : Last Diwali, Minal - one of my friends- wanted me to write an essay on DIWALI. That essay was supposed to be written by her 5 year-old daughter. Minal said to me “Dipen, Shruti ko school mein bola hai ki ‘Diwali’ pe 10 lines ka essay likho. Tu likh ke de.” My initial reaction was – would I be able to think from a 5 year-old school kid’s angle? But then I tried that and I think I did a good job in writing the essay on ‘Diwali’ by being in the shoes of a 5 yr-old school kid. That is when I thought – hey, why not have a naughty school kid as one of characters for my book! So, I started writing on an 8^th std. kid-Vineet! To tell you the truth, 8^th std kid – Vineet is a kind of a character that I would like to be if God gives me a chance to visit my childhood again! The way he behaves in front of Rhea-his crush, the love-letter that he writes, the way he enjoys his life in school, the way he plays pranks on his friends and teachers….all that is what I would like to do if I get a chance to rewind my life!...

6) A Saadhu Baba: Recently I had written a blog called as “life is…”. This blog was kind of philosophical. The content in that blog was kind of what a Saadhu Baba would say in one of his sermons! So, I thought – why not have a Saadhu Baba as a character in the book! I found this topic the toughest to write on. One day, after coming from office, I sat down to write 6 pages of this character. I kept typing from 11.30 PM to 3.30 AM! I was so much into the character that I could literally see a hut, a dense forest, a stream of clear water flowing beside a hut, the froth getting generated in that stream flowed! I am sure that if I hadn’t stopped writing that character at that point, then I would have gone mad!!! :-D.. I have tried my best to compare Froth in a stream to the way we live life. The last 3 pages of this character are on different interpretations of life. I hope you like those different perspectives on life…

7) A struggling writer: Around 30 % of this character has reflection of my life in it. I have struggled a lot to see my book shape up in the way it has now. I had a strong self-belief that I would succeed in what I tried to venture. I mean, an electrical engineer writing a book was not very easy for all my near and dear ones to digest! Writing blogs was OK, but they had never thought that I could write a book. I am sure that every person who wants some motivation or push to achieve his/her goals should read this chapter.

8) A broke 77 year old man living in a 140 sqft hut: I clearly remember the date – 17 December 1998. There was a short-story competition in my junior college – Birla College. I was in 11^th std then. I had written a story called as “Help Us”. I had tried to show the life of old parents who love their son but then in their old age, they are thrown out of the house and life of their eklautaa son. So the character – a broke 77 yr old man living in a 140 sqft hut- is a better version of the story written 11.5 years ago!!!

9) Gatekeeper of Ashabai old age home: After writing a chapter on 77 yr old man, I thought – lemme try to visualize how life in an old age home would be! This story teaches you many things related to relations, life, etc…

10) A regular commuter of a local train in Mumbai: My routine consists of:

1) waking up at 8.00 AM and getting ready for office.

2) leaving home at 9.20 to catch the 9.55 local from platform 1 A.

3) struggling for a rikshaw to reach Kalyan station at 9.35 or 9.40

4) going to Dadar and then catching a Malad fast local, getting down at Goregaon and reaching office at 12.10 PM!

The life of an ordinary Mumbaikar is the same as what has been mentioned above. Just prepone the hours by 2 or 3 or 4 or 5..! In one day, 69 lakh Mumbaikars use railways as their means of transport (which is like saying that one-third of the population of Australia uses Mumbai railways as their means of transport). I am just one of them. So, the character - a regular commuter of a local train in Mumbai- is what will give you a glimpse of the life of an average Mumbaikar!

11) A tantrik: Have you ever travelled in local trains in Mumbai or been to a public toilet in Mumbai? If yes, then I am sure you must have seen Advertisements of tantriks! These tantriks claim to solve your problems in just 7 hours! And that too with guarantee card! If you haven’t been to Mumbai, then make sure that you visit Mumbai just to see those Ads! The numbers of Ads that they give in trains made me feel that there must be demand of such tantriks, which in short means that there are people who are gullible enough to believe such thugs! So, I thought of having a TANTRIK as one of the characters of my book!

12) An uneducated corrupt politician: I have the same feeling towards uneducated corrupt politicians as does any educated Indian. Educated people keep on cursing the uneducated corrupt politicians and keep blaming the system for its inefficiency! So, I thought – lemme try to think from AN UNEDUCATED CORRUPT POLITICIAN’s angle and then see how cunning can such a character be! I have tried my best to show the cunning side of an uneducated corrupt politician. I just hope my purpose of writing this character gets fulfilled! (I am sure that you must have understood my purpose of writing this character!)

13) A contemporary news reporter: A few months ago, there was some channel which showed that Aliens adore Himesh Reshamiyaa’s music! Aliens are fond of cows and so they pick up the cows at night!..hahahahhah… I mean, what is this!!!! So, I wondered what makes them come up with such news and that is how I came up with this character – A contemporary news reporter!

14) A visually challenged person: The other day when I was travelling in train, one visually challenged old man was selling key-chains. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. I kept thinking as to how he must be spending his whole day without vision and money. I mean, even after getting a good salary, I do crib sometimes! But this old man had nothing except a liability of selling the assigned number of key-chains! That is when I thought of having “A Visually challenged person” as one of the characters of my book.

15) An engineering student: I am an electrical engineer. So, this topic was but obvious! According to me, it was the simplest of all topics to write on!

16) A frustrated software developer: I work in a software company. So, even this topic was easy to write on. The tips which I have offered in the chapter have been tried N number of times!

Life is.....

In my zest to analyse things, I thought let me try to analyse life… here is my interpretation….


Life is like chess….

Sometimes you do need to take a few steps back and analyse the situation and then take the necessary forward steps…


Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are gonna get….

Every next moment is so damn unpredictable. You can never be sure what fate has in store for you in the next moment. You might be happy your mediocre job and suddenly you might be a winner of a rs.5 crore lottery because of one rs.10 ticket you bought casually…

Life is not a fairy tale…

Optimism is considered to be a good way of life. I agree to it only to a certain extent. Optimism leads us to think only of rosy situations in life. Sometimes we tend to get too much swayed away by rosy imagination that we forget that the real world is not that conducive to achieve what we want in life. When I was in college, even I used to dream of IIMs. I used to think that since I am from VJTI, I can achieve anything that I set my eyes on. But NO. That was not the case. I took CAT 3 times, but still couldn’t get enough marks to into any IIM… I had to accept the fact that I was not cut out for any IIM… so, I say, life is not a fairy tale… you wouldn’t get anything and everything that you set your eyes on… it’s very necessary to have a back-up plan in life…. There is a dialogue in the movie TEEN DEEWAREIN – “life mein hamesha, ek choti si, teesri gali khuli honi chaiye”… I surely believe in that!!!!



Life is not about being the best or perfect….

Aamir khan is always praised for being a perfectionist. I agree he is. And he needs to be perfect if he wants a good work product. But, in life, I really feel that one should not strive for perfection. Life is not about being perfect. The day you start becoming obsessive about being perfect in anything you do, you will stop enjoying the small pleasures in achieving a target. One can even reach a stage where hunger for being a perfectionist can lead to schizoprehenic behavior because in the process of being perfect, one would tend to be not realistic and keep burning oneself to the extreme and then one day, crumble under pressure… don’t try to test the elasticity of life… you never know you might snap because of zest for being perfectionist…


Life is not about comparisons.….

Living a peaceful life is a blessing that not everyone gets in life. One should realize that happiness, sadness, success, etc are different for different people. Lives CANNOT be compared. Every human being is a different entity. Please don’t compare yourself with others; otherwise you would end up being unsatisfied in life. I have seen so many instances of comparisons that I can vouch for the fact atleast 30 % of suicides are because of bloody, fucking comparisons!!!!! Comparisons with peers, junior regarding achievements, salary, looks, talent, blah blah blah...!!!!! oh fuck!.. my brains are totally fucked up because of comparisons!!!!!!! Now I am so averse to comparisons that I cannot stand even one line of comparison….

Life is like Railway line made of up various stations…

From kalyan to CST, there are around 25 stations. People board the train from kalyan and get down at respective stations to go for work or for whatever reasons. Similarly, life is made of a number of stations. You need to know what you want in life and then get down at the right station at the right time… Getting down at the right time and station is all that matters in life to achieve what you want... so, first determine what you want in life and then alight at the right station….

Life is not a book of guidelines….

Many of us are brought up being told that “you do X to achieve Y” or “you don’t o this because that line is not safe or xyz…”. Till teenage, listening to others is OK. But when you understand what you want in life and how you will achieve that in life, throw the gloves in the air, untie yourself from all the society-accepted norms and do what makes you happy.. (disclaimer : you shld know what is wrong or right for you :-D…). in short, life is not a guide-book that has to be followed rule-by-rule!...