Book Proposal Development
A nonfiction book is sold on a proposal, not a finished manuscript. Agents and editors buy the argument before they buy the book. I build complete, submission-ready proposals that make the case for your book, your market, and you.
Book proposal development with The Writing King is a flat $15,000 for a complete, submission-ready proposal that sells your nonfiction book to agents and publishers. A nonfiction book is sold on the proposal, not the finished manuscript, and the proposal covers the concept, market, platform, and sample chapters.
Why This Service Exists
Most authors get the order backward. They write the entire book first, then discover that agents reject it in the opening paragraph because the proposal underneath it never made a case. For nonfiction, the proposal is the document that earns representation and a deal. The manuscript comes after.
I have authored 113+ books under my own name and ghostwritten 54+ for clients. I know what a chapter has to accomplish, and I know what an acquisitions editor is looking for when they decide whether a book is worth a contract. A proposal has to answer three questions before anything else: why this book, why now, and why you. Every section in the package exists to answer those three questions convincingly.
What the Package Includes
Discovery Interviews
I interview you in depth to extract the concept, the central argument, your expertise, your story, and the evidence that you are the right person to write this book. This is the raw material every other section is built from. Nothing in a strong proposal is invented. It is mined.
Title and Subtitle Development
A working title and subtitle developed and tested for the proposal. In nonfiction the title carries the promise and the subtitle carries the specifics, and a weak one undercuts an otherwise strong concept. Agents and editors will refine it later, but the proposal has to lead with a title that already works.
The Overview
The heart of the proposal. The hook, the core argument, the stakes, and the case for why this book matters now and why you are the one to write it. This is the section an agent reads first, and it decides whether the rest gets read at all.
Annotated Chapter Outline
A chapter-by-chapter breakdown of the entire book, with each chapter summarized so an editor sees the full arc, the structure, and the payoff without reading a word of manuscript. This is the blueprint that proves the book is fully thought through, not just a good idea.
Two Sample Chapters
Two polished, publication-ready chapters that prove the book can be written at a professional level and that the voice on the page matches the promise in the overview. Agents need to see execution, not just intention.
Spec Sheet
The book’s vital statistics: projected word count, format, manuscript delivery timeline, and any special features such as sidebars, exercises, or illustrations. Editors need these practical details to picture the finished book and slot it into a list. A small section that signals you understand how books are actually made.
About the Author
Your bio rewritten as a credentials argument, not a resume. It establishes your authority, your expertise, and your right to write this specific book to this specific audience.
Author Platform Analysis
A documented assessment of your reach: audience, email list, social following, speaking, media, and professional standing. Agents want to know who you can sell to on day one. This section quantifies it instead of asserting it.
Marketing and Promotion Plan
Your concrete plan to sell the book, including the promotional assets and commitments you bring to the table. Publishers expect authors to drive sales. This section shows them, in specifics, that you will.
Competitive Titles and Market Analysis
The comparable books already selling in your category, how yours is different and better, who buys books like this, and how large that audience is. Agents look specifically for this section. A proposal without it reads like the author skipped the homework.
Query Letter
The one-page letter that goes to agents first and decides whether they ask to see the proposal at all. It distills the hook, your credentials, and the market into a few tight paragraphs. This is the document that opens the door, and it is written to do exactly that.
What a Proposal Can and Cannot Do
Transparency matters. A proposal service that promises representation without acknowledging what a document can and cannot control is selling something that does not exist. Here is what to expect:
A Strong Proposal Does
Make the business case for your book. Position you against the competition. Document your platform and reach. Prove you can execute through sample chapters. Give an agent everything they need to pitch you to editors. Open the door to representation.
A Proposal Cannot
Guarantee an agent or publisher says yes. Manufacture a platform you do not have. Sell a novel (fiction is sold on a finished manuscript, not a proposal). Replace genuine expertise or a real audience. Force a deal in a category with no market.
I will not build a proposal I do not believe an agent will take seriously. If your concept or your platform is not ready, I will tell you that before you spend money, not after.
Why Me for Your Proposal
I have authored 113+ books under my own name and ghostwritten 54+ for clients across business, memoir, and technical nonfiction. I am a member of the Nonfiction Authors Association and the Alliance of Independent Authors. My clients have raised more than $30 million in venture capital on the strength of their books, and several have commanded keynote fees of $5,000 to $20,000 within 6 to 18 months of publishing.
I spent 20 years as Director of Computer Operations and Technical Services at Trader Joe’s before writing and publishing professionally. I have sat on both sides of the page: the author who has to make the argument, and the ghostwriter who has to build it for someone else. A proposal is an argument. I know how to win it.
For more on how I work and what I have built for clients, see my case studies and ghostwriting service.
Book Proposal vs. My Other Services
Book Proposal Development (this page) is the $15,000 package that sells your nonfiction book to literary agents and publishers. It makes the case for the book. It does not write the book.
Full Ghostwriting is the complete manuscript, written for you. Twenty thousand to ninety thousand words over four to eight months. In traditional publishing the order is deliberate: the proposal sells the book, and once a publisher accepts it, ghostwriting writes the full manuscript on contract. That is why most clients on this path do both, in sequence: the proposal to land the deal, then ghostwriting to deliver the book the proposal promised. If you are self-publishing and don’t need to query agents, you can skip the proposal and go straight to ghostwriting.
Book Discovery Intensive is a $4,000 strategic deep dive that decides what book you should write before you build a proposal or commit to a full project. The right starting point if the concept itself isn’t locked yet. Its fee credits toward a full ghostwriting engagement if you proceed within 60 days.
Book Coaching guides you through writing the book yourself, sold in ten-hour blocks at $200 to $300 per hour. For authors who want to do the writing with experienced support rather than hand it off.
Not sure which fits? Schedule a conversation and we’ll map the right path.
Pricing
Book proposal development is a flat $15,000. That covers the complete, submission-ready package: a query letter, title and subtitle development, discovery interviews, the overview, the annotated chapter outline, two polished sample chapters, a spec sheet, your author bio, platform analysis, marketing and promotion plan, and competitive title and market analysis.
The fee includes one complete round of revisions before the proposal goes to an agent. Any revisions after that are billed separately and quoted up front, so you always know the cost before any work begins. Most proposals do not need them.
Schedule a conversation and tell me about your book. I will tell you honestly whether the concept is ready for agents and what it takes to build the proposal that gets you there.
More information:
Full Professional Background · Testimonials · Code of Ethics · Case Studies
Case Studies
Real client projects — the goals, the work we did together, and the results that followed. Each one documented in detail.
Client Testimonials for Richard Lowe
Straight Answers to Real Hesitations
Proposal clients face the traditional-publishing gauntlet, and the doubts that come with it. Straight answers:
“Do I even need an agent and a proposal?”
Only for the traditional route. If speed, control, and economics favor self-publishing for your goals, I will say so before you spend proposal money; the two paths are different products serving different aims. When traditional is right, the proposal is the entire audition, and agents reject 98 percent of them on structure and market case, not on writing quality. Read more: the publishing paths »
“What if the proposal doesn’t land an agent?”
No honest professional promises representation, and you should walk away from anyone who does. What a professional proposal changes is the category of rejection: from unread slush to seriously considered. And every element, the market analysis, the positioning, the chapter architecture, transfers directly to the self-publishing path if you pivot. Read more: promises no professional makes »
“That’s a lot of money for a book.”
It is, and I will not pretend otherwise. Professional ghostwriting runs $15,000 to $60,000 here, with budget options starting at $7,597. The honest frame: the 2024 Business Book ROI study found most business books return the investment through clients, speaking, and authority pricing, and my clients have used books to raise capital and land TEDx stages. If the book is a business asset, price it like one. And if you want certainty first, the Book Discovery Intensive is $4,000 for the strategy, the plan, and a sample chapter, credited toward the engagement within sixty days. Read more: What Ghostwriting Costs and Why »
“Is my story actually worth a book?”
The doubt measures against the wrong scale. The real criteria: experience specific enough that a stranger could not research it, a findable reader whose situation the book changes, and enough transformation to sustain an arc. Fame is not on the list. Read the full answer: Is My Story Actually Worth a Book? »
“How do I know you’re not one of the scams?”
You should not take my word for it; verify what cannot be faked. I have 113-plus books under my own name you can read tonight, a hundred-plus podcast appearances you can listen to, named case studies including a book adopted at Purdue, and reviews attached to a checkable identity. The mills cannot produce any of that. Read the full answer: How to Vet a Ghostwriter »
“Will you secretly use AI on my book?”
A fair question in 2026, and it gets a written answer, not a verbal one: my AI policy goes in the contract. Your book is written by me, AI serves as a research and checking tool only, and your material never trains anything. Mills that generate manuscripts and charge professional rates are exactly why you should demand this clause from anyone. Read the full answer: Will My Ghostwriter Secretly Use AI? »
Go Deeper on Any of These
You Have a Manuscript. Now What?
A manuscript is not a book; between the two sit editing, cover design, formatting, the publishing path, and launch, and a contract that ends at delivery ends at the moment you need the next map. The full article lays out the honest anatomy of what comes after the writing, how my engagements handle the handoff, why the publishing conversation happens during strategy rather than at the end, and the one question that instantly separates working writers from mills. Read the full answer »
Is My Story Worth a Book?
Underneath the price and time objections sits the quiet one almost nobody voices: who am I to take up two hundred pages? The full article gives the honest evaluation criteria, none of which involve fame, explains why the people who ask this question overwhelmingly have book-worthy stories while the ones who never ask often do not, and covers the rare cases where the honest answer really is not yet, and what that diagnosis means. Read the full answer »
What Ghostwriting Costs and Why
Professional ghostwriting runs from $7,597 at the budget tier to $65,000 for full executive engagements, and the full article breaks down what actually drives the number: the hundreds of hours of skilled labor, the interview and revision process, and what separates a professional quote from a mill’s teaser price. It also frames the investment against what the book is for, because a business asset and a vanity purchase should not be priced with the same math. Read the full answer »
How to Vet a Ghostwriter
The better a ghostwriter is at the job, the less evidence they can show you, and the scam operations exploit that gap deliberately, with fake writer profiles claiming the same unverifiable bestsellers real writers cannot prove. So you vet around the NDA wall instead of through it. The full article walks through what cannot be faked, the writer’s own published books, years of public history, named case studies, the questions only working writers can answer, and the red flags that should end a conversation on the spot. Read the full answer »
The Business Book ROI Study
The 2024 research measured what business books actually return, and the numbers justify the investment for most professional authors: client acquisition, speaking fees, consulting engagements, and authority pricing that compounds for years. The full article breaks down the findings, who captures the returns and who does not, and what separates books that pay for themselves from shelf decoration. Read the full answer »
What If My Thinking Changes After Print?
The smartest prospects raise this one: publish now and the book freezes this year’s ideas in print while your thinking keeps moving. The full article takes it apart honestly, why the settling point you are waiting for never arrives, why a visible trajectory of evolving thought is the proof of expertise rather than a liability, and the modern mechanics the fear does not know about, from afternoon-upload second editions to the three-page preface that reframes an entire book. Read the full answer »
Frequently Asked Questions
Publishing Path Library
Traditional publishing, self-publishing, and how books reach readers:
Build a Proposal Agents Take Seriously
Tell me about your book, your background, and the audience you can reach. I will tell you honestly whether the concept is ready for agents and what it takes to get there.