Find A Good Niche

Before you think about approaching publishers, you need to decide what you are going to write about. When writing a non-fiction book, it’s crucial that you find a good niche. There are a lot of subjects that are popular, but if you don’t have a new angle on it, you will struggle to get any interest. For example, true crime is very popular but there are so many books and documentaries out there. Unless you can find a very interesting story that nobody has covered before, you will find it hard to get published. So, explore some different ideas and do plenty of research so you can find a subject that is popular but also a new story that people are interested in hearing. The most important thing is that you can answer the question of why the book is important.

Write Your Proposal

Once you have a finished manuscript and you are confident that people will be interested in your story, you need to write a proposal. This is what the publisher will read before deciding whether they want to read the full manuscript or not. Writing a proposal for a non-fiction book is very different from pitching a novel. You need to give a general overview of the story and why it’s relevant as well as a detailed chapter breakdown. You also need to do market research and create a plan for how you will reach your audience. This isn’t something that you will be familiar with if you have only written fiction in the past, so make sure that you spend enough time creating a very detailed proposal.

Decide Where To Send It

Now that you have a proposal, you need to decide where to send it. If you want to go directly to publishers, you need to research and find the right places. For example, if you are writing about environmental issues, people like Nova science publishers may be interested. But they’re not going to be interested in reading a proposal for a self-help book or a true crime story. In some cases, you might decide to go to an agent instead of a publisher. If you don’t have any history with non-fiction and you are not known in the industry, having an agent can be a huge help.

Consider Self Publishing

The way that books are published has changed a lot and the traditional avenues are not the only option anymore. If you can’t get any interest from publishers and agents or you just want more control over the process, you should consider self publishing. However, be aware that there are hidden costs involved and you are responsible for marketing the book, so it does involve a lot more work on your part.

Getting a non-fiction book published is very different from getting fiction published, so make sure that you research the process and spend plenty of time on your proposal.