What the heck should a chapter summary look like in a book proposal? 3 strategies for writers in the trenches.
When it comes to the chapter summaries of book proposals, what are we including, and what are we leaving out? I'll show you mine, if you comment about yours!
I’m going to throw a few scenarios at you to set you up for this post.
Scenario 1
Imagine you are in a restaurant. Instead of a menu, the waiter brings you samples of everything on the menu, including appetizers and deserts. There are so many dishes on your table, some of them have been stacked upon each other to make room. The signature cocktail selections are lined up under the table. If you move your feet, you’ll knock the cocktails over. How do you feel?
Scenario 2
In a rush, you pop into a bookstore to get a memoir for a friend of yours whose fortieth birthday is approaching. She’s just signed divorce papers but is feeling good about the split. You want to get her something “you-go-girl”, something that will make her feel fierce and independent and great about herself. You say as much to the bookseller, who starts recommending a title. Fifteen minutes later, they’re still summarizing the book. The bookseller has been talking so long you’re going to be late for a dermatologist appointment. How do you feel?
Scenario 3
You are at a wedding. The sister of the bride gets up—you’re excited to hear her speech. Though you don’t know this woman well, she presents as polished and intelligent—she has a cool job, like at the U.N. or something. Her opening is charming, self-effacing, she’s relatively sober— it’s going to be a great speech! Twenty minutes later, this woman is still toasting her sister. Her story (what is the story?) has gone off of the rails. All the guests are pouring wine and some are even talking amongst themselves. How do you feel?
The takeaway
If you answered annoyed, panicked, tricked, impatient to any of the above, this is what it feels like when an editor or agent is reading a chapter summary in a proposal that goes on (and on!) too long.
Too often, I see writers prioritizing their own writing and research in book proposals instead of the way it’s going to feel for the reader to read your book. What I mean is that many writers, understandably, want to show their reader the full scope of whatever they’ve experienced or have to teach or have researched enough to feel like an expert in a topic. Writers will bring in outside quotes and testimonials, they’ll insert quotes and anecdotes, they’ll make in-jokes and engage in a host of verbal acrobatics that do little to help the reader understand what a given chapter is actually about, nor how that chapter is going to contribute to the chapter coming next.
The most important thing a chapter summary can do inside a book proposal is summarize what will happen in that chapter succinctly and emotionally so that the reader (an agent or editor, usually) can experience the book quickly in one sitting, without devoting hours piecing together what you’re trying to say.
Especially with memoir—and especially with memoirs that deal with trauma like Savanah’s does—I don’t only summarize the content of each chapter, I also cue the register and tense each chapter will be in. I’ll state whether the chapter will be written in scene, as a flashback, whether we’ll zoom out and use reported research, bring in anecdotal evidence or another narrative device. I’m always privileging the “user experience” if you will so that the reader can experience the full range of emotions the book offers—in a short amount of time.
To illustrate how I did this for the book proposal I’m writing for Savanah, I thought I’d show you chapter summary examples from the actual proposal.
For those of you who are new here, this post gives an overview of what the Savanah Project is (and who Savanah is!) It will be helpful to read that post first, before continuing on.
Now to the proposal. I’ll comment on my inspiration for each example—you’ll see me use techniques pulled from filmmaking and journalism, and from my time in marketing, too! I hope you find these examples helpful, and that there are some insights that might change (or reinforce) the way you approach the chapter summary-writing portion of your own proposals. Let me know what you think in the comment section!
Off we go.
