What is in a marketing prospectus?

So, you've completed a manuscript... congratulations! And now you want to start sending it to publishers. (Or, shopping it to agents.) Many shops -- Pen & Anvil is one of them -- are prepared to consider a book proposal only if it comes attached to a marketing prospectus. What goes into such a thing?

Well, details and requirements vary. You can find detailed accounts of what is most useful to include in such a document in any guide to submissions, or by consulting an experienced editor or agent; but in our view at Pen & Anvil we believe a prospectus should definitely include:

• an account of what books in market are comparable to yours (and how you made that determination), along with their sales prominence/numbers
• an account of how you'd intend to participate in the sales marketing process -- festivals? course adoptions? reading groups? store appearances? leveraging your social media network? -- in the 1-2 years following your book's publication
• an account of your promotional resources as an author (the size and Klout of your social media audience is relevant, but the more relevant question is: can you explain how you've had success using that social media network to drive a sales campaign, or something analogous like a petition, event registration, etc?)
• a list of your primary "connections" in the literary sales space -- editors, program heads, etc; and so on. 

The whole document might come in at 2-4 pages. Your prospectus should be geared toward answering three questions in the affirmative:

1. Has this author given serious thought to the work involved in promoting a book?
2. Does this author have a realistic understanding of how their book compares to books in the market?
3. Do resources existent to convert promotional labor into sales results for this book?

This might seem like a big ask, even an impediment. "I just wrote a BOOK! Why do I have to do all this additional work?" Actually, though, don't be discouraged by the requirement to prepare a prospectus. You should want only to work with a publisher who is considering the book through the lens of market prospects. If you aren't being asked questions up front, why should you trust that the publisher is oriented and equipped to connect an audience to your project?

You don't have to be a marketing expert to prepare a prospectus -- no publisher is going to expect you to lay out your philosophical preference for the funnel model versus the flywheel, for example. But you do need to be willing to work collaboratively with your publisher on the marketing and promotion of your book if you want to maximize your audience size. Each side is bringing something to the table: your publisher has the business systems, production acumen, and market intelligence; you have the authorial skill, the intellectual property, and the personal incentive. Together, you should work out a plan to work as an integrated marketing team so that your book can be discovered, sold, read, and enjoyed by the reader you want to connect with.