Turning your book proposal into a website

November 1, 1:07 AMNY Writing Careers ExaminerTad Richards

Previous Next

1 comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the NY Writing Careers Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

From Boria Sax's web page

Why not make a web site of your book proposal?

That's what historian/folklorist (and published author) Boria Sax has done, and his proposal site is worth more than a look--it's worth some serious study, because it not only catches the eye, it arranges information in a well organized, easily retrievable format.

Look at the striking graphic of a raven, and the one-sentence description (in this case, the title and aubtitle). It's simple, which most people like in a website, and visually pleasing.

In addition to his name and the name of his illustrator, Sax starts off with nuts and bolts information -- the categories this nonfiction book can be listed under, the length of the book, and its current status (The Manuscript is complete, though subject to revision).

Below that, links: a summary, a narrative outline, a set of suggestions on who would be interested in reading the book.

Below that, links to a list of articles adapted from the book, and pre-publication endorsements by experts and scholars in his field.

Finally, some sample chapters.

This exact format won't fit everyone. A fiction writer would set up different series of links.

But it takes advantage, in a good-looking, efficient, informative, reader-friendly format, of new technological solutions to one of a writer's oldest problems.

Does it work? Sax tells us that one university press has already contacted him. Needless to say, there's no guarantee of that: Sax is a marvelour writer and a well known scholar in his field. But it's an approach worth considering, and worth trying.