[Elizabeth James Posts: 4 Status: Offline former magazine editor now writing children's fict]

I am querying a fiction PB and had an agent respond and ask for a 2-page, single-spaced marketing proposal to accompany it.

I know this is more common when writers are going directly to publishers, however I wasn't expecting it from an agent.

I was wondering if anyone here would be willing to share a proposal so that I could wrap my head around what it looks like/is included? I have a couple of proposal templates but they are really high-view. I'd like to see a more nuts-and-bolts example to guide me as I create my own.

TIA!

[Vijaya Posts: 7,168 Status: Offline Encourage WWW]

Elizabeth. Authors are expected to do marketing so I'm not completely surprised that an agent is asking for a marketing plan/proposal but it's putting the cart before the horse, given how long it can take to bring a PB to market. That said, perhaps you can look at what some publishers have asked in terms of marketing plans and cater your proposal with the things you'd enjoy doing. For ex. I enjoy offering workshops at schools and conferences, but I don't do any social media. I'd be hard-pressed to write 2 singly spaced pages on marketing Good luck!

[Elizabeth James Posts: 4 Status: Offline former magazine editor now writing children's fict]

Thanks so much!!! I like the idea of honing in on the elements that I enjoy, and I think that totally makes sense.

I think where I'm struggling is with the formatting and how detailed does it need to be. That's why an actual proposal would be so helpful. I'll keep searching online and see if I can find one.

[dkshumaker Posts: 1,448 Status: Offline WWW]

I'll admit, this sounds strange to me. I have not heard of an agent asking for a marketing proposal for a PB before. Granted, I signed with an agent in 2017, so it's been awhile. But I have quite a few friends who are querying PBs, and I don't think they've ever been asked for a marketing proposal by an agent. I hope this doesn't come across the wrong way, buy have you done research on this agent? Does this agent sell many PBs?