• The Overview – a narrative section that describes your book and how it will be written, with details such as length, illustrations and special features
• About the Author – a full description of who you are and why you're the right person to write this book
• Marketing/Promotion – a section that defines your audience and outlines your plans for promoting your book, including special marketing hooks/ideas. This should contain action items that you plan to do (promote the book on your blog, keynote at relevant events) and suggestions for publicity that a publisher wouldn't automatically know about (in other words, yes, your potential publisher realizes that the New York Times publishes book reviews; it may not know about Your Hobby Monthly, which has fourteen gazillion subscribers and which publishes five book reviews a month.)
• Competition – a comparison section that describe how your book is similar to – and different from – other books that have already been published. If there has never been a book like yours, that is a very bad sign. Include titles that are fairly recent (publishing works in dog years. If something was published in 1999, it is ancient.) Comparison titles should be ones that have sold well, so that the agent/editor will think, “Hmm, there's potential here.” Not: “Well, we'll lose our shirt like everyone else who's published on this topic.”
• Chapter Outline – a description of each chapter of your book, usually a couple of paragraphs per chapter. Use bullet points to get material across quickly.
• Sample chapters – one or two full chapters showcasing your writing and the subject about which you're proposing your book. Editors are having a hard time getting proposals past committees without really solid sample chapters these days.

The basics described here are the generally accepted parts of a book proposal. Some agents and editors may want to see a slightly different presentation, which you can easily accomplish by varying your final format according to their needs, which you can often find on their websites.

As you work on your book proposal, remember that it will be seen by agents and editors who have hundreds of other query letters, manuscripts and book proposals stacked on their desks. They often have assistants screen the pile first. Your goal should be to hook them – overworked agents and editors and underpaid assistants – with your well-polished, well-thought out proposal.

A book proposal book I like to recommend is Michael Larsen's How to Write a Book Proposal. Or mine.

Examples of building your platform before you get your publishing contract:
• Being interviewed in print, online and broadcast media as the expert in your subject matter.
• Giving talks, workshops and seminars on your subject.
• Practicing your subject – as a coach or consultant, or own your own organization related to your subject. For example, if you're writing a book about mutual funds, it helps if you're a working financial advisor. Some writers earn these credentials as they establish themselves in a niche.
• Joining organizations related to your subject matter and related to writing/book publishing itself. You can stay on top of developments this way.
• Starting and maintaining relationships with a lot of people, especially those in your subject area and in publishing. Get out there and network! You don't have to be a smarmy salesperson to do this. You just have to be genuine. It gets easier with experience.

• Do your research. Before you start asking live humans to take time out of their lives to deal with you, look it up. Google is your friend. There's so much information online and in bookstores that practically every question you can ask has already been answered. In other words, why are you emailing me to ask, “How does an aspiring writer break into print?” when there are approximately ninety thousand books, two million websites, four hundred thousand blogs and any number of print magazines dedicated to answering this very question.
• Then do more research. So maybe you don't want to know “How does an aspiring writer break into print?” Maybe you want to know how I, personally, broke into print (or Suzanne Brockmann or John Lescroart or whomever). I've written or talked about it in at least fifteen different places, and so has every other writer who has met with even a tiny modicum of success. Remember, Google is your friend. It's not like writers are keeping secrets about this stuff and you have to beg them for the decoder ring. The information is already out there.
• No one owes you anything – especially if you don't already have a personal or business relationship already established. I have a challenging and demanding job, challenging and demanding (yet wonderful) clients, a kid with lots of needs whom I love spending time with, friends I adore, missions I care about, personal and professional goals, demons and dreams. You're asking me to take time away from them and devote it to you, a random stranger who probably doesn't even spell my name right. And you know what? 99% of the time, as long as you're not a jackass, I do respond to you. But you'll help your case a lot more if you mention you've read something I wrote or heard an interview with me. You know why? Because then you're not a random stranger.
• Ask a specific question. I'm probably going to respond to most “How does an aspiring writer break into print?” question with my standard, “Read the books on writing at your local library, then get back to me.” Or I'll direct you to some of the reams of writing I've already done on the subject. So if you want an actual thought-out answer, ask me something new, or something to do with you. Or at least something specific! A recent example: a reader asked me what board-breaking I had to do for my black belt test. This didn't take long to answer and it sparked a very interesting email exchange with the reader. We had a conversation. She told me things about her experience and I told her things about mine and it was very satisfying. If she'd asked, “What's it like to train in martial arts?” I would have brushed her off. I've written ten or fifteen books that cover that subject and it's not something I can summarize in five sentences.
• Don't ask for the universe. A couple of specific questions are fine. Ten or fifteen is more than anyone I know is willing to answer, including me.
• Common courtesy won't kill you. “Please” is nice. So is “thank you for your time.”
• Find a way to make it useful for more than one person. I'm more likely to spend time giving information it if will benefit more than one person. If you plan to write a blog post, write an article for your school newspaper or share what you've learned with your writing group, I'm more inclined to help. (Tell me what you're doing ahead of time, though).
• Mention any mitigating circumstances. If you're twelve years old, say so. I'm nicer to kids than to grown adults. Plus I watch my language better.