I wrote this in 2017 after referring to the webpage for prospective authors by Stanford University Press (SUP) that lays out the recommended elements of book proposal. While it can serve as a general sample of successful book proposal, please check separately whether your target press has a similar guideline available online. Fortunately, SUP decided to take on my project and the book, published in 2019, ended up winning two outstanding book awards in anthropology in 2020.
I felt pretty clueless, scared, and stressed out when I was trying to publish my first book. I asked a handful of friends and colleagues for their successful book proposals, and they graciously sent those to me without a fuss. Some also read my draft so I could improve it. I remember all of you – THANK YOU. Now that my book is published and has garnered some recognition, I think it is time for me to pay forward.
If you found my sample useful, please also pay it forward in the future in one way or another. If you don’t wanna pay it forward, well, perhaps you can follow me on Twitter?
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