[National Writers Union]

Boston Local
186 Hampshire Street, 2nd Floor
Cambridge, MA 02138
617-661-1476
office@nwuboston.org

2003 Non-Fiction Book Proposal Workshop

Transform your book idea into a proposal no agent or editor can resist! This one-day workshop, for veteran non-fiction writers as well as first-timers, offers insider advice. Participants are invited (but not required) to bring excerpts from in-progress proposals for discussion.

What participants say about last year’s workshop

"This was the best Union event I've ever attended.”
– Dexter Van Zile

“I've published books – and this is the first time I came to appreciate the value of the proposal process.”
– Rita Esposito Watson

“The workshop was fascinating, illuminating, and enjoyable. I was able to make use of all I learned in a book proposal that I wrote a few months afterwards, which an agent (whom I learned about at the workshop) has just sold.”
– Eve LaPlante

Expert panel

Laura van Dam

Senior Editor, Houghton-Mifflin. Her specialty is books related to science, technology, medicine, and health. She is Vice President of the National Association of Science Writers.

Esmond Harmsworth

Literary Agent, Zachary Shuster Harmsworth Literary Agency. The agency, which has offices in Boston and in New York, represents literary and commercial fiction and non-fiction.

Christina Thompson

Editor of Harvard Review. She teaches editing at the Harvard Extension School, and occasionally accepts engagements as a book doctor.

Sarah Wernick

Workshop organizer and moderator. She is co-author of five non-fiction books (with a sixth to be published in 2004), including the bestselling Strong Women Stay Young.

Workshop schedule

Morning Informative talks – with ample Q&A opportunities – by the expert panel. Panelists will discuss one or two proposal excerpts and will also hold a "title clinic," providing comments on four or five titles submitted (along with a brief description of the planned book) by workshop participants.
Lunch Time for networking as well as refreshment. Space is available for brown-baggers; directions to inexpensive nearby restaurants will be provided.
Afternoon Sarah Wernick will discuss three key questions that every book proposal must answer. Then participants will break into small groups to read and comment on all submitted proposal excerpts. A final Q&A session and wrap-up will end the workshop.

Sunday March 23, 9:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. (snow date Sunday March 30)
1501 Beacon Street, Brookline, MA (on the Green Line; plenty of free parking)

Fee: $65 (volunteers who assist at the workshop will receive a $15 rebate)
Proceeds benefit NWU-Boston. All speakers are donating their services.

To register

Mail a check for $65 (made out to NWU-Boston) to NWU Book Proposal Workshop, 186 Hampshire St, 2nd Floor, Cambridge, MA 02139. Include your name and email address. Registrants will receive several informational e-mails prior to the workshop, including a list of recommended books to read and instructions for submitting proposal excerpts. There will be an additional charge of $5 for postage and handling (which must be paid when you register) if materials must be sent to you by postal mail.

For additional information

See FAQs below or contact Martha Dunn-Strohecker at the NWU office at nwu4@channel1.com or 617-661-1476.
Space is limited to 50 participants. During January, registration will be open exclusively to NWU members. After that, any available places will be open to all. Last year's conference sold out quickly!

Workshop FAQs

CAN YOU TELL ME MORE ABOUT THE PANELISTS?

Here is additional information about our panelists:

  • Laura van Dam is a senior editor at Houghton Mifflin (http://www.houghtonmifflin.com). She focuses on acquiring and editing books related to science, technology, medicine, and health. Her authors include Natalie Angier (Woman: An Intimate Geography), Steve Olson (Mapping Human History), Daniel Schacter (The Seven Sins of Memory), and J. Richard Gott (Time Travel Through Einstein's Universe). Before she came to Houghton Mifflin, she worked for fifteen years as a reporter and editor at newspapers and magazines. She is Vice President of the National Association of Science Writers.

  • Esmond Harmsworth is a founding partner of the Zachary Shuster Harmsworth Literary Agency; their web site is http://www.zshliterary.com. Born in London, he was educated in England and graduated with honors from Brown University and Harvard Law School. For fiction, he represents literary fiction, mystery and crime. His nonfiction list is varied, and includes biography, true-crime, popular science, business, media, politics, history, memoir, international affairs and psychology. He is in charge of the agency's foreign rights department and deals directly with publishers in London.

  • Christina Thompson is editor of Harvard Review, a semi-annual literary journal published by the Harvard College Library. She also teaches the core course in editing in the Writing Program at Harvard University Extension and freelances as a developmental editor (or book doctor). Recent editing projects have included a self-help book, a literary biography, a business training module and a revisionist assessment of Freud. Her own essays, stories and reviews have appeared in the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, the Sydney Morning Herald, the Australian's Review of Books, Best Australian Essays (1999 and 2000) and other publications.

  • Sarah Wernick is an award-winning freelance writer, who specializes in health, parenting, and self-help collaborations. Among her co-authored books is the best selling Strong Women Stay Young, written with Miriam Nelson of Tufts University. Five of her six book proposals drew six-figure advances. Her web site is http://www.sarahwernick.com.

WHAT ARE THE PROPOSAL EXCERPTS?

You will have the opportunity to obtain feedback on your proposal-in-progress. This is optional; you need not submit any writing to attend the workshop. Instructions on preparing proposal excerpts will be sent to registrants.

A non-fiction book proposal usually runs between 25 and 50 pages, too much to read at a one-day workshop. Therefore, we'll work with proposal excerpts: five pages - no more! - including the cover, table of contents, and an enticing overview of the book. If you would like to have your proposal summary considered for review by the expert panel, it must be submitted by March 7.

At the workshop, the expert panel will comment on one or two proposal summaries selected from those submitted ahead of time. All excerpts brought by participants will be discussed in the afternoon session, when the workshop breaks into small groups.

WHAT IS THE TITLE CLINIC?

Titles are important for marketing a book – both after publication and at the proposal stage. Those who aren’t ready to submit proposal excerpts can submit titles for discussion; instructions will be provided to people who register for the workshop.

During the morning session, the expert panel will discuss four or five book titles. To be considered, the title must be submitted by March 7, along with a brief description of the book’s contents. Participants can submit both a proposal excerpt and a title (for the same book or a different one) for discussion by the expert panel. All titles will be discussed in the afternoon groups. However, those who bring a proposal excerpt to the afternoon session can’t also discuss a second title, since time will be short.

IS THE WORKSHOP WORTHWHILE EVEN IF I DON'T BRING ANYTHING?

You benefit most if you bring proposal excerpt or title. However, everyone will learn from the speakers, as well as from reading and discussing the work of others.

IF I VOLUNTEER, WHAT WOULD I HAVE TO DO?

If you help, you'll make an important contribution to this Union fundraiser. You'll also receive a $15 rebate after the workshop. Most volunteers will be asked to arrive early (by 9 am) and stay until 4:30 or 5:00. Here are the tasks involved; not everyone will perform every task, nor is it possible for everyone have their first choice of tasks.
  • Purchasing items needed for the workshop, such as supplies or refreshments (some of these tasks would be performed before the workshop, some early that morning; you would be reimbursed for any expenses)
  • Making snow day calls, if necessary (this would be done from your home late Saturday or early Sunday)
  • Handling registration - checking names, handing out folders and name tags
  • Distributing proposal summaries and other papers at the workshop
  • Serving refreshments and cleaning up
  • Helping the speakers - this involves tasks like answering questions, fetching water refills, distributing handouts for them, and the like
  • Greeting people who arrive late, so they can join the group with minimal disruption
  • Moving tables and chairs and tidying the room at the end of the morning and afternoon sessions (anyone unable to perform physical chores will be assigned another task)

Registrants can volunteer when they send in their applications or any time afterward. No more than 15 volunteers are needed to assist at the workshop. A notice will be posted on the NWU web site (http://www.nwuboston.org) when the slots are filled.

WHERE WILL THE WORKSHOP TAKE PLACE?

The workshop will be held in a large meeting room on the ground floor of 1501 Beacon Street, an apartment house in Brookline located between Harvard Street (Coolidge Corner) and Washington Street (Washington Square). There's plenty of free on-street parking, and it's also convenient to the T (C line). Detailed driving and public transportation directions will be provided to registrants. Smoking is not permitted inside the building.

IS THE SITE HANDICAPPED ACCESSIBLE?

We will try to accommodate everyone who wishes to attend - please contact the NWU office to describe your needs, The meeting room (three steps down) and the restrooms are not wheelchair accessible, though we will provide as much physical assistance as possible to anyone who requires it.

WHAT’S THE CANCELATION POLICY?

If you withdraw from the workshop by March 7, you will receive a full refund. If you withdraw after March 7, you will receive a refund only if we are able to fill your slot from the waiting list.

In the event of heavy snow - not flurries but a storm - the workshop will be postponed to the following Sunday, March 30. We will try to contact all registrants by e-mail and telephone if the workshop is postponed. If the workshop is delayed because of bad weather, you may withdraw with a full refund if you notify the NWU-Boston office by Monday March 24. If you withdraw after that, you will receive a refund only if we are able to fill your slot from the waiting list.

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER I REGISTER?

You will receive an e-mail message with a questionnaire to fill out. After this is returned, detailed information about the workshop will be sent, including:

  • A list of books and online articles to read if you’d like a head start
  • Directions for writing proposal excerpts
  • Directions for submitting proposal excerpts and titles
  • Other suggestions for preparing for the workshop, including what to bring
  • Transportation details

About a month before the workshop, you will receive an e-mail with updates and reminders.

The week before the workshop, you will receive a final e-mail with last-minute information.

IF REGISTRATION FILLS, WILL YOU HAVE A WAITING LIST?

Yes, there will be a waiting list. Last year the workshop filled quickly, but nearly everyone on the waiting list was accommodated.

People who wish to be placed on the waiting list must register and send a check. As slots open, they will be contacted in order of their registration. They can withdraw at any time and receive a full refund. If they are unable to attend for any reason, a refund will be sent shortly after the workshop.

WHY MUST I PAY EXTRA TO RECEIVE MATERIALS VIA POSTAL MAIL?

The workshop is a benefit for NWU-Boston. The extra charge partially covers the added expense and time required to deal with postal mail.