Earlier this year I coached author and professor Gary Neal Hansen through the process of writing a book proposal. We covered every element of a typical nonfiction book proposal except the writing sample. This post will cover the writing sample. (To read the rest of the series, visit here.)

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Gary sent me his writing sample some weeks back, and as I’ve come to expect from Gary, it was a solid piece of work. I emailed him some feedback specific to his sample, but I couldn’t figure out a way to excerpt his sample and comment on it in a way that would be helpful within a blog post.

So instead I’d like to offer the following guidelines to keep in mind as you put together your own writing sample.

The rest is preamble. The rest of your book proposal is supportive material. Your writing sample is where you begin to actually execute the project. You’re not talking about the project here; you’re producing it. In many ways, then, the writing sample should be the diamond for which the rest of your proposal is the setting. In other words, do not neglect it. With some regularity my colleagues and I will review a proposal and say, “Wow, everything looked good until I got to the actual writing. Then the wheels came off.” Even if it means waiting several months before submitting your proposal, invest the time it takes to make sure your writing sample is compelling and well crafted.

Long enough. Your writing sample should be a good-sized portion of your manuscript. Unless your chapters are really short, the introduction and first chapter are usually sufficient.

Reading is an experience. To write, therefore, is to create an experience. It’s worth asking, what would I like the experience of reading my book to be like? Let the answer guide your writing. If experience A is what you’d like to create for your readers, what process will you need to follow in order to create that experience? I often refer to writers as experience architects, which is true. But they are also the engineers, the general contractors, and the construction workers for that experience, which brings me to the next point.

Do the work. There’s no substitute for sitting down in your chair about the same time every day and writing. It’s hard work. It’s also rewarding work, but often the rewards come much, much later than we hoped. Never mind. If you know you’re called to this endeavor, do the work anyway.

Get feedback. Somehow you have to plug into a community of supportive people who care about you and what you’re doing enough to give you some good feedback. The right reviewer can make all the difference in the world to how good your sample ends up being. Try asking a lot of people. Try buying lunch for the people whose feedback you would value most. Try paying someone to do it. Try offering to do the same in exchange for a writer friend or multiple writer friends. Do whatever it takes to get some insight into how to make your sample better. This feedback is important for the sample; it’s also important for the complete manuscript. So establishing a way to get feedback on the sample will help you later on.

In short, the writing sample is where the rubber meets the road, where publishers get to glimpse your work. You might be able to fake a bio or the marketing section pretty well, but you can’t fake your writing sample. On the other hand, if you’ve done the work and are ready to go, your writing sample is where you get to shine.

The above guidelines will give you your best shot at writing a sample that leads to a contract.

How have you already begun to implement one of the above strategies? What are you doing this week that will help your writing sample shine?

If you think this post would be helpful to others, would you help me share it?

Working on a nonfiction book proposal? This post will help. <Tweet this!>

Why the writing sample in your book proposal is so important, and how you can create a great one. <Tweet this!>