Before the Book Proposal
How treating your book idea like a research project leads to a stronger proposal
You’re an expert with decades of research, experience, and, knowledge.
You know your subject matter. Every day, you’re digging into the nuanced details, developing new conceptual frameworks, collecting more precise data, and refining your analytical tools to interpret what you find.
You already know how to conduct research.
You’re also comfortable collaborating, sharing ideas, and working with colleagues who share your passion for pursuing these answers.
Now you'd like to expand your reach, to start a broader public conversation with readers beyond your discipline.
You think you have an idea for a trade nonfiction book.
But on this, suddenly you feel less sure.
You find yourself asking questions like:
🔹 Does this research have the makings of a trade book?
🔹 Who is the primary reader beyond my discipline?
🔹 What makes a general reader buy a trade nonfiction book?
🔹 Is this idea strong enough to sustain a whole book?
🔹 How do I preserve the complexity of my ideas while making them compelling to general readers?
Those are different questions than the ones you're used to asking.
But that doesn't mean you need an entirely different set of skills to answer them.
Treat Your Book Idea Like a Research Project
Most experts respond to those questions by either freezing or diving straight into the book proposal.
I'd like to suggest another way forward.
Instead of writing—or contemplating endlessly in your own mind—take your book idea out into the world.
Share pieces of your broader argument on LinkedIn. Publish on Substack. Pitch newspaper editors. Appear on podcasts. Speak at conferences. Give public talks. Teach webinars. Go wherever you think your future readers are already gathering, whether online or in person.
Then, conduct research on your book idea.
What do the conversations, engagement, or even the silence tell you about your idea?
🔹 Which ideas generate discussion, and which fall flat? here is it working? Where is it not?
🔹 At what point do readers stop engaging?
🔹 What questions do readers ask often?
🔹 What examples or stories do readers remember or share?
🔹 Where do readers ask you to clarify or further explain?
Put small pieces of your argument into the world. Listen carefully to what comes back. Then take what you've learned home and refine your idea before going back out again.
Because, as you already know, research takes iteration.
Every conversation becomes a piece of evidence. You begin to notice which questions people ask over and over again, which examples make an abstract idea click, and where readers become confused. Those patterns both help you communicate your research more effectively, they also deepen your understanding of what your book is about.
Developing a Trade Book is Itself a Form of Inquiry
Experts often think of the proposal as the beginning of the publishing process.
I see it differently.
Developing a trade book is itself a form of inquiry. You begin with a question, test ideas, gather evidence, and refine your thinking through conversations with readers.
Only once you've workshopped your idea to sufficient depth and breadth do you begin moving to the page.
Because by then, many of the hardest questions a proposal asks have already been answered.
You'll have a much clearer sense of who your reader is, why they need this book now, and tangible evidence that your ideas connect beyond your discipline.
And (bonus!) you'll have built a community of readers who are already interested in your work—because you've been inviting them into the conversation all along.
By the time you begin writing the proposal, you're no longer starting from scratch.
From Public Research to Book Proposal
The proposal isn't where you discover the book. It's where you demonstrate that you've already done the work to find it.
Workshopping your book idea before you fill in a single word on the proposal template is an investment in the book itself.
Most importantly, it replaces uncertainty with evidence.
Instead of wondering whether your idea might work as a trade book, you've already seen how real readers respond to it. That evidence gives you confidence. It also leads to greater clarity, stronger arguments, and a proposal rooted in observation rather than aspiration.
So instead of feeling overwhelmed by whether your idea will work as a trade book, turn back to what you already know you're good at.
Make it a research project.