Chapter 22Sharing Your Unfinished Thoughts
In 1998 or 1999, I got the idea for what became the original edition of Accidental Genius. To entice publishers, I had to write a book proposal. The thought of penning a proposal for a book I hadn’t yet started work on intimidated me.
The proposal had to be comprehensive and persuasive. It needed to give publishers the impression that I already knew everything there was to know about the book and how it would sell.
In the proposal, I’d have to talk about the work’s premise and how I’d substantiate it. I’d have to discuss how it would unfold, from first page to last. I’d have to predict which markets would buy it and why. I’d have to analyze the competitive landscape: What books out there were similar, ...
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