Here are the proposals that sold our four non-fiction books, plus two short essays I hope you’ll find handy: what a book proposal should contain, and how to get an agent. Notice that titles often change between the proposal and the finished book. Doesn’t matter.
Proposal for Smoke & Mirrors: The War on Drugs and the Politics of Failure
Proposal for Citizen Coors: An American Dynasty
Proposal for Nine Lives: Death and Life in New Orleans
Proposal for Gun Guys: A Road Trip
Instructionals:
These are hardly the be-all and end-all. But the techniques described in these essays worked for me:
What a Book Proposal Should Contain