This excerpt is from “Success, Your Path to a Successful Book,” by Maralyn D. Hill and Brenda C. Hill.

Continuation of list for book proposal follows:

A list of books that will compete with and complement yours.

About the author – mportant and relevant information.

The outline – one to three paragraphs on each chapter showing there’s a book and you have it successfully organized.

Sample chapters – one or two sample chapters show an editor how well you can write. For most books, the two strongest representative chapters you can send are best. The first chapter should be one of the two strongest as it is your first opportunity to hook the readers. If you start further back in your book, they will wonder what is wrong with the beginning. Refrain from sending the entire manuscript unless requested.

Sell the sizzle in the introduction.