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"I started doing research, interviewing dozens of college cheerleaders. What they described to me wasn't the happy-go-lucky sport I once imagined. They were part of a fervent subculture filled with people willing to take their bodies to the limit...The glimmer of passion in their eyes was so intense that it was sometimes startling. In a way, I fell in love."

That's how a non-fiction book begins--a glimmer of a story in a real-life drama. Journalist Kate Torgovnick took her enthusiasm for championship cheerleading and pitched the book that eventually became Cheer!: Three Teams on a Quest for College Cheerleading's Ultimate Prize.

Today, she gives us an inside look at her process, teaching you how to write a non-fiction book proposal. 

This is my deceptively simple feature, Five Easy Questions. In the spirit of Jack Nicholson’s mad piano player, I run a weekly set of quality conversations with writing pioneers—delivering some practical, unexpected advice about web writing.

Jason Boog:
Can you describe, in the most practical terms, how you went about proposing and finding a publisher for Cheer? Any tips for non-fiction writers as they shape proposals?

Kate Torgovnick:
Step one is to write a proposal. It’s pretty formulaic. Continue reading...

I highly recommend either (a) asking people you know who’ve sold books if you can use their proposal as a model or (b) signing up for Mediabistro’s “How To Write a Non-Fiction Book Proposal” course, either the one-night course or the eight-week version.

Step two is sending it out to agents. Ask anyone you know in the publishing world for suggestions of who might be a good fit for the project and for you in general.

If you don’t know anyone in the industry, go to Publishersweekly.com and subscribe to their newsletter. It includes a “Deals” section where you can hunt for books that have a similar spirit as yours, and each write-up will tell you the agent’s name.

You can also use your bookshelf for this purpose—pick out the recent books that are somehow similar to what you’re writing. Flip to the acknowledgments section, cause the author will have no doubt thanked their agent. Another great thing to do is to troll Publishersmarketplace.com, which is kind of like a Facebook for agents.  
Obviously, your proposal has to be good. But the email you send to agents has to be stellar—if it doesn’t grab them, they won’t ask to read the proposal. So think hard about how you’re going to present yourself and your book. Overall, talking to agents feels kind of like dating.

Some people you’ll click with instantly, some you’ll have terribly awkward interactions with. Some you’ll feel really excited about, and then they’ll never call you again. But eventually, you’ll find someone you’re really into who will want to commit (i.e. send you a contract.)

Your agent holds your hand through the rest of the process—they’ll send the proposal out to editors, they’ll arrange meetings, and will basically broker a deal with a specific publishing house or put it up for an auction.