on Jane Friedman site:

Writing a top-notch proposal can feel a bit like birthing a baby, complete with grunts, groans and cries by tired writers who fear they don’t have what it takes to push to the finish line. But with persistence, it can be done.

The key to writing a great proposal is to understand the essential questions it must answer, and—here’s the most important part—the synergies that will help you truly answer them.

Those essential questions:

• Why me?
• Why this?
• Why now?

Unlike a query or a pitch, which might answer each question in a single paragraph, these questions get answered across multiple proposal sections. The most common proposal sections include Overview, About the Author, Target Audience, Marketing Plan, Comparable Titles, Chapter Outline, and Sample Chapters.

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