What section of a book proposal do agents and publishers prioritize most, and why?

<p>In my view, every part of the proposal is important. You need to show you have a clear vision of the content and the expertise to write it. You need to show you know who your audience is and how to reach them. You need to convince an editor that your idea is timely and that there's still room ...

Janet Fletcher, Ghostwriter in Napa, CA, USA

Overview

I am a James Beard Award-winning journalist (three times) and the author or co-author of more than 30 books on food, wine, beer and gardening. A longtime staff writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, I now write books, cookbooks, newsletters, magazine features and blog posts for a variety of food and wine clients. I am also a certified Master Gardener (certified for 25+ years) with edible and ornamental gardening expertise, and I have edited a weekly gardening column for the Napa Register for more than 20 years. I enjoy collaborations, meet deadlines and love research.

A sample of my collaborative projects:

a heart-healthy cookbook for noted cardiologist Dr. Dean Ornish

two cookbooks with celebrity chef Michael Chiarello

a cookbook for Kokkari, San Francisco's pre-eminent Greek restaurant

a cookbook for Cakebread Cellars, the esteemed Napa Valley winery

two memoirs with Margrit Mondavi, the "Grande Dame" of Napa Valley

a cookbook with farm profiles for cookware retailer Sur La Table

a cookbook with ranch profiles for meat purveyor Niman Ranch

a cookbook/memoir with Calabrian cooking teacher Rosetta Costantino

two cookbooks with a strong wine focus for California's Wine Institute, a trade association

an edible-garden themed cookbook for a group of California wineries

Testimonials:

"Janet is every client and editor's dream: a gifted and experienced writer who captures the essence of a project in beautiful language on the first draft and rarely needs editing. We worked together on two books and dozens of blogs and writing projects over the past decade and it was always a wonderful collaboration."

Nancy Light

formerly VP Communications for Wine Institute

"Janet has the unique ability to capture the voice and personality of every person she writes for. As a colleague and collaborator, she has spoiled me—she makes my job as a book and communications producer easy. Her work seldom needs editing and is 99% ready to print. I look forward to every project we work on together because I know it will be an enjoyable collaboration and a breeze to execute."

Jennifer Barry

Jennifer Barry Design