The first step? A standout book proposal. A book proposal is an essential business plan for your book. It details what you will write, who will buy it, and how you will promote it. Sounds like a lot? Perhaps your MFA program, or years of dedicated writing time, didn’t quite prepare you for this moment.
Join us for a 8-week Book Proposal intensive workshop where you will work with successful industry professionals to write a winning book proposal, section by section, with community support. We will meet live each week to talk through your ideas, learn the nitty gritty of great book proposals, and plan your next steps.
You will receive a week-by-week roadmap to each section and personalized, detailed feedback on your writing. In our final week, you will have the opportunity to present your project to a seasoned, working literary agent for real time feedback (and networking!).
The best part? You will be surrounded by writers in the exact same situation. We work hard to provide a supportive, creative space where you are safe to ask questions, make genuine connections, and take risks in service of your larger goal. Many of our students stay in touch longer after the course is over and make invaluable connections.
Book a call to learn more.
“Dream to Deal has boosted my confidence as a freelance food and wine writer. I am very pleased with my cookbook proposal that I wrote during the class. The hosts, Hannah Howard and Kelsey Shipman are polished and professional published authors. They have the resources to figure out the book publishing world and have encouraged me to continue on my book writing journey by providing on-going resources.”
— Becky Ellis, Cookbook“At the start of this year, I wrote “write a book” on my list of yearly intentions—something that felt distant and almost unachievable. Now, at the end of this class, that goal feels not only within reach, but fully possible. I feel supported, believed in, and guided, and what once felt like a wish now feels like a real path forward.”
— Alexandra Emanuelli, Nonfiction“Dream to Deal with Hannah and Kelsey was worth every single second of time spent in class! Not only was their expertise in publishing and writing so valuable at helping me clarify the goals for my project, but they are so down to earth, encouraging, and relatable, it squashed every ounce of intimidation I felt for the publishing process. Classes were positively packed full of practical information I was able to immediately put their suggestions into practice and finished this workshop with an actual usable book proposal! In addition, class was organized and very well thought out: no points were belabored to death or spent such little time on that I felt like I was missing something. It was the perfect amount of information. No matter where you are in the publishing process, there is immense value to be gleaned from Dream to Deal!”
— Kellye Smith, Memoir“Kelsey and Hannah’s teaching styles, ease with each other and with us students, the clear and concise info, the timely feedback and adherence to the schedule (which kept us on track), and the access to get industry-professional feedback made this workshop one of the most valuable classes I’ve ever taken in my writing journey.”
— Wendy Hawkes, Memoir“I took the Dream to Deal workshop with the explicit goal of learning how to write a non-fiction book proposal because my initial queries and proposals were all rejected, even though I had a manuscript I believed in. I am so grateful for everything I learned in this class. When I began the course I had 0 sections of a book proposal written, and I finished the course with 100% of the book proposal ready to send to agents and publishers; I couldn’t have reached this milestone without the course and without the skill of the teachers. Kelsey and Howard demystified this famously complex process and made it manageable to learn each step; moreover, their many years of experience in the industry, as well as their contacts honed from being good humans, made them the ultimate guides.”
— Sarah Waisvisz, Memoir“Class really helped me find focus and develop the foundational elements of my memoir! Kelsey and Hannah were really supportive every step of the way!”
— Niki Toscani, Nonfiction“Hannah and Kelsey are outstanding teachers and true experts in the field. Their advice is practical and immediately applicable, and the tone with which they give it is encouraging. Best part is the feedback they give individually on your writing!”
— Heather Stone, Nonfiction
Step-by-step guidance on how to write your book proposal from start to finish.
8-weeks to refine every section of your book proposal within a supportive community and a BONUS week with TWO agent pitch sessions.
Kelsey and Hannah bring a wealth of industry experience and a supportive, hands-on approach to their intensive Book Proposal Workshop. For them, it's about more than just The Deal - they truly care about your writing career and lifelong artistic goals.
Kelsey is a seasoned educator with 15+ years of experience across schools and universities as well as a professional ghostwriter of cookbooks, memoirs, and other nonfiction texts with dozens of happy clients. She is particularly adept at guiding first-time authors through the complexities of the publishing process.
Hannah is a two-time bestselling author of memoirs Feast and Plenty, with work featured in New York Magazine, Bon Appétit, and VICE. She has taught writing classes both in New York City and online, helping students land book deals and freelance writing opportunities.
Experts on Your Side
Together, we offer a unique blend of expertise and mentorship, ensuring each participant receives personalized guidance to craft a compelling, market-ready book proposal. Whether you’re writing nonfiction, memoir, or narrative nonfiction, you’ll receive expert instruction, personalized feedback, and practical tools to develop every component—from your overview and target audience to competitive titles, marketing plan, and sample chapters. By the end of the course, you’ll have a complete, polished proposal ready to pitch to agents or publishers. Our job is to help you position the book you want to write within the existing market – not write the book someone somewhere told you the market wants. We know that in order to write and promote a book, you need deep commitment to your project. And, that only comes from aligning your head and your heart.
We will help you write the book that only you can write AND find the right people to shepherd it into the world.
Learn the power of the book proposal and appreciate its value for your career as a writer and the life of your project. We’ll talk about the why, how, and when is the right time to start your book proposal. We will also dig into writing our author bios and learning how to shamelessly brag about ourselves.
Dig into your comparative titles section and research the other books on the market that both complement and compete with your project. We learn the how behind writing this section and where to find up-to-date information. We will also talk in-depth about your audience - who they are and what they like - and why your book is just right for them.
Get ready to dive head-first into one of the trickiest (but worthwhile) sections in your book proposal: Marketing & Publicity. We will hear from Hannah Sellinger, a successful author and expert on positioning books, and discuss what kind of marketing plan makes sense for your book. We will help you lay it out, contact by contact, publication by publication, and help you demonstrate your deep commitment to the success of your project.
Now for the fun stuff! This week we will dig into your book’s Table of Contents and Chapter Descriptions. This is where your writing and book plan will really get to shine! We will help you narrow down your book’s structure and get really clear on the contents of each chapter. We will also have a BONUS office hours this week to catch up on any late work or ask pertinent questions.
We will zoom out this week and write the proposal Overview and Book Details section. The Overview is one of the most important sections of your book proposal as it is meant to build excitement for your book and showcase your unique voice. There’s a trick to it though, so we will break it down into a clear, easy-to-follow structure that demonstrate why your book is a good bet for publishers.
Finally, time to let your writing shine! Your sample material is meant to demonstrate what will be in your book and how your writing will shine. We'll help you strategize what and how much to include. And then...you've done it! You’ve written your book proposal section-by-section and are ready to start submitting to agents. Next, we will focus on what makes an unforgettable query letter (your first communication with an agent) and how to distill your book proposal into a few, compelling paragraphs.
Gain clarity on your next steps and prepare for your meeting with a working literary agent! This week we will accept a revised version of your query letter, and practice our five-minute pitches. We will also talk about the next steps of your project (no matter where you are in the process) and how to find the right literary agent for you.
This week’s a big one! You will be invited to pitch your project to a working literary agent and receive real-time, personalized feedback. Though you will only be pitching to one agent, you will have the opportunity to meet TWO agents in this week’s pitch sessions. We also meet one last time to debrief, set realistic goals, and discuss your next steps.
Wednesdays
Starting January 28, 2026
Lauren E. MacLeod is a Nashville–based senior literary agent with Aevitas Creative Management, where she champions chef-driven cookbooks and exceptional food-writing projects. With a deep passion for culinary scholarship and food history, she also specializes in memoir, pop-culture, narratives nonfiction, and true crime. She is a member of Les Dames d’Escoffier Nashville and a former board member and co-vice president of the Association of American Literary Agents, where she currently serves as co-chair of the Communications Committee, and sits on the Contracts Committee, the Governance Committee and the AI Special Committee.
Sally Ekus is a Senior Literary Agent at JVNLA where she spearheads The Ekus Group, a boutique culinary division specializing in cookbook and lifestyle titles. She represents a wide range of culinary, health, wellness, and lifestyle talent, from first-time cookbook authors to chefs, restaurant owners, professional food writers, bloggers, online creators, and journalists. On the non-culinary side, Sally represents books about caregiving and parenting, and is expanding into select other non-fiction genres.
From concept to contract, she has brokered over 300 book deals with top publishers including Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Hachette, Simon & Schuster, and numerous indie publishers. Sally hosts an online community called How to be a Cookbook Author and writes the Not So Secret Agent newsletter. She is a mom, taco lover, and improvisor.
Hannah Selinger is the author of Cellar Rat: My Life in the Restaurant Underbelly and a James Beard Award-nominated lifestyle writer and mother of two based in Boxford, MA. Her print and digital work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, Eater, Travel + Leisure, Food & Wine, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and elsewhere. Her 2021 Bon Appétit essay, “In My Childhood Kitchen, I Learned Both Fear and Love,” is anthologized in the 2022 Best American Food Writing collection, published by HarperCollins. She is represented by Rick Richter at Aevitas.
Vivian Lee is a writer and senior editor at Little, Brown. Her booklist includes New York Times bestselling authors as well as finalists and winners of the Kirkus Prize, PEN/Faulkner, Stonewall Book Award, American Academy of Arts and Letters, Southern Book Prize, ASME, ASJA Book Award, Whiting Nonfiction, and others.
Her writing can be found in the Los Angeles Times, Eater, Elle, Catapult, Poets & Writers, and more.
She graduated from the University of California, Irvine with a BA in Literary Journalism and from the New School University in New York with a MFA in Creative Writing (Non-Fiction). She is a 2018 PW Rising Star Honoree and a 2023 Kundiman Honoree.
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