At November’s 2025 Gathering of the Ghosts conference, a handful of top literary agents and editors sat down to talk mechanics on one of publishing’s most mysterious documents: the book proposal. David Moldawer from Writers House moderated, asking questions that led to some surprisingly blunt truths about what makes a proposal gain interest and what dooms others to the dust bin.
The two-page test
For Serena Jones, a Vice President and Executive Editor at Henry Holt & Company, everything starts (and often ends) with those opening pages. “I really need to be blown away in the first two pages,” she said, explaining that she receives around 50 proposals every week. Five minutes per proposal, tops. She’s scanning for the basics: who you are, what your book is, and why you’re the one writing it.
Panelist Andrea Barzvi from Empire Literary put it this way: the opening has to do what great jacket copy does — grab and hold the editor’s attention. “It has to flow, and it has to tell a story, and it has to evoke something in me,” she said.
Interestingly, Barzvi suggested something many writers skip: include two openings — one for editors, and one written as if it were speaking straight to readers. Two audiences, one document.
Comp titles can shift the whole idea
Comparative titles aren’t just busywork anymore. Book markets change fast, and Jones mentioned that at Holt, internal process require comps published within the past two years. Michael Signorelli of Aevitas Creative Management added that good comps take real research — “You’re kind of doing a bit of the editor’s work for them,” he said. Format matters, sales matter, category matters.
Sometimes comps even change the direction of the book itself. Moldawer noted that digging into comps can uncover a thriving sub-community an author never expected or reveal a near-total absence of readers.
Platform: the part everyone overthinks
Few sections inspire more side-eye from editors than marketing plans. Writers often cram in promises of ambitious social media campaigns, when what editors really want is simpler: proof you can actually reach people.
“Under promise and over deliver,” Barzvi said. She recommends talking about real connections — people an author can actually call. She breaks them into three groups: the ones who’ll help immediately, the ones good for a strategic favor, and the ones an author might reach with effort (but no guarantees).
Everyone on the panel agreed word-of-mouth still sells books. Big social numbers don’t always matter; Barzvi mentioned an example of one author with millions of social followers whose book sold poorly compared to another with a much smaller (but engaged) audience and a book that did surprisingly well.
The sample-chapter debate
Should you include sample chapters? It depends who you ask. Signorelli and Jones are firmly in the “yes” camp. Jones alluded to the risk scenario: strong proposals that masked disappointing manuscripts.
Barzvi, though, rarely includes them. With veteran ghostwriters, she feels detailed chapter breakdowns prove enough. One panelist called that strategy a “power move.”
A little publishing psychology
The group’s closing advice: keep proposals tight — ideally 40 to 60 pages including samples. Don’t repeat yourself, and don’t hide a weak track record. If your first book didn’t do well, say so. Jones mentioned that context matters, and editors often understand more than writers assume.
For ghostwriters especially, the message seemed clear: knowing how proposals work is as much about understanding editors — how they think, what pressures they’re under — as it is about clean writing. Do the homework, shape a well-written narrative, and make their job easier.
