When you talk to people in the book business, you hear all kinds of answers to the question: When you submit a nonfiction book proposal, do you need to include a sample chapter?

I’ve written about this question before when I cited my own experience, in which I only sometimes submit a sample chapter. This time I decided to ask ten editors with whom I’ve worked—all at different publishers. Sure enough, I received all kinds of answers, essentially echoing my previous answer: It all depends.

From one editor at a big New York house: “A sample chapter is not required; however, it is strongly encouraged for a complete proposal to have some sort of writing sample, whether it is an article the author has written [or] a short introduction.” The proposal has to include something that shows “the author’s ability to write.”

From an editor at a prestigious business-book publisher: “We don’t require a sample chapter in all cases, but the exceptions are rare. If it’s a well-established author and we’ve done a lot of work with them in the past, we’d feel the need for a sample less strongly.” So if you’re not a big-time author, submit a sample chapter.

And from another editor at a big New York house: “I like to have a sample chapter, especially if it’s an unsolicited project. If it’s something where I’ve contacted the author, or I’ve worked with the author on previous books, I don’t really need a sample chapter.”

Switching coasts, here’s what an editor at a top house in California says: “We request sample chapters, but in reality not everyone has sample chapters at proposal stage. In practice, if we're really keen on all the other aspects of the project, it can still get approved by our publications board without them.”

And then there’s the editor who said this: “...most authors submit a couple of chapters rather than just one—along with an annotated Table of Contents.” She adds: “The only time we’d be ok without a sample chapter is when it’s an author whom we’ve published before—in which case a 2- to 3-page overview of the next book they’d like to write may suffice.”

Finally, another editor in New York, who I will quote at length, had this to say:  

“No, a sample chapter is not really a required part of a nonfiction book proposal. Particularly for practical nonfiction topics such as business, health, fitness, personal growth, etc., the proposal should really be an exciting, thoughtful business plan for the book that answers some key questions:

“What is the payoff of the book for the reader? What problem does it solve?

What is new and exciting about the book’s content?

Who is the audience for the book, and why will they buy it?

Who is the author, what is their marketing platform and specific plans to promote and sell the book?

“That said, I should mention that if the book project is more narrative rather than practical in nature (such as memoir, biography or narrative nonfiction), then naturally editors will be much more likely to want to see a writing sample.”

So there you have it: You don’t have to have a sample chapter, but it sure can help, especially for narratives.

[Revised January 2020. Originally published May 29, 2013]