Write the Perfect Book Proposal: 10 That Sold and Why, 2nd Edition,   ISBN:9780471353126

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If you are writing a book and want to publish it you will need to write a book proposal at some point. This book explains how to write a book proposal that catches the interest of the agent or editor that you send the book proposal to. The authors methodically break down and explain each segment of the book proposal as well as what you need to do to write each section up successfully. They also provide 10 examples of successful book proposals and what made those proposals work. The authors provide commentary on each proposal. You will definitely find the book useful for understanding how a book proposal should be written and what makes one successful.

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The little gold label in the top right of the front cover (which is illegible!) says this is for NON-fiction. I could not read this until I received the book! The title is misleading. One or two pages were relevant to me- I was very disappointed- and CLEARLY misled. The product description says for non-fiction AND fiction- NOT TRUE!!! I wasted my money- AGAIN!

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Review for "Why Vietnam Matters" by Rufe Phillips
Harvey Neese is co-author/editor of "Prelude to Tragedy: Vietnam 1960 to 1965" published in 2000.

Rufe Phillip's book should not be construed as pertaining only to the former conflict in South Vietnam. It's a book that every American commander on the ground should be required to read in Afghanistan and Iraq and the U.S. State Department employees in the Middle East. To review the past, America lost in South Vietnam because of a myriad of mistakes, the primary one being unqualified bureaucrats put in charge of an unconventional guerrilla war fought by America conventionally. Was it by mistake or deliberate to select these people? It is difficult to comprehend how the American Government made such a mistake by appointing McNamara as Sec. of Defense and another big mistake in sending James Killeen to be the Director of our foreign aid component in South Vietnam. Neither of these two knew the first thing about counterinsurgency and winning the hearts and minds of the people to help achieve what most people in any developing country wants: better economic opportunities, better health care, better schools and more. And they did not appear smart enough to want to learn.

It doesn't mean that the people in Vietnam or now Iraq or Afghanistan should be given oodles of money crammed into their hands with no responsibilities of their own. It means that in insurgencies as Iraq and Afghanistan, that the U.S. Government should assist these governments to help the people to help themselves and win them over to our side. This is what Rufe taught us in Rural Affairs in Vietnam and General Lansdale taught Rufe. And this is what Rufe through Rural Affairs tried to instill in the military brass in Vietnam but McNamara and company did not want to listen.

I was in South Vietnam during the early 1960's when Rufe Phillips was head of the Rural Affairs counterinsurgency program. In the field, I worked closely with local village and province officials as well as technical people in the agricultural sectors. I learned how to work in rural areas with small farmers in a country with a very active political opposition force, the Viet Cong, and remain alive. I also learned what might have assisted me to remain alive.

Rufe as Director of the Rural Affairs program began to teach us in the field, who had no prior knowledge of counterinsurgency in the beginning, how to work with the people and local officials by helping them help themselves. And we would remain in the background so local government officials could get most of the credit for improving the lives of poor farmers and rural dwellers where most of the insurgency efforts took place. I had an eye opening experience which probably helped me immensely to stay out of ambushes and remain alive and upright during my nearly 15 years in Southeast Asia.

Rufe Phillips and Bert Fraleigh, Deputy Director of Rural Affairs, came up with a program to help the poorest, small farmers improve their lives--this was the Pig Corn Program which entailed offering small loans to thousands of the poorest farmers sufficient to purchase three improved Yorkshire pigs which they could never afford except through this program. I never experienced another program working with poor rural dwellers during my 40 year career that was more popular than the Pig Corn Program.

My Vietnamese counterpart, Nguyen Qui Dinh, and I were co-field directors of the Pig Corn Program. As the program grew in size, the Viet Cong were increasing their ambushes and terror activities in the northern coastal provinces where we initiated this program. After hearing of nearby Viet Cong activities in Quang Ngai Province below Hue, I became nervous as I drove to villages in remote areas to check out how the latest improved pig introductions to small farmers were doing.

One day I asked a village chief in a larger village of what I should do to protect myself as we continued to ship more pigs from our Mekong Delta quarantine station to Quang Ngai and nearby provinces. Dinh and I were in the field constantly. He informed me that I did not have to worry about the Viet Cong ambushing me. He continued by saying the Pig Corn Program was so popular with the villagers that if any harm was directed at me, every villager would rise up and oppose the people responsible. Well, I took his reassurance to heart and continued my field work with the Pig Corn Program which eventually totaled some 60,000 pigs being sold on credit to the poorest farmers in South Viet Nam. This then is the secret to a successful counterinsurgency program in any country as Rufe taught us; work with the villagers in close connection with the government on programs that would win the hearts and minds of the people. It is much cheaper than bombs, mortars and weapons of destruction being the center of assistance programs in countries where we must have support from the people if we are to win guerilla type conflicts.

Some of us who worked under Rufe Phillips wondered why the U.S. Government has not made use of his counterinsurgency knowledge in Iraq and Afghanistan that was learned in Vietnam. If he had been involved in setting up a counterinsurgency program in these countries, I dare say we would not be in the mess we are in today and we would not have had the huge costs in money and lives. Counterinsurgency programs are inexpensive compared to destroying villages and livelihoods if done right. And when you win the hearts and minds of the people, you can usually win the conflict. Rufe Phillips has vast knowledge of how to do this with his experiences in Vietnam and training under General Ed Lansdale. I highly recommend American military leaders to read every page of his book and learn how it's done and consult with an expert, Rufe Phillips. And I highly advise everyone to read Rufe's book so you will learn how we lose the support of the population and the war in guerilla type insurgencies such as Iraq and Afghanistan.

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If you want to get your book published then Write The Perfect Book Proposal is the book you must read before contacting any publisher. It is the definitive guide on how to write an excellent that will grab their attention and make your book stand out from the others. Jeff and Deborah also offer incredible examples, with great commentary, on what you should and shouldn't do. It helped me a great deal. Thank you.

Customer Rating: 

This book is great for those of us who need examples to learn. The 1st part of the book gives a brief explanation of what goes in a book proposal and the 2nd half is examples of successful proposals. It would probably benefit a new writer to buy an additional book on how to do a book proposal because others I have purchased are more in depth. That being said this is my favorite due to the samples. So whatever other book you choose to purchase on this subject, I highly recommend you follow up with this one. Really excellent and helpful.