Proven techniques and invaluable advice for writing winning business proposals—revised and updated! What makes a winning business proposal? It highlights your skills and services, meets your client's needs, and clearly sets you apart from the competition. Since 1995, Handbook for Writing Proposals has helped thousands of professionals develop winning proposals. This exceptional handbook guides you through the unique nine-step proposal-writing process from the initial RFP to the client presentation. In this revised and updated version, the authors show you how to: Choose the RFPs that give you the best chance of success Showcase your company's skills and services Set realistic time/cost schedules and budgets Avoid the mistakes that sink most proposals Build client relationships that bring you repeat business Tailor your writing for an international business audience The second edition also offers you a wealth of downloadable forms and checklists that you can adapt for your own proposal-writing process. Whether you own your own business, need to train your corporate staff, or simply want to improve your skills, Handbook for Writing Proposals, second edition will show you how to profit from every proposal you write. Praise This book guides you through the process of creating the best impression of your sweat equity to your customer. Whether you need to polish up and improve every aspect of the proposal or just certain elements, this book will fill the need. Remember, the economics of gain only occur when a customer feels you’ve fulfilled a need and created value. Paul V. Baron, President, In-Store Bakery Division, The Quarter Oats Company Handbook for Writing Proposals offers a wealth of down-to-earth, practical guidance on all phases of proposal writing. The book is well organized and full of concrete ideas that are easy to include in real-life situations. The sample letters, checklists, budgets, and proposals are extremely valuable. This book is a great resource for anyone whose success depends on convincing others through the proposal process. Richard M. Sawdey, Former Vice President and Secretary, R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company

In this easy-to-use, concise, and thorough handbook, two veteran business professionals guide you through the entire proposal-writing process, from the initial contact through completion and follow-up. In their unique nine-step proposal-writing process, the authors demonstrate how even a first-time proposal writer can create a winning proposal. Throughout the book, you'll follow a case study of a proposal-writing team in action, and chapter checklists, summaries, and samples will keep you on time, on track, and on budget.

A step-by-step guide to crafting a compelling scholarly book proposal—and seeing your book through to successful publication The scholarly book proposal may be academia’s most mysterious genre. You have to write one to get published, but most scholars receive no training on how to do so—and you may have never even seen a proposal before you’re expected to produce your own. The Book Proposal Book cuts through the mystery and guides prospective authors step by step through the process of crafting a compelling proposal and pitching it to university presses and other academic publishers. Laura Portwood-Stacer, an experienced developmental editor and publishing consultant for academic authors, shows how to select the right presses to target, identify audiences and competing titles, and write a project description that will grab the attention of editors—breaking the entire process into discrete, manageable tasks. The book features over fifty time-tested tips to make your proposal stand out; sample prospectuses, a letter of inquiry, and a response to reader reports from real authors; optional worksheets and checklists; answers to dozens of the most common questions about the scholarly publishing process; and much, much more. Whether you’re hoping to publish your first book or you’re a seasoned author with an unfinished proposal languishing on your hard drive, The Book Proposal Book provides honest, empathetic, and invaluable advice on how to overcome common sticking points and get your book published. It also shows why, far from being merely a hurdle to clear, a well-conceived proposal can help lead to an outstanding book.

Writing Proposals aims at making it easier for your project to access a grant with two tools: industry best-practices and a field-tested proposal template. This book is mainly for projects that wish to access public grants and will give you: - A downloadable proposal template and budget sheet - An A-to-Z methodology to write your proposal and budget developed over 7 years of practice - In-depth explanations for each proposal section - Several examples of paragraph texts - 7 Writing techniques to make your project's case better - 26 Proposal-Specific writing tips Proposal Writing is a daunting task: we have to follow strict guidelines and a process we aren't familiar with. On top of that, we need to present our project in the best possible light, all within a very tight deadline. Doing everything, and doing it perfectly, is possible - but it requires time: time to read, to understand, to plan and to write. Time, unfortunately, is the resource we lack the most, and we might not be able to build the necessary expertise via practice. This is where I come in: I put my time in this book, so you don't have to waste yours. This book is a collection of the best, tools, tricks and techniques developed in 7+ years of grant writing. Every single tool or concept has been field tested and refined via trial and error. Writing Proposals is divided in three sections SECTION 1 is an A-to-Z guide on how to write a proposal. It provides a workflow, a sample proposal structure, and a downloadable proposal template and budget sheet. Each one of its chapters provides a detailed explanation of the different building blocks: - First Steps of Proposal Writing - Outline of the Technical Proposal - Introduction - Context and Proposal Structure - Methodology - Organisation and Staffing - Budget - Review and Finalization SECTION 2 focuses on Writing Techniques for Proposals, meaning what you can do to write your text better, faster and to make it more effective. Here, we go over 7 fundamental tools for better writing. SECTION 3, lastly, is a collection of 26 Proposal-Specific Writing Tips, that is a series of adjustments you can use in your text right away that make your document more readable and easier to follow. At the end of the book you will find the proposal structure (for quick reference) and a methodology to calculate your personnel's hourly rate

A practical guide to developing and writing winning business and marketing proposals, this book covers all the basics, from picking the right projects to bid on, to doing initial research to producing the document to following up.

The Grant Writer's Handbook: How to Write a Research Proposal and Succeed provides useful and practical advice on all aspects of proposal writing, including developing proposal ideas, drafting the proposal, dealing with referees, and budgeting. The authors base their advice on many years of experience writing and reviewing proposals in many different countries at various levels of scientific maturity. The book describes the numerous kinds of awards available from funding agencies, in particular large collaborative grants involving a number of investigators, and addresses the practical impact of a grant, which is often required of proposals. In addition, information is provided about selection of reviewers and the mechanics of organizing a research grant competition to give the proposal writer the necessary background information. The book includes key comments from a number of experts and is essential reading for anyone writing a research grant proposal.The Grant Writer's Handbook's companion website, featuring regularly updated resources and helpful links, can be found at www.ifm.eng.cam.ac.uk/research/grant-writers-handbook/.

Investigators, their home institutions, and funding agencies play significant roles in the development and outcomes of scientific projects. Submitting a proposal to a funding agency is only one dimension of a multivariable and complex funding process, and understanding this is a good first step toward unlocking the puzzle behind why some research proposals receive awards while others are declined. The Handbook of Scientific Proposal Writing offers researchers and research administrators a broad perspective on the process of initiating and conducting funded scientific research projects. Written for students and researchers in all fields and disciplines, this reference offers a holistic approach to conceiving and then converting new ideas into effective proposals. It focuses on the technical aspects of writing proposals rather than the fund-raising issues. Chapters provide full coverage of the scientific method, including information on how scientific research should be conducted. Providing the tools necessary to organize ideas and obtain the funds needed to effectively manage projects, the Handbook of Scientific Proposal Writing includes: 56 figures and 25 tables to help convey key ideas More than 150 citations that provide pointers to additional sources for further reading Examples to help the reader ease through more abstract concepts End-of-chapter questions to stimulate further examination and comprehension

Use the latest technology and techniques to craft winning proposals.

This book takes an integrated approach, using the principles of story structure to discuss every aspect of successful science writing, from the overall structure of a paper or proposal to individual sections, paragraphs, sentences, and words. It begins by building core arguments, analyzing why some stories are engaging and memorable while others are quickly forgotten, and proceeds to the elements of story structure, showing how the structures scientists and researchers use in papers and proposals fit into classical models. The book targets the internal structure of a paper, explaining how to write clear and professional sections, paragraphs, and sentences in a way that is clear and compelling.