I recently created a book proposal for my class. The concept had to be original, marketable, and plausible. I wracked my brain and finally settled on the subject of censorship. I researched the censorship of children’s literature first, but quickly found a plethora of books that were already available on the subject. I then researched the censorship of classic literature and was met with similar results. The American Library Association (ALA) ended up being a wealth of information; they sponsor an annual Banned Books Week which focuses on banned classic and contemporary books. I settled on an idea about an anthology of censured high school classics; a field that had not been tapped, at least not in the way I intended.
The process of creating a detailed book proposal borders on being painful, but the experience of executing this twenty-one page document was priceless. I now have a new respect for the hundreds of thousands of books that line the shelves of libraries, bookstores, and schools. If everyone had to create just one book proposal, the quest for censorship might be swayed. Most, if not all, banned and challenged authors do not set out to be controversial or offensive. They are merely creating the best books they can, while attempting to find answers for the many questions of life. I can guarantee that any book that I would take the time to propose, write, and revise, would be done with the intent to last.
