What belongs in a nonfiction proposal’s marketing section?

Short answer: Kelly Bergh’s advice: Document the audience-building work already in place: media, speaking, bylines, partnerships, endorsers and owned channels. Kelly says the more marketing work you can show, the more a publisher is likely to offer, so this section shapes your advance.

Answered by Kelly Bergh, Literary Agent, Lucinda Literary.

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The agent’s answer

Marketing is one of the proposal’s most substantial sections in Kelly’s account. It should present concrete infrastructure rather than hypothetical plans: current reach, professional networks, previous coverage, speaking activity, partnerships and likely endorsers. The more marketing work an author can show, she says, the easier it is for a publisher to sign on as a team partner and the higher the advance they are likely to offer, since the advance reflects what the publisher expects the book to earn in its first year.

In Kelly’s words

The more marketing work that you have done over the course of your career, the more that you can show that you're savvy in your space.
Kelly Bergh, 28:15

Source: How to Develop a Sellable Nonfiction Book Proposal.