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Government Contractor Book Review: Shipley Proposal Guide

One of the best books a government contractor can read is Shipley Proposal Guide v4.0 by Larry Newman. Shipley Associates is a leading consulting firm that helps companies improve their business development performance.  They are famous for the Shipley methodology which is used by many top government contractors.

Shipley Proposal Guide is essentially a style guide for proposal writers.  It provides detailed guidance along with examples and illustrations for all aspects of proposals, from use of jargons and acronyms (stop it) to passive voice (don't use it) to captions (make them meaningful) and colors (pick a color theme).

Government buyers would have much more pleasant jobs if all contractors followed Shipley's guidance.  Government contractors cannot look at their proposals the same way after reading this excellent guide.

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