In FAA-H-8083-3A (Airplane Flying Handbook) it says:
- Maintain positive control; Vg; and turn towards an airport (look for beacons or tune in a CTAF and click for PCL) or AWAY from congested areas.
- Check to determine cause of the engine failure. If you changed something just before the engine failed, undo it.
- Announce the emergency situation to ATC or UNICOM . . . if you are already in contact with a facility, do not change frequencies unless instructed to.
- If the nearby terrain is not known, turn towards an unlighted portion of the area (but NOT one that is reflecting stars or other light . . . ditching a GA airplane in the water is almost suicidal because of the tendency for the airplane to cartwheel upon contacting the water. I heard that your best bet is to trim for level flight 10-30 feet above the water just above a stall and jump out because it won't be much worse than falling when water-skiing)
- If possible, choose a landing sight close to public access.
- Maintain wind awareness to avoid a downwind landing (check ATIS/AWOS/ASOS, groundspeed, etc. . . . this is where it pays to know where factories are located to look for steam)
Landing light working: complete the landing in the normal landing attitude at the slowest possible airspeed.
Landing light not working and outside visual references not available: hold airplane in level-landing attitude until ground is contacted.
- After landing, turn off all switches and evacuate ASAP
Another thing to consider is to plan your flight along a route with plentiful airports or fields. Also, the FAA does not recommend flying above 5000 MSL without supplemental oxygen at night for aeromedical reasons, so consider purchasing an oxygen system and cruising higher to improve your odds of gliding to a suitable landing site. Also, get that instrument rating.
Hope this helps!