by David Horgan

Created on: June 07, 2008   Last Updated: January 03, 2010

From Brainstorm to Bookstore-How I got published

For years I had always wanted to write a book and have it published. I  went through many ideas and topics I thought were worthy of sharing the shelves at Barnes and Noble.  I worked on topics that ranged from self-study to self-help.

After numerous scribblings and outlines, I finally came upon something that I thought was the keeper; Elderly parents who move in with their kids.

So, I started my process.

At the time I had an elderly parent living with me.  I started with a one-page outline. Next, I sought out an expert in the field. Who better to guide me than a published author?  I was serious, so I offered to pay her for her time. She took my outline and cleaned it up, making it more presentable to agents and potential publishers. It turns out the idea seemed solid enough to my subcontract expert and the outline came out so good, she felt comfortable showing it to her agent.

Here's the exciting part. This agent, who was known for accepting roughly half a dozen submissions out of hundreds each year, thought the idea and outline were solid as well. You can guess the next step. I was offered a contract.

I enjoyed the creative process with my writer so much that I discussed the cost of working on the book itself, again for a fee. She came back to me with two options. First, I could pay her $30,000 to help me write the book, or second, we would become 50/50 partners and there would be no cost to me. I chose the latter. We set up our working arrangement in an efficient and balanced relationship. I would write first draft chapter content, she would improve upon it, I would come back with my feedback and she would complete the material. Of course we had continued discussion and changes as we went.

As we were busy working, our agent was busy sending out proposals that included the outline, marketing plan, author info and sample chapter.

I'll never forget that first call from him. I was driving home from a meeting and my cell phone rang. Caller ID displayed his name. This was a big deal, because this guy never calls just to talk. As I suspected, it was encouraging news. A publisher had bit and was interested in talking to me about the concept and proposed execution.

I'll skip quickly through the next eight, long, discouraging months of close calls and rejections. As time passed so did enthusiasm, hope and happiness. The discussion of self-publishing was a constant undertone.

I started to give up.

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