Thread by @SWeaverMPH

How I got my agent, a thread for the #writingcommunity

2005: Creating Great Customer Experiences, a how-to book. Did my homework, wrote a great proposal, researched agents. I pitched agents and small publishers directly. I got 24 (25?) thanks-but-no-thanks letters.

Some were boilerplate, others included a small, encouraging scrawl. Most common no: “we already have 1 (2, 3) customer SERVICE books on our list, we can’t sell another.” Even though my book was about analyzing the customer EXPERIENCE. #writingcommunity

A niche publisher in my field said he’d be interested in the book if I would re-write it for museums. I went back to the concept and realized I could tweak it to focus on museums, zoos, gardens, and libraries. #writingcommunity

I sold it directly to him. No advance, but that book is still paying royalties, has been taught in several graduate programs, and got me over a decade of paid consulting work. #writingcommunity

2013: Golden Angels: A Pet Loss Memoir. We lost our dog & 7 family members in 18 months. I coped by writing a mini-memoir I intended to put on Kindle. I’d caught self-publishing fever, dog products were huge. This could be my breakout! #writingcommunity

I paid an editor, rewrote, learned how to format e-books, had a designer create the cover, and uploaded it. I did a big marketing push, got a bunch of nice reviews, and then, nothing. No sales. Just a few friends. #writingcommunity

Friends who’d bought the e-book asked when “it was coming out” (in print). Researched Kickstarter, didn’t set the goal high enough, got the book into print. #writingcommunity

It was amazing working with the designer and the US printer. I could have (should have) done print on demand, but I wanted a beautiful book with color photos, which Amazon wasn’t producing. #writingcommunity

I should have printed 500 copies, but they were $$, so I gambled with a print run of 1,500. I sold about 300, and then they sat there. No one would review it. No one would buy it, except a couple of copies on consignment that eventually came back. #writingcommunity

The boxes sat behind my loveseat for a year. I started mailing them out to humane societies, The girl at the UPS Store asked me, “What’s in the boxes?”

“All my hopes and dreams.”

“What?”

“Books. It’s books.”
#writingcommunity

2014: The Migraine Relief Plan. I wanted an agent. With 39 million people in the US with migraines, I knew there was a market for this book. I researched agents online (try Literary Agents Marketplace pw.org/literary_agents) for agents in the health genre. #writingcommunity

I looked at similar (great) self-help health books to see who’d sold them. I came up with a list of 7 agents, one of whom I knew personally. #writingcommunity

Meanwhile, book proposal. I used Write the Perfect Book Proposal. While each agent may require the elements in a particular order, this book helped me write all the required sections. amazon.com/Write-Perfect-… #writingcommunity

You might think writing a book proposal is a waste of time. Let me tell you why that’s not the case. Writing a book these days is not just writing the book, it’s MARKETING the book. #writingcommunity

A book proposal “proves” to a publisher that there is an audience for the book, who that audience is, looks at similar titles to see how they sold, and shows how you’re going to reach them. #writingcommunity

If I had written a book proposal for my pet loss book, I might have realized that the way I framed that book was too narrow, and that I needed to broaden it to sell more copies. That would’ve made my book better. #writingcommunity

I worked on my proposal for a year, 20 revisions. I was concurrently writing the book, working on recipes, and creating a portal for an online course, which I hoped would prove the need for & create an audience for the book. #writingcommunity

Spring 2015 I sent meticulously re-written queries to 7 agents. Here is one response:
“I always appreciate referrals from X, who as you know is terrific.” #writingcommunity

“You sound as tho you have an equally impressive background, and I would like to see your new migraine book proposal, plus sample writing and a few sample recipes.” #writingcommunity

“Can you first give me an idea of the size of your author platform via your publication, your web following (both your own site and bigger ones you blog for regularly), talks you give regularly, and social media and recent traditional media coverage?” #writingcommunity

“Also, I'm hoping your proposal makes clear how your book is different from better than the other migraine nutrition and cookbooks I found on Amazon, include a few that are quite new; thanks.” #writingcommunity

Do you see what she’s asking? That she did her homework on the topic before writing back? That’s what a good agent does. #writingcommunity

I sent the proposal, and got this back 3 days later:
“Thanks... your proposal... is nicely done.
I've... made a few comments/suggestions that you may or may not agree w in the interest of making this a bigger book and not merely the newest migraine cookbook.” #writingcommunity

“Is there a chance you could do now some of the things you propose doing when the book is published, eg, identify a drug co. that will endorse your book…” #writingcommunity

“feature it on their website, buy copies in advance that can be custom printed with their logo, and/or possibly sponsor a book tour for you?” #writingcommunity

“Or get a migraine organization to agree now to buy a quantity of books at the publisher's discount? These are some things publishers appreciate, ie, branding and corporate support for an author & her book.” #writingcommunity

“And what about the possibility of getting a well-known (female) migraine sufferer to write your foreword instead of a doctor? Once I hear back from you we can go from there; thanks.” #writingcommunity

I asked if she could spend a couple of minutes on the phone with me going over her suggestions, which she very kindly did. Note: she spent a lot of time reviewing & commenting on my proposal. That’s also something good agents do. #writingcommunity

Her feedback: you need: a celebrity Foreword (I had a neurologist), a commitment from a company to buy books in advance, ideally 5K copies, or show that thousands of people had already gone through my program (see Whole 30). #writingcommunity

After hanging up the phone, I realized I might need to adjust my expectations about how “big” this book might possibly be. I still wanted to put it out in the world, and I still thought it could be super helpful. #writingcommunity

But maybe with my “small platform” and non-celebrity status, a Big Five publishing deal wasn’t going to happen. #writingcommunity

I did print and send brochures to lots of headache doctors about my online program, but I couldn’t get it going. I was also doing cooking demonstrations on Facebook and posting videos to YouTube. #writingcommunity

I set some new goals: find an agent who is excited about the book, a publisher who is excited about it, and an editor who really wants to edit it. #writingcommunity

1 of the 7 agents (who I knew online) hadn’t responded. I emailed her a week before a conference we were both attending. #writingcommunity

She wrote back within an hour saying she’d never seen my first email, could I resend it? So I did. An hour later, “I am really excited to talk with you at the conference!” So, that felt encouraging. #writingcommunity

I ended talking with her for an hour the first evening, with her peppering me with questions about the proposal, how long I’d worked on it, how many drafts, what I hoped to find in a publisher. #writingcommunity

My wing woman @welcomekitchen said amazing things about me & how hard I worked. We ended up at lunch together the next day. Sunday was my “official” pitch meeting with her. #writingcommunity

What else could I tell her? I said, “I know you aren’t making a decision now, but what more do you need from me to make a decision?” #writingcommunity

She said, “Nothing, I’m ready to sign you” and held out her hand. I have never felt more terrible (migraine) or more wonderful in a single moment. @sallyekus has been amazing on this ride… #writingcommunity

She’s just sold the follow-up cookbook to the same wonderful @agatepublishing, who created a beautiful book with me. And my platform, while still small for the Big Five, has doubled. #writingcommunity

I have over 1,100 members of my book’s support group on Facebook facebook.com/groups/migrain… & continue to creatively market my work by adding value. I hope this helps someone else keep going. #writingcommunity

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