In Part 1, Ian Coburn introduced us to his book concept. Now let’s talk about the nuts and bolts of getting the project underway. If you are squeamish and hate to read about pain and suffering, you may want to skip some of the article. On the other hand, if you are an agent or a publisher, I recommend that you read this carefully. Ian’s experience is by no means unique.

Finding The Killer Title

Oh wait, I did need a title. That took a while. How could I explain what the book was about without using a thousand words? (I’m not big on the long subtitles most books have, especially in the dating genre, like Better Single Than Sorry: A No-Regrets Guide to Loving Yourself and Never Settling. The titles are simply too long and unmemorable.) I tossed ideas around with everyone I knew as I began to write the first chapter and draft query letters to agents and publishers. Friends asked their friends for ideas. I needed God in the title but it couldn’t be mistaken for a religious book, so God is a Woman wasn’t enough. Plus, people had to know it was a humorous book. It’s funny but with all the dozens of titles I considered, the only one I can remember is God is a Woman and Dating is a Bitch.

Searching For An Agent

I have a manager for screenwriting. She does a very good job but has no interest in representing books. There’s far less money involved, almost nothing if the book doesn’t sell well, which most books don’t. She doesn’t have contacts in the publishing world. Why spend time pushing a book for a little money when she could be using that same time to push a screenplay for lots of money? So, I had to find an agent. This turned out to be a huge fiasco and the biggest waste of time.

There are tons of agents. You have to research each one to make sure they are reputable. The most effective and reputable ones don’t accept queries, they work on referral only. I don’t know anyone these agents know, so no referrals for me. The problem with agents became very clear very quickly. In screenwriting, agents have no time to waste. In publishing, they apparently have plenty of time to waste. After carefully reviewing an agent’s website to make sure my manuscript fit his genre, I queried the agent. Many of them responded favorably, asking to see the now-completed first chapter. I was hitting a lot of agents and felt good about my odds of finding the right one. Then the replies came back. “Great concept, liked it a lot. But I only do cookbooks.” “I’m retired now.” “I’m not taking on new clients now.” “I only rep historical non-fiction.” And so forth. More than forty queries came back with such replies.