regrets.
Fast forward 3 years. I was in the process of cashing out of my first business and trying to figure out what was next. I happened to be attending an Arab Businesswomen’s Conference in Tunisia and became friends with Mary Cantando because the airlines had lost our luggage. When she told me she was a published author I told her that I was writing a book, too. It was one of those “did I just say that out loud?” moments because I had not told ANYONE yet I wanted to write a book, much less that I was writing one. But now it was out – I was writing a book. In truth, I had started pulling together ideas but was maybe only at around 30 pages (double spaced). Hardly a book. But now it was out there…I HAD to follow through!
It is amazing what happens when you put your intentions out there. That summer, Mary met a Senior Editor from John Wiley & Sons (now my editor!) at a publishing conference. In their conversations, she told Mary that she was looking for a book on mom entrepreneurs. Immediately, our conversation in Tunisia jumped to Mary’s mind. When she returned home, she told me about her conversation and asked about my book proposal. What proposal? The one I created after she called. It took a couple months for me to get it together in part because I had not yet done all the research nor finished a sample chapter. By the time I finally finished the proposal months later, Mary sent it off to Wiley and to her acquisitions editor as well.
The first response from Wiley came back: What can you do to help promote the book? I had learned from Mary that one of the keys to landing a book contract was for the author to be able to market and promote the book. Contrary to what most people think, publishers do not spend a great deal of money on every book they publish. Being a no-name, first-time author, I was going to have to do a lot of the heavy lifting. I went back to her with some opportunities for promotion I had found, and then waited. Nothing. Almost two months went by with no word, but I wasn’t about to give up. I came across Jan King with eWomenPublishingNetwork and decided to join for the promotional opportunities they offered as well as the support and guidance. One of the first things Jan told me was about the Book Expo which happened to be local to me that year! All of the publishers were represented, so I made up my mind to attend. I also e-mailed my Wiley contact to see if she would be there and set up a meeting. The response from her: meet me at our booth at noon. I guess it wasn’t over yet!
To make a long story just a little shorter, I went to BEA, pitched my book to several other publishing companies, and met with Wiley. I told her about the promotional opportunities I had obtained and her interest was renewed. Within 3 weeks I had my contract, with an advance, and my career as an author was launched.
It took me stating that big, hairy, and audacious goal (ever heard the term BHAG?) as crazy as it sounded at the time, to put the wheels in motion and make it happen. It is the essence of The Secret, even though I have never even read it. I’ve been too busy living it.
So what is your BHAG? Post a comment and share it because by doing so, you’re launching it into the universe to make it happen!
