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One
Book's Journey "One Book's Journey" is the diary I've kept about my book, Conquering Panic and Anxiety Disorders, which was published in November, 2002. Some of the dates (especially the early ones) are approximations, as I didn't start keeping the diary until a little later in the project-- then went back and added in the "preface." I thought it might be interesting to see what goes on during a book's journey to publication, and ultimately, into readers' hands. I plan to publish this in two installments-- this being the first, which I'm titling... From Conception to Typesetting 9/1/00 I decide it’s time for me to compile an anthology
of stories from people who have overcome anxiety disorders.
I want it to be called Slaying the Dragon.
There’s a story behind this. When
I was suffering badly, my therapist told me to pick out an origami dragon that
one of his past clients made for him to give away.
She made the dragons to remind herself that although the
adversary—anxiety—was fierce, it was just made of paper and could be
destroyed. I kept it on my desk for
a long time. 10/1/00 Anthony and I get invited to the "Love Letters
of a Lifetime" TV show. I
think, “If I can get this book published fast, the show will be great
publicity.” I immediately send
quick queries to two publishers—one whom I’ve just “met” online through
my website (who published a writing-related book that I enjoyed), and another
who published an author I liked. Silver
Spring Books is the name of the latter publisher.
Published Brazil. The
author had remarked on how fast the publisher had gotten Brazil into
print—only four months or so—and that’s just what I need.
I’m looking for speed, and I know that major publishers never work
anywhere near that fast. 10/2/00 The publishers both respond.
The first one is nice and tells me it sounds like a great opportunity,
and he’s glad I thought of him. But
he’s a very small publisher with a very limited market, and my book definitely
doesn’t fit his list. Silver Spring, however, wants the proposal immediately.
Although I get an agent around this time, she decides she doesn't want to
represent this book because she doesn't think she can sell it to a big
publisher. I'm not bothered by this-- I know I can sell it myself. 10/15/00 I whip up a proposal and send it to Silver Spring,
and we go back and forth several times about how it will be publicized, how fast
he can get it out, etc. He tells me
he will make me an offer. 10/30/00 No offer has come in. I follow up. No
response. 11/3?/00 We
tape "Love Letters of a Lifetime." 11/7/00 I follow up again. He’s ignoring me, dropping me like a stone, and I have no idea why. 2/1/00 I begin soliciting stories anyway. I have
confidence this book will find a home, and I want to put it together as quickly
as possible. I advertise all over the Internet, and am soon flooded with
submissions-- they're wonderful! It's hard to weed any of them out, as
none of them are badly-written, but some aren't "successful"
enough. There are several stories from people who are still going through
anxiety disorders, which isn't the point of the book. 2/14/01 "Love Letters of a Lifetime" airs.
A lot. 2/17/01 Anthony and I get invited to the "Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus" show. I agree to it, but am scared to death about it. They tell me they’ll have people call to arrange things. 2/20/01 I get an e-mail from a person who discourages me
from putting together this book. She tells me, quite authoritatively, that
there's no such thing as conquering an anxiety disorder-- that people just learn
to "deal with it" better, but that it's always there. I tell her
the entire purpose of my book is to prove her wrong. I didn't come this
far to learn to deal. I came to conquer. I'm not 100% there yet, but
I'll be darned if I'm going to let a person tell me I can't ever be well
again. I realize again that the reason I'm working on this book is
partially to give myself hope. When I was at my lowest, I would
have believed that woman. I didn't think I'd ever be able to go to a
grocery store again, let alone be "normal," whatever that is. I
longed to hear success stories like the ones I'm putting in the book. 3/1/01 and several other times: We get lots of disjointed calls, from about five different "Mars/Venus" producers. My health is bad, and I’m scared about flying to California. Although I’m not agoraphobic anymore, I haven't tested my horizons by flying out of state yet. This would be a big challenge for me. 3/2/01 I begin choosing which stories will appear in the
book, and editing the stories. I also conduct several phone interviews and
one in-person interview with people who aren't writers, but want to tell their
stories. I'm re-energized about the project. So many inspiring stories,
and so many talented writers. 3/5/01 I realize it’s about time I start contacting publishers again. This time I go after Hunter House, whose list seems to fit the book. They ask for the proposal. I send it. 4/1/01 I finish compiling and editing the stories.
There are 33 of them, and I'm thrilled by the positive message this book will
give. I was lucky that all of the anxiety disorders (panic disorder,
agoraphobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder,
post-traumatic stress disorder, social anxiety disorder, and simple phobias) are
covered-- I got good submissions for all of them. 4/27/01 Lori Covington, the acquisitions assistant,
responds to my book proposal and tells me they like it, but that since they
focus on self-help books, they think it would be more marketable if I hooked up
with a psychologist and had him write commentaries.
She wants to know if I’m amenable to this idea.
I write back to tell her, “Sure.”
She says, “Great. I have to ask the editor what to do next.” 5/1/01 Jeanne, the acquisitions editor, tells me they
can’t commit to publish the book until they see the finished manuscript,
including commentaries from a psychologist.
I tell her there’s no way I will ask a psychologist to work on spec for
me. I’m hoping she’ll cave; she
doesn’t. She tells me I should
think about it. Grumblegrumble. 6/15/01 I think about it.
Somewhat serendipitously, I get an e-mail from Healthyplace.com
advertising an online chat with Paul Foxman, author of Dancing With Fear,
who will chat about agoraphobia. I
realize he might be right for my book. I
attend the chat, ask questions, and observe Dr. Foxman in action.
I like his manner. I decide to ask him if he’d like to be part of the book.
I explain that no contract is in place, but would he consider writing
some sample commentaries in exchange for my help with publicity for his book? 6/18/01 He agrees. I
ask Hunter House if this is acceptable—if I can send them the manuscript, plus
three or four sample commentaries rather than having to complete all of the
commentaries. Jeanne agrees. 6/25/01 Paul and I talk on the phone and begin hammering
out a brief contract that explains what each of us will do—he’ll write three
sample commentaries, and I’ll interview him for Absolute Write, write up a
press release about his book, and send it to at least 100 media contacts.
It takes us a little while to agree to terms and send the contract back
and forth. We agree that he’ll
get 25% of the royalties if we sell the book. 7/14/01 I tell Jeanne what’s going on—I explain that
Paul and I have come to an agreement, and that he’ll send me the sample
commentaries by Labor Day. She says
she doesn’t want to wait for the sample commentaries, and I should go ahead
and send the manuscript now. She
says she’ll look at the commentaries when they come in later, but she wants to
get a jump on the manuscript. I
find this odd, since she’s the one who insisted on the whole commentary thing
in the first place—I could have sent her the manuscript without commentaries
months ago. 7/17/01 I send the manuscript to Hunter House.
Now Jeanne says she’ll put it aside and wait for the commentaries
before she takes a look at it. Sigh. 8/15/01 I send the proposal to Hanrow Press, who has
advertised that they’re looking for nonfiction books that will make good talk
show material. I know this book
fits the bill, so I fully anticipate what happens next. 9/1/01 Hanrow asks to see the entire manuscript. 9/10/01 I send the sample commentaries to Hunter House. 10/5/01 Hanrow says they will send me a proposed contract
via e-mail later that night. 10/8/01 I write to Jeanne at Hunter House to tell her I
have another offer on the table and need an answer.
She asks if I can wait a week because the publisher is at the Frankfurt
Book Fair and doesn’t have access to e-mail.
She needs his approval to do anything.
I reluctantly agree to it. 10/10/01 Jeanne tells me she’s never heard of Hanrow
Press and discourages me from going with them.
This is just what I want to hear, because I know it means she wants my
book for Hunter House. I hope she
moves on it soon. By the way, the
contract from Hanrow hasn’t arrived. I
follow up. 10/12?/01 Hanrow
sends a pathetic “contract” that’s about a page long and offers no
up-front money at all. I pray that
Jeanne comes through. I tell Hanrow
that I need a few days to decide. 10/15/01 Jeanne calls and writes me an e-mail to let me
know they want to make an offer on the book.
She gives me a quick couple of figures, I tell her they sound okay, and
she sends the draft contract. I
don’t know what to look for, really, but it all looks pretty good to me.
The advance isn’t terrific, but at least it’s better than these two
jokers who offered me no up-front money. Now
it’s time for me to contact the NWU and ask for contract advice.
I tell Hanrow I’m going with another publisher. 10/25/01 Dr. Foxman wants to know the sequence of stories
before he writes all the commentaries, but Jeanne tells me that’s a much later
stage. I’ll just have to use good
sense in the order, and if they have to change it later, they will.
Once it goes to the developmental editor, we’ll have three weeks to
respond to changes. 11/7/01 Revised contract is e-mailed to me.
I can live with it. Not many
changes in my favor, but it wasn’t an altogether bad contract to begin with.
Now Jeanne will finalize it, fill in the missing bits (like word count)
and mail me two copies to sign. 12/29/01 Payment for the first half of the advance hasn’t
arrived yet, so I check in with Jeanne. She
says they’ve had troubles since 9-11, but have three new books coming out this
month and expect to have a much better month.
She says I should get the check (and the signed contract) in January.
I hope so. She also tells me
it’s time to start thinking about a foreword author.
I want Kim Basinger, so I send a fax to her publicist saying so. 1/5/02 They want to change the title and have offered
several new possibilities. I’m
not thrilled with any of them, except the one that’s only a slight alteration
of my original title (“Slaying the Anxiety Dragon”). 1/6/01 Dr. Foxman has the opportunity to run excerpts of
the book in Family Therapy Networker, a major trade publication.
I realize Hunter House has the serial rights, and I haven’t secured
permissions from contributors yet, so I have to check in with them. 1/8/02 Kiran says Family Therapy Networker is a
great publication, so Jeanne says “go for it.”
I still have to get contributors’ permissions, though. 1/9/02 I get the commentaries from Dr. Foxman.
Am about to edit them and format the manuscript. 1/10/02 Jeanne sends me the “Fact Sheet” for the book.
This is an in-house “brochure” for the book that they’ll use for
catalogue copy and promo stuff. It’s a five or six-page document that mostly contains
material from my book proposal. It’s
an overview of the book, along with my bio, Dr. Foxman’s bio, our previous
book credits, and info about the audience and publicity possibilities for the
book. 1/11/02 Title has officially been changed to Conquering
Panic and Anxiety Disorders. It
doesn’t set my world on fire, and I’m kind of disappointed, but Jeanne
called to tell me that this was the title chosen by the marketing people.
Apparently, these marketing people work with all the major book chains,
and they researched to find out which are the best-selling books in my
category—the titles were most similar to this new one. 1/11/02 I send out the permissions contracts via e-mail.
Cleverly scanned in my signature so I could get them out faster than
snail mail. Oh, boy.
The problems start. Of
course, half the people can’t download them, and there’s the issue of faxing
them back—I have a phone/fax, so people have to warn me when they’re sending
a fax, and it seems a lot of people forget this and try to fax things to my
answering machine. But that’s not
the REAL problem. The REAL problem
is that everyone wants to change their essays now, and the manuscript is due in
three weeks. 1/12/02 I agree to let a few people make changes in their
essays. One person completely
changes it, including the title, and gives it a bad ending. She also writes, “If this is too long DO NOT SHORTEN IT.
Give it back to me and I’ll do it myself.”
I start developing a tic. 1/14/02 I’m changing bios, editing essays… man.
Nothing like a little last minute pressure. 1/15/02 No word back, so I send out letters to Kim
Basinger’s publicist and manager. I
really want her to do the foreword. 1/18/02 Holy cow. I got a mammoth document in the mail from the marketing department. It’s my publicity packet, and asks about six zillion questions about how to publicize the book. It winds up being 20 typed pages. I answer questions such as, “where should we send review copies? Which websites might be interested in a press release about this book? What professional journals might run excerpts? Which government agencies, professional organizations, etc. might buy bulk copies of this book? Are you willing to get training as a public speaker? Which well-known people should we contact for blurbs? What makes your book unique? Why did you write it? Are you planning any overseas trips? Where would foreign editions of this book do well? What’s your blood type? Have you ever been in a Turkish prison?” It’s a daunting project, but at the same time, I’m impressed that they’re starting this so early, and that they ask questions like, “Where should we buy advertising space to promote this book?” I might faint if they actually do that. I know most no-name authors get nearly no publicity budget, so I’ll be shocked if they buy ad space somewhere. Nonetheless, I provide a formidable list of websites, magazines, etc. that relate to anxiety disorders. I find out that I have to get an author photo taken.
I immediately go to the mirror and horrify myself, convinced it’s going
to be like my high school yearbook all over again, where I’ll get to be
humiliated in print for all of eternity because I have bad hair and big bags
under my eyes. Anthony says the
bags will make people think I’m a really hard-working writer and therefore, my
books will be more valuable. I love
him. 1/22/02 Start proofreading the manuscript to get it ready
to send to the publisher. Amazing
how many little things I catch at this stage, even though I had proofread it
about a zillion times before. 1/24/02 Finish proofreading and formatting.
Send it via e-mail and print out the hard copy.
Decide on second choices for the foreword: Donny Osmond, Carly Simon, and
Tipper Gore. 2/3/02 Send fax and snail mail to Donny Osmond's publicist.
Paul sends me an updated bibliography to add to the manuscript. 2/8/02 Bug Jeanne about my advance, which still hasn't
arrived. (Neither has the completed
contract, mind you.) 2/10/02 She tells me they've been hit hard by 9/11 events,
and the bookkeeper only comes in once a week, and I should be next in line.
This does not inspire my confidence.
It kind of scares me that they're telling me they can't come up with the
money for the first half of my advance. I
hope they pay my royalties on time! 2/12/02 Jeanne tells me she has it "on good
authority" that my check will be sent this week. Amen. 2/15/02 She wasn't lying.
Ta-da. 3/6/02 I finally get up the nerve to make a couple of phone
calls. I call, and the publicist immediately
blows me off and says Earl isn't interested in writing the foreword. But
Donny Osmond's people are nicer and say that my letter has been "passed
along" and I can expect an answer early next week. 3/19/02 I get the "tentative schedule" from my editor, Alex. At least, I assume she's my editor. I'm not sure exactly what she is. Her title is "Associate Editor," and she told me she sent my book to a developmental editor, so where does that leave her? Questionable. Anyway, here's the schedule she gave me: Developmentally
edited manuscript to author ~3/26 3/20/02 They want
an author photo by July. Hard copy
or in .tif format, 300 dpi or higher. I've
found out my publicist is Sara. 3/21/02 Okay, I
pull out all the stops on the foreword front.
I've sent letters to: Nicole Kidman, Tipper Gore, Winona Ryder, Carly
Simon, and Carole King, and called Donny Osmond's people again, who told me his
publicist was on vacation. But I
should be getting an answer any day now. Right,
I'll hold my breath. 3/24/02 I get calls
from lots of publicists. They want
me to know that Nicole Kidman doesn't have a panic disorder (riiiight.
That's why she had to run off to the bathroom during her last premiere
and take off her corset and shoes because she couldn't breathe and needed a
friend to calm her down). In case I
didn't get the message the first time, I get a second answering machine message
telling me the same thing. And
Carole King's publicist also says the same about her.
Tipper Gore is too busy, Winona is "unavailable," and I've
pretty much had it with Donny Osmond's people. 3/26/02 Looks like
we're already off schedule. ;) 4/2/02 I get the edited manuscript. Wow, there are a lot of marks all over it! Yikes! They want me to cut six stories and I don't want to at all. I hate that I have to do this, because I already told all the contributors that their stories will be in the book. Now I have to discuss it with the editor to figure out which stories have to be cut. I'm in a bad mood. I also send a foreword request to Richard Lewis, as suggested by one of the book's writers. (I like her!) 4/4/02 Richard
Lewis is "unavailable." I
have come to terms with the editing. It's
really not so bad. Most of it is
pre-emptive copyediting. And on the
plus side, the editor also said, "Surely we can come up with a better (less
boring) title?" Also, they
have agreed to just cut two stories, not six.
Much better. 4/5/02 Paul had a
long talk with Kiran about the title, but they're not changing it.
Oh, well. 4/8/02 I'm almost
done e-mailing all the contributors to pass the editing comments by them.
One of my contributors is in the military, and I can't seem to reach him.
I hope we find him before the book comes out. 5/10/02 I e-mail Dr. David Barlow, Boston University
professor and director of the Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders, to ask
if he'd like to write the foreword. Jeanne
read an article in a doctor's office where he was quoted, so she recommended
that I contact him. In fact, I had
heard of him before. I saw a
special on Oprah, I think, where the center was featured.
And I'm a BU alumna, which I mentioned in my e-mail, hoping to score
brownie points. 5/17/02 Finally! The
search for a foreword author ends. Dr.
Barlow agrees to write the foreword. He
calls the book "really neat" with an exclamation mark.
I hope he doesn't use exclamation marks for just anything, because I like
to think they mean something... I only dole them out in moderation, like fine
chocolate. 5/18/02 There's a new publicist at Hunter House—Earlita.
She sends me the Author Questionnaire electronically and asks me to fill
it out ASAP. I almost break in
half. I write back to tell her I
sent it to the last publicist months ago, and I was "sure hoping" they
had it somewhere... it took me all weekend to write it. Then, moments later, I discover I was smarter than I thought
I was and had saved it on my hard drive. Phew!
I re-send it. 6/5/02 I get the foreword from Dr. Barlow, and it’s good.
I really like it, except for one thing: he makes it sound as if the whole
book is about agoraphobia. (I
don’t think he read the whole thing.) I
write to ask him if he’ll add in a paragraph that mentions the other disorders
we cover. 6/15/02 The author photo rounds begin.
I can’t afford to go to a professional photographer, so I enlist the
aid of my dad, who has just bought a fancy new digital camera about as high-tech
as a spaceship. We take more than 100 photos, and I hate all of them.
I don’t know when I got these awful bags under my eyes, but I look
exhausted. I realize I look like
this all the time, but I pretend I’m going to look better tomorrow.
I go home to use sunless tanner and the 84 useless and overpriced
products I’ve bought to shrink the bags under my eyes. 6/16/02 I like two photos we’ve taken today, but no one
seems to agree with me. I’ve
shown them to everyone in my family and several friends, and they each have
their own favorite photo, though no one seems overjoyed about any of them.
Looks like we’re going to round three. 6/17/02 Round three. Now
it’s do or die. We take 80 more
photos, I pick one, and decide that no matter what anyone says, I’m using it.
Then I go back to the computer to e-mail it to Earlita, and I check over
the guidelines one last time, just in case... ACK!
It says photos must have a single-color neutral background, which mine
does not. Mine was taken at a park with lots of colorful foliage in the
background. I send it anyway, but I
realize we’re going to round four. 6/18/02 Final round. We
take a whole boatload of pictures, and I pick one that I don’t hate and send
it to Earlita. She is pleased that
she didn’t have to badger me for this. 6/19/02 I start setting up a web page for the book (www.absolutewrite.com/anxiety.htm). I e-mail Earlita to ask when the book will be ready to pre-order, when the cover art will be ready, and when the book jacket copy will be done. She shocks the life out of me by telling me the cover art is done, the marketing copy has already been printed, and the book is already available for pre-sale at Amazon.com. No one bothered to tell me any of this; I wonder if they ever would have. I hate the cover. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful—after all, they’re publishing the darn thing—but this is one ugly color scheme. It’s green and orange with blue and red print. Ug-lee. I show it around and get mostly passive responses; most
people don’t hate it as much as I do, but nor do they particularly like it.
After reading Jon Merz’s column, I know how important good cover art is
to bookstores; they won’t stock a book if they don’t like the cover art.
I hope I’m not doomed. Maybe
the rules are different in nonfiction. 6/20/02 Earlita sends me a copy of the press release
she’s using. She also tells me
that review copies will go out to trade reviewers next month. She’s not yet sure if they’re doing bound galleys to the
media list, or if they’re just going to wait and send out review copies when
it’s released. I try not to sound
shocked; I thought all reviewers want to see the book before it’s published,
so they can schedule the review to appear while it’s still brand new. 7/4/02 I send Jeanne one of the contributors’ new
addresses, mentioning this is so they can send her a copy of the book when
it’s ready. Jeanne tells me that I’m
supposed to send the contributors copies of the book, even though they okayed
the release form that stipulates that the contributors will get copies straight
from the publisher. No big deal,
except it means I’m paying postage. Also,
I don’t have the contributors’ addresses anymore—I had them on the release
forms, but I sent them all to Hunter House.
They say they’ll have their interns photocopy all the release forms and
send them to me. I also write to
Dr. Barlow again, and say that if he didn’t have time, I could just write up a
simple paragraph myself that mentions all the disorders we cover.
He says this is fine. 7/6/02 I send the added paragraph to Alex, and she says it’s fine. She’s sending the book to be typeset right now—wahoo! Visit the book's website at www.absolutewrite.com/anxiety.htm. Come meet the writers and see what it's all about.
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