How I got a book deal
Cumberland Island, Georgia, New Year’s Day 2018 — I was back in the United States for the holidays, a critical break from France. I watched the sunrise, a perk of being jet-lagged in that direction, and thought about what I wanted in life. These empty beaches of Georgia would make the starting point of my road trip across America where I would try to answer one question, what is France to me, a hot fling or a life long love affair?
I knew by the time I made it to Austin, Texas, and pounding my 10th order of queso since the journey began, that I couldn’t wait to be back home in France. It was more than love, it was my muse, my inspiration, my desire, and my future. I’ll never forget, I posted my 2018 New Year’s resolutions from a coffee shop in Austin centered around all this life I was longing for across the ocean.
There it is, I put it out there, number 28: Have a book published on my Provence work (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DREAMS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) |
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Fast forward a few weeks, sitting in my car in a parking lot outside Vinaigrette in Santa Fe, New Mexico, I took a call with two literary agents from the Gernert Company, Seth & Anna. One was in New York which felt familiar and safe to me, the other in L.A. I liked them immediately. They were fun and positive and fluid and we all just clicked. Since Seth was in L.A., and that was my final destination on this journey, we arranged to meet in person, like we used to do back in the good ole days, at a restaurant, remember those, in Santa Monica. One lunch later and the contract to represent me was in my email.
I am a big believer in visualization. Visualize what you want! Take that a step further and write it down. If you do not say what you want in life, and tell others, how can you expect to get it? Work toward what you want and then have the courage to ask for it.
Getting lit agents is not the same as getting a book deal. It took three years of talking about what it should be, how it would flow, I think I wrote three different bios (SO HARD), asking you all what you would like to see and organizing my thoughts. One of the best practices I implemented when I moved to France was in taking notes on my phone as ideas come to me— in the shower, on a walk, standing in line at the store. I taught myself the habit of writing things down in the moment because always when you save it for later, the words will have vanished. What was that genius thing I thought while scooping walnuts out of the bulk bin?
When it was time to organize the book content I had pages and pages of iPhone notes to read through to pull out the themes for the book through my own intimate observations. Organizing all of this doesn’t take three years but you know, I had a baby and a commercial photography career, and the bureaucracy of French paperwork and then, oh yes, COVID happening all at the same time. |
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Here is the basic structure they taught me for how to put together a book proposal:
- Introduction (who I am, 1 page)
- The Book (what the book is about, as in a few paragraphs explaining the book concept, 1 page)
- About the Author (standard CV bio, 1 page)
- Audience/Reach/Marketing/Demographics (who you know, who knows you)
- Annotated TOC (book outline)
- Sample material (2 fully written chapters from the book)
- In-depth publicity index (Magazine and press clippings, online press features, lists of clients)
Of course, my proposal is heavy in art and photography so I hired graphic designer Natasshia Neary to put together something beautiful, a dance between words and images that communicated what an editor needs out of a proposal but also FELT like me. This is totally unnecessary by the way but I’m great at unnecessary ideas! |
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I had kept a list of publishers and editors who had reached out over the years interested in publishing a book with me which I passed on to my agents to reach out to when the proposal was ready. Those folks, along with my agents’ personal contacts throughout the publishing industry received the proposal and they began scheduling zoom meetings over the course of a couple of weeks. I met with editors on the east and west coasts, as well as international teams and for the most part, I liked everybody! Typically a meeting was an hour-long. We discussed what kind of book this would be, where it lives on the shelf, how it’s printed, suggestions to page length, flow, timelines. The publishers spent a lot of time explaining the books they have worked on that felt relevant and some of the authors under their umbrellas. It was, just like finding an agent or a new friend, all about who you gel with. Making sure your visions are aligned.
What was supposed to happen was a scenario where the publishers bid for the book on a certain date which we could look at and compare the offers from each of the houses. What actually happened is what they call a pre-emptive offer. Basically meaning a publisher is making an offer before it is available to anyone else. All meetings stopped, I had to take this deal or not without even knowing what was on the table from anyone else. In the end, I loved this editor and this publisher. I felt like he understood my intimacy with life and my intimacy with this community in a way that is often overlooked. He respected my necessity for every aspect to be authentic. But, with a pre-empt you have to decide quickly. In a final zoom with my agents, with toddlers climbing around and cats peering in and out of frame, I leaned on their expertise to advise me on the right course of action based on my goals for this book. |
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From a girl sitting in a parking lot trying to figure out her life, putting her dreams out there to three years later, three babies later (Anna, Seth's wife, and I were all pregnant at the same time), one pandemic, a hell of a lot of zooms, and now, here we are. |
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The official announcement: |
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