Post by jimcobb on Dec 19, 2022 20:55:24 GMT
Being that yesterday (12/18) marked the 10-year anniversary of the publication of my first book, PREPPER’S HOME DEFENSE (https://amzn.to/3PFFBP5), I thought I’d offer up a sneak peek at how that book came about.
In mid-2011, I made the decision to write a book. Given my background and experience, I felt that the prepping niche would suit me well. I worked up a book proposal package, which took me a couple of weeks as I wanted it to be as perfect as it could be. Along the way, I researched publishers who were putting out prepping books and identified 7-8 that I thought might be a good fit.
Following the submission instructions found on each publisher’s websites, I sent out the book proposals and held my breath. A couple of them got back to me within a day or two, declining the book but thanking me for thinking of them. Several of them, I never heard anything back at all. Ulysses Press, though, was interested…sort of.
They didn’t want to do the book I’d pitched, but they were impressed with what I brought to the table. Their submissions editor said that they were interested in working with me, provided we could settle on a topic for a book. We stayed in touch over the next several weeks, tossing ideas back and forth. We finally settled on home security and defense. I stressed that I wasn’t interested in doing a “shoot ‘em all and let God sort ‘em out” book and they agreed with me wholeheartedly.
By now, it was very early 2012. They sent over a contract and I consulted with a great friend who had been in the writing business for several years. He went through the contract with me, line by line, and offered corrections. I went back to the publisher with those suggestions and there was no quibbling over them. The contract was signed on February 16, 2012, with the full manuscript due by July.
Along the way, I received an email from one of the publishers I’d initially approached. By now, it was nearly a year since I’d sent them the book proposal. They decided they were interested in doing the book with me. I went back to Ulysses about it and there was something akin to a bidding war between the two publishers. Ulysses won out and I ended up selling my second book before even finishing my first one.
Prepper’s Home Defense was published in December 2012. It made it to #1 on Amazon in the Security How-To and Home Improvement category and remained there for a few years running. That book was the first step in my writing career and it opened a ton of doors for me.
In mid-2011, I made the decision to write a book. Given my background and experience, I felt that the prepping niche would suit me well. I worked up a book proposal package, which took me a couple of weeks as I wanted it to be as perfect as it could be. Along the way, I researched publishers who were putting out prepping books and identified 7-8 that I thought might be a good fit.
Following the submission instructions found on each publisher’s websites, I sent out the book proposals and held my breath. A couple of them got back to me within a day or two, declining the book but thanking me for thinking of them. Several of them, I never heard anything back at all. Ulysses Press, though, was interested…sort of.
They didn’t want to do the book I’d pitched, but they were impressed with what I brought to the table. Their submissions editor said that they were interested in working with me, provided we could settle on a topic for a book. We stayed in touch over the next several weeks, tossing ideas back and forth. We finally settled on home security and defense. I stressed that I wasn’t interested in doing a “shoot ‘em all and let God sort ‘em out” book and they agreed with me wholeheartedly.
By now, it was very early 2012. They sent over a contract and I consulted with a great friend who had been in the writing business for several years. He went through the contract with me, line by line, and offered corrections. I went back to the publisher with those suggestions and there was no quibbling over them. The contract was signed on February 16, 2012, with the full manuscript due by July.
Along the way, I received an email from one of the publishers I’d initially approached. By now, it was nearly a year since I’d sent them the book proposal. They decided they were interested in doing the book with me. I went back to Ulysses about it and there was something akin to a bidding war between the two publishers. Ulysses won out and I ended up selling my second book before even finishing my first one.
Prepper’s Home Defense was published in December 2012. It made it to #1 on Amazon in the Security How-To and Home Improvement category and remained there for a few years running. That book was the first step in my writing career and it opened a ton of doors for me.