How I Got a Book Deal at 23
The lessons that made everything happen
I have always carried a notebook around with me to scribble down ideas — from poems to dreams to random business ideas. Since I was a kid I have always had the dream of getting a piece of my work published. Like many authors and bloggers, I started writing simply for fun and started a Medium account to publish some of my work. Although starting my blog lead me to the path of getting my first book deal.
Initially, I was set on publishing posts once every two weeks, and my blog featured various articles on linguistics, language, and culture. I would get a few hits but would often only share my writing with friends and family. To date, I have my work published in some Linguistic magazines, I’ve been featured on podcasts and I recently published my first book with Penguin Random House. Here are some of the lessons I took to get there.
Build an author’s resumé
While pitching to Penguin Random House, they asked for an author’s resume outlining all of my writing experience. Most of my previous writing experience was from free writing opportunities — whether that be publishing on my personal blog, or writing some articles for other blogs and magazines for exposure. These free opportunities allowed me to demonstrate my writing experiences and show my writing credibility. While the free experiences didn’t pay at the moment, they provided me with a better opportunity; to market my diverse writing abilities through various mediums.
Be bold
Learning to let go of failure allows you to be resilient and continue until you are successful. When I had a solid idea that I wanted to run with, I started pitching.
I reached out to various editors, companies, and organizations whose values I felt matched my book idea. I spoke to them about my background, cited my Medium blog, and shared why I thought the book could be a success. There were many individuals that I heard back from that hated my idea and others that simply didn’t respond. Although the key was to keep moving forward, pitching, and asking for advice while continuously improving.
Accept feedback
While receiving many rejections, I started asking for feedback. Most of my feedback included the comment “your topic isn’t relevant for right now” and “your topic needs to go more in-depth”.
While accepting feedback is challenging, I have learned that it made me a better writer. I applied the feedback and resubmitted my pitches. Some of them got accepted, and most importantly, I continuously built up the courage to have conversations with editors and curators as to why or why not they liked or disliked my articles more specifically. This allowed me to improve as a writer, get published in one of my favorite linguistics magazines, and taught me to not take critique personally. I was able to build up my writing stamina and become a better writer as I learned to accept my writing weaknesses.
Learn to let go of ideas
Writing comes with a lot of ups and downs, as often publications don’t pay for your writing unless the publication approves of it. This can lead to successes and disappointment, where sometimes you are making money and other times you are left submitting pitches that never get a response back.
While it is disheartening working hard and submitting pitches, you learn to let go of the work that isn’t working for you. There was a period where I was submitting dozens of semi-interesting articles to various publications and I never heard a response back. Initially, this was extremely frustrating, as I was working for free! Although taking a step back allowed me to realize the importance of working on quality articles rather than publishing a large number of mediocre ideas.
Getting rejected allowed me to learn to let go of my articles or pitches which genuinely were not good. By going through this experience, I learned to focus on spending time working on thoughtful pieces. Through this process, I noticed that the intentional pieces were the ones that ended up succeeding.
Shift the message and pitch
While I kept getting rejection after rejection, I realized that I should consider taking a different approach to my pitch. Initially, I was pitching a “unique” guided travel journal. Although after many rejections, I chose to shift the message of my pitch.
Rather than marketing it as a new product, I contacted Penguin Random House and said that my book is similar to an existing book series that they have, and that my idea would make for an excellent addition. This idea, even though it was different from my initial idea — got accepted. Sometimes it is important to shift your thinking and change the approach you will take to better advertise your ideas.
Writing is personal
Although taking the chance to share your writing and ideas is a wonderful opportunity. Submitting your articles allows you to gain valuable experience with editors, refine your work, build writing stamina, and let go of mediocre ideas. Through writing opportunities, you build your network, improve your writing abilities as well as build up your author’s resume. These experiences make you more credible and allow you to pave your path to become a more qualified author.
If your goal is publishing, hopefully, these experiences will allow you to get your work published. Although it is important to highlight that the writing process can be a far journey filled with lots of failure, emotion, and if you’re lucky — success. It is important to keep in mind the importance of pushing for your ideas, asking for feedback, and take a different approach to your pitches. If you believe in your ideas, don’t stop until it works out.
