“Be yourself and your readers will follow you anywhere. Try to commit an act of writing and they will jump overboard to get away.”
~ William Zinsser
As I was just saying, (OK, it was way back on May 25), preparing a book proposal “can be almost as difficult and time-consuming as writing the book itself.” Now, nearly three months later, the only change I’d make to that statement would be to delete the word “almost.” Thanks in large measure to the late and great William Zinsser, the deed is finally done and my proposal is now safely in the hands of my literary agent.
I always get a bit sheepish when I use that last term; it seems a bit pretentious. But I don’t know any other way to describe Gary; that’s what he is – my agent. He’s been representing me for 20-plus years, and does a great job, but whatever he may have earned as a result of my meager output has been miniscule indeed.
It was a great relief to finally transfer the proposal from my desk to his, although the process of attracting a publisher can also be time-consuming, so it’s much too early to start celebrating. I started working on the manuscript more than a decade ago, and the story I tell in it is even older. The book’s working title is Sheltered in the Shadow: And a Man Called “Tremendous.” I’ll tell you more about it in future posts.