I sent my book proposal to a publisher today, 50 days after I started working full time on this book. (The timing seems apt since my kids just got their report cards.) Looking for a publisher in Canada is such as mystery that it’s stunning that any new writers are published at all, particularly in business.
Start with an agent or go direct to a publisher? Cut straight to self-publishing? I’ve received generous amounts of advice from unexpected places on this and related subjects. My current strategy is a mix of adhering to the “build it and they will come” mantra, crossing my fingers, and taking every bit of help that’s offered.
The biggest challenge, though, has been deciding how to spend my time. Start with writing a sample chapter? Write a thorough outline that means researching bits and pieces I might not use for months (and hence have to learn over)? Conduct interviews early in order to show a publisher I can get the big interviews, or wait until I have a publisher in order to help get the big interviews?
My conclusion seems to be Yes. Just do stuff. In this vein, I’ve lined up my first CEO interview (hurray!) and have requests in for others.
Unless I’m a unicorn or really lucky, it will be a journey to find a publisher as confident in this book as I am. That’s okay, though. After 50 days, I can say without any doubt two things: people are interested in what I have to say, and this is fun. So much fun.
I leave you with Kevin Costner. Like most culturally notable movies, I’ve never seen Field of Dreams. But I know the line. Or at least I thought I did. The line in is actually “If you build it, he will come,” the he being the long dead Shoeless Joe Jackson.