Recently I attempted to write a pithy little post – like, say 750 words – on How To Get a Book Deal for Write to Done.

I interviewed six people and turned in a 3,200 word encyclopedia and the very nice people (Mary Jaksch and Leo Babauta) at Write to Done didn’t chastise or abuse me in any way. Wasn’t that nice?

Instead, they turned my sprawling monster of an essay into a four-part series, which has been really terrible for my blog traffic. I mean, who wants all these readers, any way?

One of the people I interviewed for How To Get a Book Deal is Chris Guillebeau, who is just about the most focused, goal-oriented and nicest guy in the whole world.

I’m so glad it is him who’s rocking out World Domination and not say, Napoleon, who attempted that already and did not fare well. I’ve been to Elba. It is very nice but I imagine a little confining for your average power mad dictator.

In addition to writing useful guides, a nifty blog, and a book, Chris also very sweetly agreed to answer thirteen questions for me. Here’s what I asked him and what he had to say.

___________________________

How to Get a Book Deal. Thirteen Questions With Chris Guillebeau.

1. Are you a bookie? (I’m inventing a new connotation for that word.  In my world, “bookie” means someone who loves books so intensely that friends and family suspect that nudity may be involved.  I don’t actually mean “do you get naked with books?”. FYI. But feel free to elaborate, if need be.)

Chris Guillebeau: I’m not sure I’m that much of a bookie, but yes, I’ve always loved books. I try to read widely and learn from everyone as much as possible.

2. Was writing a book a long-held, secret fantasy of yours? (I suspect that our audience would really appreciate it if you used G-rated words and did not digress into lavish descriptions of any other kinds of fantasies.  You have my email address for those. Feel free. Thank you.)

Chris Guillebeau: It was a not-so-secret fantasy; in other words, it was one of the primary goals of starting my blog. I felt like I had a message to share and wanted to write a book, but I also knew it would be hard to break into the publishing world without a strong online presence. Thus came the blog and everything else I did online for nearly a full year prior to getting the book deal.

3. Danielle LaPorte said in a firestarter that her smokin’ hot blog is about finding her people, creating beauty and a community, and she hopes that when the time comes, her book will be a best-seller. Tim Feriss, I’m pretty sure, articulated (and did!) the same thing only with a less poetry and fewer dreadlocks and holy hassenfeffer* has that worked out something fierce for him. Penelope Trunk, on the other hand, loves her blog because it gets her free fancy laptop bags and oral sex but thinks that writing a book is a time-sink. Which brings me to my questions: Which came first, the idea for your blog or your book? How did your blog help you get the book deal? Which is your favourite child?

Chris Guillebeau: See above– first the book idea, then the blog– although I definitely saw the two as related. Having a good reputation as an up-and-coming online writer (I like that term better than blogger for some reason) helped me establish relationships and get people to pay attention.

As for the time-sink thing, well, I like Penelope but I have a different perspective about that. You could also say that a blog is a time-sink because very few people read the archives. I guess it comes down to whether you really want to write a book or not. For me it was an important goal by itself and not merely a marketing tool. I haven’t gone through the whole publication process yet (that comes next year), but as of right now I feel like that it was totally worthwhile and I can’t wait to do it again.

As for which is my favorite between the blog and the book, I really love them both. I guess if I had to choose, I’d choose the blog since it allows me to reach more people, but they are different animals.

4. Did you approach an agent or a publisher with a book idea or did someone approach you? (I can’t find a way to make that question sassy or entertaining. It’s all on you, now.)

Chris Guillebeau: I approached everyone I could think of and more. I knocked on doors, posted on my blog that I was looking for an agent, and asked a couple of hundred people for referrals. Some people wrote back, some didn’t, but that’s just how it works (see more on rejection below).

Ironically, now that I’m internet-famous (for whatever that’s worth), the tables have turned and I get approached all the time. I’ve been fortunate to receive a lot of good media coverage (New York Times, CNN, Business Week, etc.) and out of that experience, a number of other people have made contact to pitch me on things.

5. Who’s your agent? Are you still on speaking terms? If I call him/her, will she confirm that?

Chris Guillebeau: My agent is David Fugate with LaunchBooks. He’s fantastic, and the book would not have sold so quickly without his great work. He also spent a great deal of time refining the proposal to make it both more marketable (which I expected) and also much better in terms of content (which I didn’t expect but greatly appreciated).

In short, I’m glad I connected with David before I became better known, because now that I get a lot of pitches it’s sometimes hard to tell what everyone’s motivation is.

6. Did I tell you why I’m writing this piece? I want to write a book AND get it published AND I know nothing about how to do this.  Hence: How To Get a Book Deal. Anyhoo, Josh Hanagarne told me that you don’t actually sell a non-fiction manuscript, you sell a proposal to write a manuscript.  Is he lying? (He’s been known to lie for entertainment purposes so I’m fact-checking.)

Chris Guillebeau: First of all, good for you on your ambition. Never let anyone discourage you, especially a whiny published author who tells you how terrible the industry is. It’s true that publishers “don’t get” a lot of things, but that’s why authors and prospective authors need to take control of their own careers.

Now that I’m off the soapbox, to your question: Josh isn’t lying; that’s a correct assessment. The proposal is usually quite lengthy (think 40 pages) and includes sample material. The more sample material you have, the better– so in a way, you do write at least some of the book in advance. I only had one chapter, and in retrospect I wish I had two or three.

7. What kind of research – resources read, people talked to –  did you do to prepare to write your book proposal?

Chris Guillebeau: This is roughly the path I followed:

1) Read as much as I could, both online and in the usual proposal books
2) Wrote the best possible draft proposal, which wasn’t that great but focused heavily on why I could make the book a success with the right agent and publisher
3) Started looking for an agent, and then worked on everything else with him since he had much more experience than me.

8. Did you consider hiring a proposal coach?

Chris Guillebeau: I never knew such people existed… I thought that was the role of a good agent. The problem I see with a “proposal coach” is that they aren’t the ones who will pitch your project to publishers. I suppose if you’re having a hard time getting a concept together, then such a person could help, but realize that you’d likely end up doing it all over again with a good agent. For some people that might be beneficial.

9. So. You wrote a book proposal. Now what? (By this I mean: did your agent shop it around? Did it go to auction? Did you go to New York and schmooze?  Tell us a pretty story. Don’t worry, I’m a lazy fact-checker.  See, for example, #6.)

Chris Guillebeau: Agent shopped it around– lots of initial interest, then lots of rejections– the usual process, I think. Much of the proposal shopping is done by email and phone now; I offered to go to New York and talk with people, but heard that wasn’t really necessary these days.

I’m not sure if that’s a pretty story, but I guess the nice part came when David called and said we had an offer from Perigee, a division of Penguin. We did a conference call with them, checked with a few other editors, then made a verbal commitment with Penguin. Many weeks later (I was surprised at how slow things work), we finally did the paperwork.

10. Is Erin Brockovich your hero? That’s not really the question.  That is called foreshadowing. Let’s go EB for a minute and talk numbers: Your book deal is signed.  Visions of spectacular, over-sized but truly, madly, deeply deserved cheques are dancing in your head. What figure is on that cheque?

(Or, if you can’t tell us because then the IRS and your freeloading relatives will expect to get some, too, then just give us a range, like:

A. I got paid in M&Ms
B. I got paid in S&M
C. Less than $100K but I’m not quitting my day job
B. $100-200K, I’m taking this interview from my new jacuzzi tub in MY NEW HOUSE SUCKA
D. $200-300K and people say blogging doesn’t make you money but it got me a book deal MUWAHAHAHAHAHA
E. More than $300K. Please don’t hate but I’m now so rich and famous that I had to head-hunt one of Guy Kawasaki’s interns to take this interview for me. I’m surfing as we speak.)

Chris Guillebeau: I’m actually not sure if I can say it publicly or not. It was in the “C” category if that helps– not fabulous, but decent. In terms of the time commitment, it’s probably reflective of minimum wage. That’s OK with me, though– I feel very grateful that I can do what I love to do. After the launch next fall, I plan on traveling to every state and province in North America on my own Unconventional Book Tour to make sure it’s successful. Then I’ll write another book, and another. It’s a long-term strategy.

11. HOLY HESSENFEFFER*! You got THAT much?! Clearly, it was time for the happy dance. What were your dance moves?

Chris Guillebeau: It wasn’t “THAT much,” but I was definitely excited when it sold.

12. Is there video of this alleged dance and, if so, is anyone currently blackmailing you with the footage?

Chris Guillebeau: Not that I’m aware of.

13. What is your book called, when is it coming out, and how can we get it?

Chris Guillebeau: We went through about 30 titles and then went back to the source: it’s called The Art of Non-Conformity, it comes out in September 2010 (only 320 days to go!), and as long as you’re alive and online when the time comes, I’ll do my best to get the word out to you.

Bonus Question:
After your book deal was signed and during the book-writing process, did your editor ever force you to sleep in her office for weeks just to get a semi-coherent draft out of you?
(It happened to Elizabeth Wurtzel, or perhaps more accurately, to her editor.  There may have been illegal substances involved.  You don’t have to answer this but please do.)

Chris Guillebeau: No, for better or worse I actually haven’t had much interaction with my editor yet. She’s friendly and supportive, but I’ve gone through most of the writing process independently so far. Perhaps that will change as we finalize things and start planning the marketing campaign.

Bonus Bonus Question:
Anything I’ve missed that you think is important?

Chris Guillebeau: The most important thing for any budding author to think about is, “Why will people who don’t know me care enough to buy this book?” You have to have a very clear answer for that, backed up with as much social proof or compelling sample material as possible, in order to get publishers to pay attention.

The marketing part of my proposal was at least five pages, single-spaced. You have to think of this as a business, like it or not. Those who are able to do that will have a much easier time than those who are interested purely in the artistic side of publishing. This doesn’t mean you have to “sell out” and develop your proposal around a topic you’re not passionate about; it’s just a reality that’s better to face than ignore.

*gratuitous Laverne and Shirley theme song reference. You know you’ve made it when you can casually work a Laverne and Shirley lyric into your writing.  Book deal, schmook deal.

PS Chris, thank you so much for taking this interview. Just ignore my snarky footnotes. We both know I’m jealous.

________________________________

In addition to writing lengthy email interviews with me (and encouraging me to scale up and keep at this writing thing awwwwww), Chris Guillebeau writes really useful guides that help you in your quest for world domination (for good, of course).

(They’re so useful that I signed up as an affiliate, so if you buy one, I get a couple of bucks, too. Yay!)

As I promised during my fake mid-life crisis* last week, I read the guide on airmiles – “Become A Frequent Flyer Master” – and can report a shift.

I was one of those people who didn’t sign up for loyalty cards because I didn’t want The Man documenting my cold medicine and toilet paper choices. That’s a violation of privacy, right?

Yet I have a blog called Cleavage in which I write about sex (and money, and meaning). The sex I have. With other people. Because that’s not private, at all.

This, I believe, is called cognitive dissonance. And I may have carried on not collecting air miles – just out of habit – had the Become A Frequent Flyer Master guide not pointed out (very helpfully) that with some strategic choices and a plan I can fly first class to Asia or Africa for 43 cents. Okay, maybe a few more cents are required, but you get the point.

So: airmiles. Free travel. Travel hacking. I’m in. Eff privacy. I don’t believe in privacy, anyway. (Didja notice?)

—————————

If you’re interested in more advice like Chris Guillebeau’s about how to get a book deal, here’s a list of all the pieces in the accidentally epic how-to-get-a-book deal series:

The how-to-get-a-book-deal piece, in full:

How to Get a Book Deal. An Evolutionary, Biblical Approach. (This Is Why I am a Writer And Not a Scientist.)

The How To Get A Book Deal Interviews, with:

• • Chris Guillebeau (Art of Non-Conformity): How To Get A Book Deal. Thirteen Questions with Chris Guillebeau.
  • Erin Doland (Unclutterer): How To Get A Book Deal. Thirteen Questions with Erin Doland (of UnClutterer and Author of UnClutter Your Life in One Week)
  • Danielle LaPorte (White Hot Truth): How NOT To Interview Someone
  • Leo Babauta (Zen Habits): How To Get A Book Deal: 13 Questions with Zen Habit’s Leo Babauta

* I also did phone-interviews with Josh Hanagarne and Gretchen Rubin but get very, very sad when I think about doing more transcription

**My phone interview with Gretchen Rubin – in which she gave me some personal advice that really landed with me – inspired me to be a little nicer, online. Gretchen Rubin is my Jiminy Cricket.

Guest Posts at Write To Done (that triggered this whole series):

Guest Post at Write to Done: How to Get a Book Deal: Part 1 – Printasauraus Rex Vs. The Blog: Publishing 2.0

Get Thee A Blog, and A Big One: Guest Post At Write to Done

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 9th, 2009 at 2:02 am and is filed under How To Get a Book Deal, People, Work. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.