Book Deal? Done. Now I’ve Got 9 Months to Finish Writing

You Guessed It: I’m Writing a Book about Books. Here’s the Backstory.

I’m writing a book. Personally, that sounds funny to announce like it’s news because I’ve been writing this book over a decade now. But—and here’s the important bit—I’ve finally got a book deal! Last week I signed the contract and my editor, Jake Bonar at Prometheus, just announced the deal at Publishers Marketplace. Check it out:

I’ll say more about the concept later, but now let me back up ten years.

When an Idea Doesn’t Work

I had this brilliant idea, a book that was going to explain everything! I’d been reading all I could get my hands on about the roots and ramifications of western individualism, exploring the good and bad from every angle—historical, sociological, political, religious, and more—all with a view toward charting its contribution to what we usually call modernity.

I developed a provocative but supportable thesis, one I hadn’t seen others express the way I did nor treat with the evidence I did. As a former publishing executive, I knew what to do next: I wrote a book proposal with sample chapters and reached out to an agent.

For my prior book deals my employer, Thomas Nelson, had first-look privileges. They were remarkably good sports, following my darting interests from drug policy to angels, swerving through bureaucratic malfeasance and the life story of Paul Revere along the way. But I’d just left my job as vice president of editorial and acquisitions to be home with my two recently adopted sons.

I freelanced for a year, during which I had enough marginal time to work on this personal project on the history of individualism. With my proposal complete, I found an agent, the helpful and encouraging Andrew Wolgemuth. He loved the book. I assumed editors galore would too.

Nope.

Rejection followed rejection, which followed rejection, and—I stopped counting somewhere after twenty. Come on, right? I had the answer! Maybe, but editors said people were asking different questions.

As a former acquisitions editor myself, I understood. If one editor doesn’t bite, it could be the editor. If editors everywhere pass, it’s probably the book. But amid all those nos were a couple of nibbles.

Seed of Something

As part of my argument, I had a chapter on books in the Renaissance and Reformation aiding the transition to the modern world. “I’d be interested in a book on that,” said one editor, a sentiment echoed by another. I took that as encouragement and ran with the idea.

It would be easy to update my project with this new emphasis. I told Andrew. “Cool,” he said. He asked how long it would take. “Maybe a year,” I said—nine years ago.

It turns out I knew very little about book history. It also turns out that my thesis was too thin to stretch over an entire book. Once I really started working, I realized I had a gargantuan project ahead of me. I had to rethink everything and learn loads.

Meanwhile my life moved on. I took a full time job, which reduced my marginal hours somewhat. My wife and I adopted a little girl, plus the rest of our kids entered or exited their teens with all the usual adolescent and young adult challenges. My project became a hobby—but one I never abandoned.

I researched and wrote and rethought and rewrote and researched some more. I’d think I’d landed on the outline or the argument only to realize it didn’t measure up. A few times I thought I’d nailed it only to see someone publish a similar book, making mine irrelevant. But then, no, I’d realize I still had something; the author hadn’t quite said what I wanted to say. Every one of those books helped me refine my thesis further, making my argument more distinct.

At last I had it. I think it all gelled late in 2019, though I now have trouble fully reconstructing the chronology. I worked on it some in 2020, then again in 2021. All the while, Andrew would periodically check in. I’d tell him everything I was thinking up to that point and end up throwing out half of it. I served up more drafts than a bar with an open tab.

But by the end of 2021, I had the thesis and outline finally nailed, along with about a third of the manuscript. I kept working in the spring of 2022 but decided it was time for Andrew to test the waters. I pulled an updated proposal together and expected to land a deal. But while the response was better this go ’round, it was still a no.

The problem this time?

More Work to Do

In part, my platform wasn’t big enough. As a former acquisitions editor, I also understood this objection. Publishers want to know to what an author can do to promote their book. I had just started this newsletter and had a few hundred subscribers—in fact, some of you reading right now. But it would have to grow to be interesting to a publisher.

Thankfully, it did. Between then and now Miller’s Book Review 📚 has grown to more than 4,700 subscribers. Your ongoing interest in this publication has a direct bearing on a publisher taking interest in my project, making this the point I pause to offer a massive thanks to you! You helped it happen.

So did

Jeff Goins

. I had the privilege of working with Jeff when I was at Nelson and have enjoyed his friendship ever since. Jeff has always taken an interest in my work and this project in particular, so when he heard my proposal flopped he offered to critique it. As a ghost writer who helps craft proposals, Jeff’s whole world is navigating these waters; I was quick to take him up on it.

Jeff honed in on the central idea of the book and pointed out how the proposal could could sell it better. He also suggested several tweaks that would make the overall presentation more catchy and relevant to an editor. I went back to work, implementing his suggestions, and then Andrew went back to pitching.

And then it happened.

Yeah! Still More Work to Do

A few weeks into the new round of pitches, Andrew sent me a text. Jake Bonar at Prometheus loved the proposal and believed in the concept. We set up a call. We hit it off, Andrew and Jake hashed out terms, and we had a deal. After a decade—more than that, really—I signed a contract.

I couldn’t be more grateful, nor more excited about the work to come. I’ve got about 50 percent of the manuscript still to write and nine months to do it. The good news? I’ve got a great plan.

Finishing the book will undoubtedly affect my review schedule here. I plan on still completing my classic fiction and memoir goal for the year so you can expect reviews on those books. I will also keep you updated on the book writing process and shared portions as I’m going. Stay tuned for details.

What about the concept itself? As the Publishers Marketplace announcement indicates, it’s a history of the book as an information technology. I flip the calendar back a couple millennia and fan forward through the centuries exploring how the book became an essential tool on the shaping of our world.

Tools transform their users. Books altered human thought and thinking, changed how we organized information and people, helped us reimagine everything from government to education, the natural world, relationships, philosophy, worship, even ourselves. Muhammad called Jews and Christians people of the book. But the truth is whether directly or indirectly, religious or not, that name fits us all.

As Barbara Tuchman once wrote, “Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill. Without books, the development of civilization would have been impossible.”

I’ll have more to say about that in a future post. For now, I’ll close by underscoring the thank you above. I wouldn’t be writing this now if you weren’t here reading it.

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