Have you seen any of the Seinfeld episodes where Kramer launches himself into Jerry’s apartment with his classic slide? When I received the email that I landed a book deal, I ran and slid into my friend’s living room in Athens, just like Kramer. My friends laughed because I was so ecstatic. Here’s my story of how I got a traditional book publishing deal.

Start Blogging

Since 2001, I have thought, “I could write a book.” I penned hundreds of pages in college and grad school but not much beyond academia. In 2011, I met with an author, Eric Sandras, and asked him how he wrote his books. Eric recommended that I begin blogging. So I did. My first post was an epitaph to my late professor-friend, Dr. Gene Carpenter. If you’re an aspiring writer (and I still consider myself one), begin writing with what’s in your heart. You learn by doing, and the initial content doesn’t matter as much as the process. I am surprised at how many writers don’t write. You also learn by getting mountains of feedback. Writers’ hearts are imprinted in their words, so hearing what others think can be painful at first. But, this is the difference between writing for you (blogging) versus writing for others.

Submit Articles Online

The more I began blogging, the better I became. Then I started writing articles. I define articles as being more professional than blog posts. And, again, article writing is about others, while blogging is mostly about you. When one famous ministry posted my first article, I was thrilled. After that, they paid me to write one. During and after the process, however, the feedback from the editor was brutal. Even though the article was received well by their audience, the editor not so subtly told me that I didn’t write professionally and that my work takes too much time to edit. On the one hand, I agreed with her that I was a little rough around the edges. At the same time, I didn’t see my work as unprofessional. But I used her criticism as fuel to grow. As I learned to write better, I also learned that some people don’t like your writing style.

For several years, I published articles on various Christian websites, pro bono. My friends and I sat around and watched the shares on social media increase and the outrageous comments people made on them. Writing free articles was rewarding, but I didn’t want to give away my words for the rest of my life. What I wrote was worth something. I knew at that point, my work was good enough to support and sell a book. So I started the process.

Make a Decision to do It

Standing in my roommate’s office, I promised my stepdad on the phone, “I’m going to write a book.” He replied, “Go ahead. I know you can do it.” My next task was scheduling a writing retreat four hours away in the Colorado Rockies. I had to ditch town for a couple of weeks to focus, outline, and give this book a real go. The next stop was Walmart, where I bought two bags full of office supplies like markers, notebooks, notecards, highlighters, and pens and pencils. Not long after,  I loaded my massive whiteboard into my ’92 Acura Integra and left to outline my book.

No one told me how to write a book. I only knew how to outline and write articles. I figured if most of my pieces were about 1,000 words, I’d need about four or five of them for each chapter. This idea of “chunking” (breaking down large pieces of information into smaller ones, helps your brain see the trees in the forest.) I also needed a template for a book proposal and found several online. The most helpful templates were those sent to me by people who had written books or worked in the publishing industry. I fashioned my proposal after a version I got from an acquaintance who worked at Zondervan. After hundreds of hours of work, including outlining my book, summarizing each chapter, creating my bio, writing two full chapters, and the edits, it was complete.

Finding a Publisher

In a few minutes, the airplane was boarding for Budapest. As I sat with my laptop open in the terminal, I wanted to send my book proposal to at least a few publishers before departing Athens. Step one was getting the book proposal complete. Now, in phase two, I had to market it to an open-minded publisher. Why would they choose me? Up to that point,  I had only heard how difficult it was to earn a traditional publishing deal. I heard: “Publishers aren’t giving out many new book contracts these days.” “You need a social media platform.” “You need to self-publish first.” “Publishers won’t give you the time of day.” Those all might have been true, but I decided to go for it anyway.

A few people had also given me contacts to several literary agents. Literary agents are the brokers who like your book proposal, take up your cause, and try to get you a book deal. But they get a deal, too–a significant cut of your book sales. I didn’t want an agent but also didn’t want to miss an opportunity. When I did send my proposal to the agents, all heartily rejected me. It wasn’t my book proposal they didn’t like, it was me. Because I had no significant social media platform, they didn’t think my book would be picked up by a publisher.

Fine. I didn’t need them anyway.

From that point, I focused on digging up every source I could think of to connect with publishers. I learned who to contact at each publisher and reached out to them. One by one, they began responding with “no’s.” At least they messaged me back. As the weeks went by, I looked under every rock to find all the publishers and emailed them all. Two significant publishers praised my book proposal but said, “You write well, Eric, but no one knows you. Go get ten-thousand more followers on social media and get back to us.” But I didn’t want to dump a bunch of money into advertising to get more followers and wait another two years. I prayed that God would open up the right door for someone to believe in my book now. (Side note: You have to believe in your own text before anyone else will. If you’re not confident in what you wrote, don’t expect others to be.)

Don’t Give Up & Be Creative

The Lord answered my prayer. I awoke one morning, leaned over my trundle bed, and checked my phone. My eyes shot wide open as I read an email from a major publisher! They wanted to talk about the book! The editor wanted to set up a call with me to talk more about it. I was beaming that morning—my first phone call! That led to several emails between us, dozens of questions needing to be answered, and months waiting to hear about a final decision. From when they first contacted me, it took another three months for me to finally be offered a contract. That’s when I slide across the floor and exclaimed to my friends, “I got the deal!”

If you’re a writer and seek a book deal, don’t give up. If you’re like me and don’t have a standout social media following or aren’t a pastor of a large church, you’ll have to write a superior book proposal. Once you find a solid template, have it professionally edited. You pay for what you get, so have a substantial budget that you can spend to hire a professional. Then ask around and use all of your personal and professional contacts to see if they can connect you to someone in the publishing business. It’s all about who you know.

Lastly, many successful writers make professional connections at writer’s conferences. Many publishers send their editors there to meet with new writers. These multi-day events aren’t cheap so have a budget for this, too. Bring your book proposal.

Only by God’s Grace

I’d be remiss here if I missed three points: First, I believe God empowers what I write and that it was only by His grace that I was offered a book contract. Second, once I got the deal, the actual book writing was a ton of work (I am still in the editing process now). Third, just because I got one book contract doesn’t mean I’ll get a second one. By the grace of God, I’d like to write more books, though.

I am thankful God brought me a traditional publisher, but I would have self-published. Many authors take this route and sell just as many books (if not more) as if a traditional publisher printed it.

Don’t give up on your dream. Whatever it is, whether it’s to write a book, go back to school, get married, or land your dream job, keep going. Your biggest goals are way bigger than you and can seem overwhelming at first. But you can only turn them into reality by acting. Take one small step today toward your dream. Better yet, make a plan and go for it. By God’s goodness and a ton of hard work, I landed a deal. It was a perfect scenario, and I regularly thank God for this opportunity.

Look for How Should a Christian Date? Developing a Biblical Plan that Works for You in Fall 2021.