The Writer (February 2011)
There are many books that opened my eyes. One in particular, though, connected with me and made me feel that someone knew exactly how I felt as an aimless 20-something with no clue about what I was supposed to do with my life. It was the On the Road for my generation. Its name? A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers. Conveniently, my life as a writer began as a result of that work.
Breakthrough
In 2002, I was a graduate student at San Jose State working on my library science degree and a part-time librarian. I also was moonlighting as an aspiring author of fiction.
I started reading the online version of McSweeneys, the literary publication that Eggers started shortly after the success of his first book, and for fun I started pitching them things. They didn't pay, but it didn't matter--for me, McSweeneys was like The New Yorker of my generation and I wanted to be a part of it.
I submitted a lot of random things that had some sort of theme about books or libraries; each was kindly rejected. One day, however, I got a rejection with a note from the magazine's Web editor, John Warner. He noticed the library theme and suggested that I pitch a series of dispatches to him about what it's like to be a public librarian.
I, of course, got to work immediately on the idea, and it would go on to become a semi-regular blog on the magazine's website. The blog chronicled the odd happenings at the public library I work for--from encountering drugcrazed women who take off their tops to fighting pregnant women. I wrote it under the pen name Scott Douglas (Douglas is my middle name) because I figured that if I ever did make it as a writer, that name would be easier to pronounce at the bookstore.
I was a fiction writer at heart, and I never imagined that anything would ever come of the blog--certainly not a book. McSweeneys was just a place where I could share my frustrations about public service with the Internet world. I always pictured McSweeneys as an intimate little community that had a loyal cult following--not the kind of following publishers paid any attention to. I was wrong.
After writing the blog for a little over a year, I decided I had enough stories to write something a little bit longer. I wrote three chapters that were loosely based on the blog and an outline, and then pitched the idea to about a dozen agents. I was braced to receive the normal dose of friendly rejections, but a funny thing happened: Every single agent wanted to read samples.
What I learned
McSweeneys was more of a powerhouse than I ever knew, and on top of this, editors were willing to take risks on turning blogs into books. After years of rejection trying to sell my fiction, I felt for the first time in my life as if I was really going to make it as a published author--and it was all thanks to a little blog that I wrote in part out of frustration, and for which I was never paid a dime.
I signed a contract with Andrea Somberg at the Harvey Klinger literary agency, and less than two months later the book had been sold to Carroll & Graf (which was purchased a few months later by Perseus Books). The book was released as Quiet, Please in 2008, and, so far, has been published in four different languages.
One thing I learned from my experience breaking into the book-publishing world is that often it takes more than good writing to get a book published--often, timing is almost as important as the quality of writing, and I just happened to have a book published when memoirs about careers were trendy. As I continue my career as a writer, I often find myself poring over which books are popular so I know the kinds of keywords that will help carry my work from the slush pile and into an editor's hand.
Advice
Anyone can start a blog. Anyone can write online. Anyone can do anything online. This is how I viewed the Internet as a writer. Today? I still do, but I now know that in order to make it as a writer today, a writer needs to take the Internet more seriously.
Stuff White People Like, This Is Why You're Fat and Postcards From Yo Momma are just a few of the dozens of blogs that became instantly popular and led to book deals for their creators. Anyone can start a blog ... and anyone can turn that blog into a book.
What are you waiting for? Go blog your way to a book deal!
Scott La Counte writes as Scott Douglas. He teaches humor writing online for Gotham Writers' Workshop and continues to write his online dispatches for McSweeney's. He lives with his wife in Anaheim, Calif.
Breakthrough
In 2002, I was a graduate student at San Jose State working on my library science degree and a part-time librarian. I also was moonlighting as an aspiring author of fiction.
I started reading the online version of McSweeneys, the literary publication that Eggers started shortly after the success of his first book, and for fun I started pitching them things. They didn't pay, but it didn't matter--for me, McSweeneys was like The New Yorker of my generation and I wanted to be a part of it.
I submitted a lot of random things that had some sort of theme about books or libraries; each was kindly rejected. One day, however, I got a rejection with a note from the magazine's Web editor, John Warner. He noticed the library theme and suggested that I pitch a series of dispatches to him about what it's like to be a public librarian.
I, of course, got to work immediately on the idea, and it would go on to become a semi-regular blog on the magazine's website. The blog chronicled the odd happenings at the public library I work for--from encountering drugcrazed women who take off their tops to fighting pregnant women. I wrote it under the pen name Scott Douglas (Douglas is my middle name) because I figured that if I ever did make it as a writer, that name would be easier to pronounce at the bookstore.
I was a fiction writer at heart, and I never imagined that anything would ever come of the blog--certainly not a book. McSweeneys was just a place where I could share my frustrations about public service with the Internet world. I always pictured McSweeneys as an intimate little community that had a loyal cult following--not the kind of following publishers paid any attention to. I was wrong.
After writing the blog for a little over a year, I decided I had enough stories to write something a little bit longer. I wrote three chapters that were loosely based on the blog and an outline, and then pitched the idea to about a dozen agents. I was braced to receive the normal dose of friendly rejections, but a funny thing happened: Every single agent wanted to read samples.
What I learned
McSweeneys was more of a powerhouse than I ever knew, and on top of this, editors were willing to take risks on turning blogs into books. After years of rejection trying to sell my fiction, I felt for the first time in my life as if I was really going to make it as a published author--and it was all thanks to a little blog that I wrote in part out of frustration, and for which I was never paid a dime.
I signed a contract with Andrea Somberg at the Harvey Klinger literary agency, and less than two months later the book had been sold to Carroll & Graf (which was purchased a few months later by Perseus Books). The book was released as Quiet, Please in 2008, and, so far, has been published in four different languages.
One thing I learned from my experience breaking into the book-publishing world is that often it takes more than good writing to get a book published--often, timing is almost as important as the quality of writing, and I just happened to have a book published when memoirs about careers were trendy. As I continue my career as a writer, I often find myself poring over which books are popular so I know the kinds of keywords that will help carry my work from the slush pile and into an editor's hand.
Advice
Anyone can start a blog. Anyone can write online. Anyone can do anything online. This is how I viewed the Internet as a writer. Today? I still do, but I now know that in order to make it as a writer today, a writer needs to take the Internet more seriously.
Stuff White People Like, This Is Why You're Fat and Postcards From Yo Momma are just a few of the dozens of blogs that became instantly popular and led to book deals for their creators. Anyone can start a blog ... and anyone can turn that blog into a book.
What are you waiting for? Go blog your way to a book deal!
Scott La Counte writes as Scott Douglas. He teaches humor writing online for Gotham Writers' Workshop and continues to write his online dispatches for McSweeney's. He lives with his wife in Anaheim, Calif.
