Who here writes (or has written) non-fiction self-help, personal growth, etc…?

I compiled a book of writer's devotionals that was released last year. I hope it is helpful to writers ; )

Hi Andrew,
I don't write personal development, but I do write non-fiction that is educational in its purpose. Be glad to connect here, on Facebook, etc.

Welcome!

I'm a professional counselor, so I've shopped around a couple of self-help proposals. Ironically, although I haven't sold one yet, the publisher that rejected one ended up giving me a contract for a different semi-self help topic (how to become a counselor). I'm hoping that having a sale under my belt will help me with the others. The publisher told me that it's hard these days to sell self-help unless you have name recognition. It's still possible, just difficult...hopefully that will ease up some when the economy gets better. If you'd like to see an outline of my upcoming book, click the link in my signature.

I've written a series of parenting books that were well reviewed and have sold very well. They are marketed in the parenting section, obviously, but they'd fall in the "self-help" category.

All markets are a tough sell right now.

Many people perceive my Look Me in the Eye to be inspiration or self-improvement. I am on blogger and Facebook, just look under John Elder Robison on either

My book is definitely self-help/personal improvement. Andrew: feel free to ask me questions here (it might help someone else) or email me or check out my blog.

Andrew: the blog played a big part in the "platform" that is necessary to sell a non-fiction book. My blog is pretty active and both agent and editor could see that just by logging on. I had to include my number of hits per day (around 5000). They were both impressed with the "following" the blog has (it's been quoted on lots of other blogs etc) as well as how vocal the blog readers are.

I started querying agents in September of 2007, six agents at a time and fine tuned the query in response to any agent's questions or comments, I received several requests for proposal on the second and third batch of six (the first query was too general and no requests on that batch). I had two offers on the third batch of six and one agent who was seriously considering it but hadn't finished it yet when I signed with FinePrint in November 2007. One thing to say here though: I heard a lot of negative stuff as well (this will never sell, relationship books are too tough, you have to have a national speaking platform blah blah blah...so don't let that stuff deter you!)

My agent submitted queries to 12 editors in May of 2008. Seven of the twelve asked to see the proposal. One (Da Capo) asked to speak with me before making an offer. The book was bought the second week and will publish in April 2009.

Andrew: I like your blog! I think that the press and links are great and keep promoting it.

AndrewG said:

Wow, September 2007 to April 2009. That's quite a journey.

Click to expand...

It's actually a pretty short time. I was signed by an agent two months after I started looking for one and then we worked on my proposal for a few months. She had other writers going out the door so I was on the back burner for a little while (there is always some down time). Then we sold the book to a publisher on the first group of queries in the first two weeks. It typically takes about a year after you sign with a publisher and I'm coming in just under that. My journey was, by publishing standards, "quick."

This was the basic query but I probably tweaked it each time it went out. I tweaked it to include some information about the agent and often would edit out certain parts (depending on the agent), but this is the basic query that I started with. More than half the agents I sent it to requested a proposal and after sending those out, I received two offers of representation from top agents (I still had some agents reading it when I sent them the "I've accepted representation" letter.) Also my agency changed the name of the book and the publisher liked it and kept what they changed it to.

_______________________



Dear (Agent name):



[If I personalized it, it was here]



Approximately half of all marriages end in divorce. The breakup rate of non-marital relationships is even higher. Although the market is replete with breakup books, there is no single resource to guide a person through the emotional aftermath of a breakup while giving practical advice on how to capitalize on this life changing event.



Now there is.



My book, “Phoenix Rising: How to Turn a Devastating Breakup Into the Best Thing That Ever Happened to You” tells a reader how to work through the grief process while transforming the breakup into a positive experience.



I am a certified grief counselor, motivational speaker, seminar instructor and former therapist who started a blog in November 2006 as a way to stay in touch with my students. When the blog was less than 2 weeks old, I wrote, “After the Breakup: 10 Tips To Help You Move On”. Within a few days, I was inundated with email and phone calls from people all over the country. Instead of answering each one individually, I followed with more posts advising readers how to navigate the post-breakup landscape.



The response was tremendous, and the breakup posts soon became the focus of the blog. Without advertising or marketing, it is now read by thousands a day and has been cited in Wikipedia and several major newspaper articles. Several “breakup” websites link to the blog and it appears as a resource on iVillage.com and loveshack.org. A director of Zonta International requested copies of "the book" for their offices around the world, and several readers asked where they could buy "the breakup book". These requests compelled me to edit the most popular posts and add new material to develop “Phoenix Rising”.



Not only do I have the requisite academic degrees to write this book, but I am also someone who changed her life after growing up in foster care, being adopted into an alcoholic family, marrying an abusive man and going through a difficult divorce. As a commanding speaker with a compelling story, I will market this book through mainstream media, seminars, speaking engagements, and conferences.



"Phoenix Rising" also lends itself to short, snappy magazine articles, expert commentary, media interviews and follow-up books. I have taught for the Learning Annex in New York City as well as through my own company, Getting Past Your Past Productions, LLC and will continue to actively teach, speak and promote the brand.



I invite you to read the proposal for "Phoenix Rising". Thank you for reading this query and giving my project your consideration. I look forward to hearing from you.



Sincerely,

Susan J. Elliott



B.A., English, Mount Holyoke College, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa

M.Ed., Counseling Psychology, Cambridge College

J.D., University of California, Berkeley

Andrew,

Go to all the sites online that list agents and look at current books in the library and bookstores and you'll come up with scores of agencies/agents that handle self-help books.