Golf Essays

RCameron

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I've published two golf essays in this publication (Sport Literate) http://sportliterate.org/ and have a third coming out next spring. It's not a huge publication, though the 'The Best American Essays' series often does select pieces from it.

So I'll soon have three golf essays under my belt, and a friend casually mentioned I should try to spin that up into some kind of proposal for a book length project of golf essays and stories. I thought more about it and it sounded like something worth pursuing, but how to go about this is not my area of expertise.

Is three essays, a cover letter, and some kind of statement about the other content enough to approach people with? Should I try agents or publishers (especially ones that focus on sports) directly?

Any advice on what I can do at this stage would be appreciated, even if it's bad news--as in, three essays aren't enough, you have to have a bigger following, etc.

Thank you!
 

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Is three essays, a cover letter, and some kind of statement about the other content enough to approach people with?

You'll need to write a proper proposal. If you Google it you should find out what's required.

Should I try agents or publishers (especially ones that focus on sports) directly?

I'd always go for agents first, and only approach publishers once you've run out of agents to query.

Any advice on what I can do at this stage would be appreciated, even if it's bad news--as in, three essays aren't enough, you have to have a bigger following, etc.

I am not sure that three essays is enough, I'm afraid. I'd want an author with a solid, established reputation: so, in addition to a good few years of publishing in the area, some other expertise too--a masters degree if the subject required it; in sport, experience in playing the sport to a good level, or commentating on it, that sort of thing.
 

RCameron

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Thanks for the reply. I do have a masters degree (film/screenwriting), have a decent handicap (8), and other published work (not in golf), but I understand what you are saying. These are literary essays, not the kind of general thing that an ex-golfer might write. More like Updike type of golf essays, but I take your meaning that if I was an ex-player or TV commentator that would probably be much more eye catching for an agent/publisher. Thanks again for the comments!