My first book was published about 40 years ago. I had written
a story for the Washington Post
Sunday magazine about bikers—motorcyclists—and Harper and Row contacted me.
Would I like to do a book? I hadn’t considered writing books at the time, but this
seemed viable. No agents were involved. Harper & Row sent me a contract. I
read it; it was straightforward so I signed on the dotted line and never once regretted
doing so.
I wrote the book over about nine months, and Mr. Wood, a
genial older man and a respected editor, sent me several letters asking for
clarifications on finer points. What was the difference between a Knucklehead
and a Panhead Karley? Were Montesas Spanish or Brazilian bikes? Who were the Motorcycle
Maids, and was there really a group called Dykes on Bikes?
When it came out Bike!
Motorcycles and the People Who Ride Them was a modest success. A hardback
was soon followed by a paperback. I got favorable reviews, including one in Rolling Stone. Harper & Row arranged
a brief book tour.
One event was an author appearance on an early morning talk
show in Pittsburg. I arrived at the television studio decked in full leather
regalia with hair down to the middle of my back. The host was a study in
pancake make-up—dreadfully white with bright orange hair, bloodshot eyes, and
an iridescent blue suit. It was eight in the morning and he was drunk.
I spent my allotted 17 minutes trying to persuade him that I
had not written a book on bicycles. I
failed. He actually—really, truly—made a couple of dubious bicycle seat jokes. On
a subsequent radio call-in show, I had to disabuse several Pittsburg bicyclists
that the book had nothing to do with their two-wheel mode of transport.
That was then, this is now.
I’ve discovered, as have most authors today, that getting a book
published is minimally about writing; putting words on paper is possibly the
easiest part of the process.
Getting an agent today is almost impossible and even having
one does not mean he or she is aboveboard. My agent, Barry Zucker, persuaded me
to sign with his agency, McGinniss Associates, in January 2014. And then he
vanished. I have not heard from either him or the agency since June of last
year. There’s been no response to my numerous letters, phone calls, emails, and
text messages.
It turns out there is no governing agency for literary
agents. You want to be an agent? Just say you’re one. Create a web page, and insert
your name in any number of lists. You’ll get queries within days because writers
are desperate to get published and if you’re going to deal with the Big Five
publishers, you need an agent.
Me, after the agent pulled his disappearing trick, I decided
to self-publish. I soon discovered this is not the easier, softer way. Aside
from mastering the software needed to publish in various versions—epub, kobo,
mobi, PDF—that can be read by Kindles, Nooks, iPads, Sony, and others, I’ve had
to mount a promotional campaign for myself. I have given free electronic copies
of Thirst to readers willing to post reviews
of the book on Amazon and Good Reads. I’ve sought and gotten the help of
successful on—line gurus. I spend a minimum of an hour a day badgering friends
and acquaintances to buy and review Thirst.
This weekend, I’ll do a short video about the book that can be posted on my
Goodreads and Amazon author pages, as well as on my website, www.sagnier.com. I am trying to set up a book
signing at a local independent store that doesn’t seem interested in returning
my calls. I’ve attended seminars on making a small splash in a big pond—in 2013,
more than 450,000 books were self-published.
So here is the self-promotion of the day: Check out Thirst at http://tinyurl.com/thirstbook. If you
think you’d enjoy reading it, send an email to thierry@sagnier.com and put “ebook review”
in the heading. I’ll give a free EBook copy of Thirst to the first ten people who contact me and offer to do a
review. Make sure to tell me what format you’ll need—Kindle, Nook, or other.
Thanks!
