Help from a Friend

Ultimately, a friend who had been an editor for a large publishing company offered to help, and on July 27, 2005, I received the following welcome email: "I have read your proposal and am very interested in it. I believe that it has a great deal of potential. Would you have time to talk tomorrow?"

Following our talk, the publisher asked for a copy of the draft manuscript. After reviewing that document, the publisher asked me to write up my reasons for wanting to publish the book, why I thought the material would be of interest to prospective readers, and ways I might shorten the book. I sent my response on August 31.