How to Get Published is a continuing feature at The Book Bin where we ask authors to tell us their publishing stories. Was it a rocky road or did it come easy for them? Did they start with an agent and get a NY publisher interested in their book or did they self-publish? What words of wisdom do they have for all of us who would like to be published one day?
Today’s guest is Dr. Mitchell Gibson, author of the self-help book Nine Insights For a Happy and Successful Life.
Publishing my first book was one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences of my life. I had written a number of pieces for local and regional newspapers and magazines, and during that time, I developed an idea for a new book. Writing did not pay the bills at that time and I worked full time as a medical doctor. I graduated from my residency in psychiatry in 1989 and I set up a clinic in Phoenix Arizona where I saw patients four days a week. During this time, I wrote nights and weekends. I had developed a passion for spiritual growth during my residency and I decided that I would write a book that incorporated astrological tools in the diagnosis of mental illness. I pitched the idea to several large publishers and most turned me down flat. After 40 or so rejection letters, I got the idea to approach a New Age publishing house. Llewellyn Publications is one of the largest New Age publisher in the world. I sent the Editor a couple of sample chapters and a copy of my resume.
He loved the idea! However, he had one stipulation. One of the world's most prolific astrological writers lived just a few miles from me, and as luck would have it, he needed a foreword for his new book. He had been looking for a medical doctor with an interest in astrology. If I agreed to do the foreword, then the company would look at my book.
I read his book and wrote the foreword. The astrologer loved my foreword and offered to return the favor and publish a foreword for my new book after it was published. After the book was completed, I sent him a copy and he refused to honor his word. He never said why. After a great number of phone calls, emails, and next day letters send via FEDEX, I managed to convince the company to publish my book without his foreword. Astrology books are considered to be bestsellers in their genre if they sell more than 1000 books. It is a very tight niche market. Signs of Mental Illness has sold more than 10,000 copies and has been published in Spanish. I learned a lot about my self and the publishing world from the experience of getting that book on the shelf. Primarily, the experience made me embrace the philosophy that Churchill espoused in his now famous commencement speech, Never Give Up!
Dr. Mitchell Gibson is one of the world’s leading authorities on the interface of science and the frontiers of human consciousness. He is the best-selling author of Your Immortal Body of Light, Signs of Mental Illness, Signs of Psychic and Spiritual Ability, The Living Soul, Nine Insights For A Happy and Successful Life, and Ancient Teaching Stories. Dr. Gibson has been a consultant for Fortune 500 companies, Hollywood celebrities, professional athletes, A&E Network, NBC, ABC, and CBS regional affiliate television stations, newspapers, radio stations. www.tybro.com
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