Big Fella's Book - and getting an agent.

Okay not strictly comedy, but with guys on this site having books published I thought I would ask the question.

The first thing I need to do is give you the background – this is not that easy for me because behind a name on a forum you can be anyone, and I also know that many people in today's society really don't like fat people but here it goes.
I'm not called big fella on this site for no reason, until very recently I weighed 43 stone ( yes, you did read that right) I am also 6 foot 6. At the start of this month I went into hospital and had a gastric bypass operation, a operation that could have easily killed me. Now my stomach is no bigger than an egg – yesterday I ate half a muller light yogurt, a banana, a small piece of smoked haddock, one new potato and a teaspoon of peas! Hopefully with the operation I will lose around 25 stone.

I am also being filmed for an hour long documentary on the discovery channel to be shown in October. The interesting side to my story is that even though I weighed such a stupid amount of weight I had no medical problems at all, blood pressure is normal etc and I ran my own business, hence didn't lie in bed all day taking benefits from the state. Until being about 21 I was very fit and played American Football to quite a high level, my GP thinks this is why I never had any problems with my health. Of course I had numerous mobility issues and people always stared whenever I went out. My family's life has really been on hold for the past three years or so.

The principle of the book is to chart my past and how I got myself into this stupid position and then my experiences of the operation and finally my recovery and getting back to fitness and a normal life. I am making good progress with the first half of the book, but of course the final section will have to be written as I lose the weight ( it should take around a year).

So the question how best to go about this book published? Do I contact publishers or agents or both. Do I do it now or when the whole book is finished?
Thanks for your help.

First, good luck.

Second, when writing books (especially non-fiction) it's best to have a publisher before you've finished. Give an agent (or several agents) the outline and some samples of the content. If the agent finds an interested publisher, the publisher can tell you how they'd like the finished book to look. Having an agent to do all the leg-work in finding a publisher would probably make life easier, but the agent would get about 15% of whatever you'd receive from sales.

If you were unscrupulous, you could try to make a deal with Subway or some other 'health' food company (or an exercise product company) - and start doing a heap of 'before' shots and footage. Then make it seem as if you suddenly decided to start eating their healthy food (or using their exercise product) - and presto! you've lost 25 stone.

One of the tabloids might also pay for an exclusive.

Yeah good luck dude.

I know nothing about the proper route to getting a publisher. Maybe you could approach a men's fitness magazine for a sort of monthly diary feature? This time next year you could have a big enough following to interest a publisher.

Bigfella - congratulations and kudos to you on starting to sort out your problem!

I'm not an expert on publishing either, but it might be worth contacting publishers who have produced similar books even before you've finished your story.

Either try the Writer's Year Book for details or look for similar real life stories and 'misery memoirs' (though of course yours is a positive story ) in the book shops and see who's publishing them. Ask them if they'd be interested, even at this stage.

Good thing is that with the type of book you're proposing you don't need to be a Martin Amis, so your writing experience and talent is not so important, but maybe send them an example if you think your writing is pretty good in itself.

I would also suggest finding an angle to your book that might set it apart from other similar stories (I may just be thinking as a journalist here though). Do you have something unusual about your life/journey to getting fit? Maybe you plan to run the mararthon at the end, sort out another problem, found an unsual form of exercise, etc???

As I said I'm no expert, mind. Anyway good luck to you!

Hope all goes well mate

The advice given above sounds pretty good and I'm all but sure the fact that you're being filmed for an hour long documentary on the discovery will probably assist aswell.

Nothing to offer, other than good luck with it mate

Can I ask, what made you decide to turn it around? I mean you could have carried on getting bigger and bigger and I dare say you had thought about getting to grips and dealing with this many times before, what was different this time?

Don't think the advice you receive from those having a book published will differ too drastically from what's been said above. However, Random puts his finger on the biggest selling point in your pitch to agents and/or publishers - THE DOCUMENTARY about you! What a godsend! Now make that documentary work for you.

Every publisher is looking for authors who have an angle that puts them ahead with the general public from the start (not to mention the competition) - and your biggest selling point (apart from the small matter of actually doing what you propose to do, ie., lose weight) - is the documentary! Make that your opening gambit with every email, every letter, every phone call, and you can't fail to at least be listened to. And that's one-up straight away over every other aspiring author seeking representation.

Good luck - and keep us posted.

Many thanks for all your positive words – it does help.

Random – Yeap you're right I've had problems with my weight since my late teens. Doing the documentary and the book I've realised all my food issues started at about ten, when overnight I developed a stutter. Think Gareth Gates on Pop Idol. As you can guess – this was a terrible time. You know how cruel kids can be and let me assure you they were. Anyway since then my weight has been up and down like a yo yo. At twenty I could no longer weigh myself on bathroom scales but was playing American Football and running up and down a pitch all match – I guess I was about twenty five stone. Weight kept on going on. Then I would lose a bit then it would go back on. Anyway we finally decided that this operation was the only way I would lose weight and keep it off. So that's want I did, even though the risks were pretty high. I made good steps before hand though you have to go on a milk diet for 10 days before the op to reduce the size of your liver so the guy can get his hand in and do his stuff – in the 10 days I lost 2 and half stone!

With regard to the book, I'll start sending out letters then and highlight the documentary. Thanks everyone for your help.

Bigfeller you need to look at the Writers and Artists year book, it's in the library in the research dept or you can buy at WH Smiths. It lists publishers and what they specialise in and if they take unsolicited work or not, it's the best guide. Good luck

Best of luck dude.

Best of luck too from me.

Random and DannyK have beaten me to it. I think that using the documentary will attract potential publishers in their droves. I think on the timing issue I'd suggest now rather than wait. Because if you do get a publisher behind the project it will give you the added incentive to see it through and achieve your goal of the weight loss.

Also what about trying the popular media? I'm thinking of Fern and Phil on their morning show? (I think Fern Britten went through a similar thing?)I'm sure that the publicity that you could generate would get publishers interested.

Also the producers who are making the documentary would surely have contacts that they could introduce you to. A book and TV tie-up is a fairly common thing.

But above all make sure you look after yourself both from a health and a business point of view and good luck again.

Blimey mate 2 1/2 in 10 days, that's some quick loss.

Bigfella, can I ask tho', why now? You'd have known throughout all these years you were getting bigger and bigger but you chose not to do anything, why not then? Was it simply 'cos you didn't have to?

But then, why now?

Quote: random @ March 22 2009, 9:52 AM GMT

Blimey mate 2 1/2 in 10 days, that's some quick loss.

Bigfella, can I ask tho', why now? You'd have known throughout all these years you were getting bigger and bigger but you chose not to do anything, why not then? Was it simply 'cos you didn't have to?

But then, why now?

View original

Thanks again for your openness on your PM's regarding the above questions.

Quote: bigfella @ March 21 2009, 12:04 PM GMT

The principle of the book is to chart my past and how I got myself into this stupid position and then my experiences of the operation and finally my recovery and getting back to fitness and a normal life. I am making good progress with the first half of the book, but of course the final section will have to be written as I lose the weight ( it should take around a year).

So the question how best to go about this book published? Do I contact publishers or agents or both. Do I do it now or when the whole book is finished?
Thanks for your help.

View original

Hi Big Fella best of luck with everything really. I have no knowledge of getting non fiction published, and if I am honest, very little about getting fiction published.

I would say the most important thing to concentrate on is content. What does the book offer that the documentary does not? Also I would look for a way to extrapolate from your personal experience so that the story becomes more universal - moving it away from the purely diaristic to a more general appeal. Have a look at other 'personal challenges met' books and see how they have been tackled. You might aso find a publisher that resonates with your way of thinking thereby. As others have suggested speak to the documentary film makers - producers and directors have agents too, some of them may have a literary arm and may be able to connect you up!

Really do hope everything works out as you want, and good on you!

Marc

Urgh! That is really disturbing! Peas????!!! They're f**king horrible...

As someone with no experience of any sort of publishing whatsoever (or comedy, most on here would add), I'm probably no use. However, I'd echo highlighting the documentary. In fact, I'd go so far as sending it out on DVD along with your letter to help it stand out above all the other letters they'd get.

In addition, I'd think about a unique angle to your book. Pick some sort of style that makes it different to all the other books out there. I like that you're writing it, not knowing the end result, rather than a 'look back' afterwards, so there is a genuinely unknown ending at present.

As an aside, I'd take pictures of yourself standing in the same position with the same backdrop every single day for the entirety of that time. That could (potentially) give the bottom corner of your book a sort of 'flick-book' element, as you visibly get thinner if they flick through the corners. Might be gimmicky, but it's a bit different at least (and you'd have a record of how it happened).

Incidentally, wouldn't the producers of the show have some sort of links to publishing contacts they could put you in touch with? It'll give you a leg-up over unsolicited communication.

Hope some of this is useful at least! And good luck!

Dan

Quote: swerytd @ March 22 2009, 7:36 PM GMT

Urgh! That is really disturbing! Peas????!!! They're f**king horrible...

View original

They are an important ingredient in punning, though. "You can't pea soup" etc