Authors: If publishers reject your book title, don’t give up

When Mark Victor Hansen and Jack Canfield wrote their first “Chicken Soup for the Soul” book, they traveled to New York City to meet with about 12 publishers.

Their agent came, too. After two days of shaking hands and discussing the book, not one publisher was interested.

“They all said it was a stupid title,” Canfield said.

This was after the pair already had their share of challenges and disappointments. After three years of doing research for the book, they had compiled only 68 of the 101 stories they had set as their goal. But they persisted and eventually gathered enough stories to pitch the publishers.
     
Other Authors Might Have Shriveled

That two-day visit to New York might have devastated most other authors. But Hansen and Canfield stared rejection in the face and kept pitching the book. And pitching. And pitching.

In all,  144 publishers rejected it. They pressed on.

Finally, they found a small press called Health Communications in Deerfield Beach., Fla., that was interested. The rest of the story?

They’ve sold more than 500 million copies in their “Chicken Soup for the Soul” series. Those include individual titles that target tight niches like country music fans, NASCAR fans, golfers, horse lovers, cancer patients, runners, new moms, scrapbookers, African-American women, and even prisoners.

What kept them moving forward?  

That’s what Canfield will explain when Steve Harrison interviews him during a free 90-minute teleseminar on Thursday, March 8, at your choice of two times: 2 p.m. Eastern or 7 p.m. Eastern. If you cannot attend, recruit someone to listen and take notes for you because Harrison seldom makes the replays available. 
   
   
What You’ll Learn 

Canfield will discuss things like: 

• What to do if you find yourself reluctant to aggressively market your work.
     
• His advice if you need to make money within 30 to 60 days. 
     
• The two mindsets you need to create a bestselling book.
     
• How to find someone to sponsor your book. 
     
• The “bypass marketing” strategy that made “Chicken Soup” a big hit.

I’m promoting this teleseminar as a compensated affiliate because I’ve seen too many authors quit after only one publisher has rejected them. Register here for “Jack Canfield shares How to Get where You Want to be as an Author/Speaker.”