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It feels like a decade ago that I started working on my book.

(p.s. “Liking Myself Back” releases on June 7, 2022! Order a copy here)

Back in 2016, I had been tossing ideas around, slowly writing and gathering chapters. It was around this time that my book was in a pending contract before I had an agent. I was self managed at the time {I am now managed with UTA/DBA} and flew to New York several times to meet with agents, literary houses and anyone who could help point me in the direction of a book deal. I cold e-mailed people I found on company websites, asked friends for introductions, and really hit the pavement to finally find someone who would partner with me on publishing a book. The publisher asked me to work on an in-depth proposal which I started immediately. We went back and forth on revisions, but ultimately we ended up parting ways because it didn’t feel right to me.

The book was slowly morphing in to a coffee table book about fashion, style and Instagram. At the time the book started to feel very generic and it wasn’t a project that felt inspiring to me. I’m so thankful for this now because the truth of the matter is I wasn’t ready. Funny how things work out the way they’re meant to be.

Flash-forward to April 2019 when I took my first meeting with Albert Lee from UTA who would eventually become my literary agent. My manager, Hilary, connected me with Albert when I was hounding her that I still wanted to write a book.

I really wanted to write a story, my story, about life behind the lens of blogging and specifically dive in to the mental health battles I’ve faced throughout my life. My goal is to show people that on Instagram not everything as is filtered and beautiful as it seems. The first thing Albert had me work on was my proposal.

I drafted my proposal probably five times.

My proposal was 83 pages long and it took me a year to complete.

This is the breakdown of what my proposal looked like:

Title Page

Table of Contents

Author Letter (a letter from me to publishers about why I wanted to tell this story and what it means)

Sample Chapters (I provided 4 complete sample chapters. These were what I felt to be the strongest chapters in the book)

Summary of the Rest of the Book (this was broken down in to Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3) 

Once we felt like my proposal was strong enough, Albert circulated it to a few of his colleagues. It was then discussed that we would bring on a collaborator to help me execute the project. Not only was it taking me forever to execute the writing, but let’s be honest: I’ve never written an entire memoir before! I have zero experience. We also felt that by signing on a partner to help me write the book, it would reassure the publishing houses that I was truly invested in making sure the project happened. Albert connected me with Jodi Lipper who ended up being my collaborator {she helps write the book, edit, and re-edit and offer structure etc…}.

We then shopped the proposal around and landed in the amazing hands of HarperCollins. We signed with Park Row and I met with who would be my AMAZING editor, Erika Imranyi. We got to work immediately. It took Jodi and I all of 2020 and much of 2021 to write the entire book. We wanted to make sure we got everything 100% “right.”

Here are a few key take aways that I learned during the process of getting a book deal in a {literary} world that I knew nothing about:

1. Ask for Help

You really need to find someone that you can trust with your work. Albert was crucial in the early stages of me writing this book because he helped round out my proposal. He also helped aid me in finding the perfect collaborator {Jodi Lipper} who would also help me write this book. Listen, I’m a writer but I’m not a writer full-time! I had multiple other businesses and projects that I need to execute for a living and writing a full memoir was something that took an incredible amount of time and patience. Whether it’s an agent, a collaborator or a local teacher, find a mentor or a friend who can act as your sounding board.

There’s absolutely zero shame in admitting that it takes a village. So start building that team early on to make your life easier and your book stronger.

2. Make A Strong Proposal / Outline

If sitting down to write a kick ass proposal and outline of your book doesn’t excite you, then maybe writing a book isn’t for you. The outline really is the first draft of what your book should look like. It will act as your road map when you’re having a hard time knowing where to go. Don’t get me wrong, we drifted FAR OFF that initial proposal, but at the end of the day it’s what got me my book deal to begin with. The proposal/outline is exceptionally important when pitching your project because it gives the publisher a taste of what they can expect.

3. Pick Up The Phone

No one can sell your project better than you can. I know a lot of people say that you “need” an agent to get a deal but that simply isn’t the case. There are so many creative and nifty ways to get your book into hands these days. I know even some independent book stores offer ways to publish work. You can also do an e-book or even print the thing out yourself! At the end of the day, if you truly want to make a book happen… get out there and MAKE IT HAPPEN for yourself. Send hundreds of cold emails, pick up the phone and call the literary houses, do anything and everything you can to get your foot in the door.

4. Ask Yourself Why

At the end of the day, writing a book was far more challenging than I had ever imagined. It took sweat, tears, and a lot of patience to get this project done. If you are day dreaming of writing a book (just like I was many years ago), I would first take a good hard look at asking yourself “WHY” first. I can tell you that it’s nothing like you see in the movies. (haha). There’s not cottage that you can magically sneak off to and spend hours gathering inspiration to finally sit down under the falling snow and write a best selling novel (well, maybe if you’re John Grisham!). At the end of the day, if you feel a burning, almost sickening, desire to purge your story then yes, maybe writing is for you! It most certainly was the “thing” for me.

Listen, I’m not a pro. These are just the things I’ve learned along the way. How many of you out there consider yourself writers? How many have written books or aspire to do so? Leave a comment below and share some pro tips!