On October 3rd I had no publisher in sight. My agent, Joelle Delbourgo and I had been searching for a publisher for a year and a half. I was beginning to think that I’d written a good and unpublishable manuscript. I had begun work on another novel. I had not read the novel we were trying to sell in two years.
Then it happened.
On October 4th two presses came forward to publish.
On October 20th I signed a book contract.
On October 30th I was asked for my ideas on cover art.
Wait, what? Cover art?
Given my nonexistent novel, on October 3rd I would have laughed at myself for thinking about what I might imagine for cover art. I would have thought it somehow presumptuous. My job was to write. What a waste of time to imagine some detail as vain as a book cover for a book that may or, more likely, may not ever exist.
So…
On October 30th I was wholly unprepared. I had no idea. I am grateful that Joelle made a suggestion – the suggestion that I might have made had I been ready to do so.
The lesson learned is an old one – prepare for success. I’m not saying you should put hours into devising the perfect cover art or that you should commission artwork. But, give it a little thought. Be ready to respond with something.
Then get back to the work that no one else can do – writing.

Delta 2660 landed in Baltimore a few minutes after 11AM. This was the first time I’d ever landed in Baltimore. I took my cell phone out of my pocket and off of airplane mode. I had a voicemail from my agent, Joelle Delbourgo. There was only one reason Joelle would call instead of send an email. I texted my wife and told her I had a voicemail from Joelle. I pulled up the beta voicemail transcription. It was far from perfect, but it was enough. Apprentice House Press of Loyola University, Maryland – right here in Baltimore – wanted to publish my debut novel. I was stunned. Hunched over in the aisle waiting to exit I flipped over to my email. Joelle had emailed, too.
Once inside the terminal I forwarded Joelle’s email to my wife and called her. I told her to open her email. It was happening. That thing that I’d thought so much about, too much about, was no longer pent up in my imagination.
I called Joelle. She told me to email Bold Vision Books, another publisher that we knew was planning to take the manuscript to committee. The response was back in under 30 minutes. They had taken the manuscript to committee that very morning. They too wanted to publish the manuscript.
Two presses and it was not yet 1PM. The following morning, Joelle and I made the decision that the second press, Bold Vision Books, would be the best press for this work – and future planned projects.
After a year and a half of proposals sent from Joelle and myself, when it seemed most unlikely that any press would show interest in The Confessions of Adam, two presses came forward – while I looked down on the clouds.
Nothing happens until something does.