It took journalist and author of Sugar Daddy Diaries, Helen Croydon, a very frustrating year to land her book deal. But she says determination was key.
I first sent a manuscript to a publisher aged 8 – in all its typo glory – hashed out on my mum’s humungous 80’s electronic typewriter. I did it in secret because I thought it must be a very naughty thing to do.
It took another – let me see – 25 years before I actually got a book deal. Sugar Daddy Diaries was published last month by Mainstream Publishing, after I secured an offer in September last year. It took fourteen months of pitching and nearly the same number of rejections. Then I received two offers in the same month, making me think that publishing deals are not unlike buses.
I imagined that if I got a deal, I would be buying champagne and inviting my friends to mark the milestone. But it wasn’t like that. I felt stunned and nervous once the deal came through and didn’t dare celebrate. Maybe they would go off the idea? Maybe another book of the same theme would materialize? Maybe the publisher would become another victim of the credit crunch?! The more you want something the more fragile it becomes. I’m very aware of the frustration faced by new writers in trying to get a book in print and so here I want to share my path to my first book deal.
I did it without an agent, a disclosure which is always met with surprise by anyone who knows anything about books and publishing. I didn’t chose to go unagented though – I acted out of frustration after an agent relationship didn’t work out.
In July 2008 I wrote an article in The Times newspaper about women who use sugar daddy websites. Although the piece was journalistic, I had a personal interest in the story because I myself was going through an ‘experimental stage’ of dating older men from sugardaddie.com. My experiences were so colourful that I kept a diary. I had a vague ambition that I would one day make the diary into a book I had no formulated thoughts on format and certainly no story arc. Weeks later I emailed an agent at PFD, sending a link to my article, explaining my journalistic background and my idea to develop that article into a book. He phoned within ten minutes and asked if he could see the manuscript.
I thought ‘wow!’ Then I thought ‘yikes! I haven’t actually got a manuscript!’ I said ‘give me a month’ and that night I got out my diary and started making notes on how I could formulate my pages of disconnected scrawl into a story somehow.
A month later I sent the first three chapters. But far from the phone ringing within ten minutes, this time I had to wait two months for a reply. The agent wanted to meet me. We talked for two hours. The manuscript needed a lot of work – not necessarily with the writing style he said, but in terms of to sowing one underlying journey through the book, rather than it being a series of anecdotal dating stories.
Four months later, I delivered sample chapters from the beginning, middle and end. PFD liked it and formally offered to represent me. In January 2010 the first round of submissions went out to eight publishers. Naively I thought that a deal would easily follow – maybe we’d even have the luxuary of choosing between more than one!
It was rejected by all. I came back to earth with a thud – it seemed my dream would never happen. My agent assured me that this was quite normal and all we needed to do was develop the manuscript. In retrospect, I can not express how relieved I am that it was rejected then. The story was under developed, my writing hadn’t had chance to form a signature style and because I hadn’t stopped my personal sugar daddy dating life, there was no poignant ending to write towards.
I spent another three months developing the manuscript and in Easter 2010 my agent said he was putting together another list of potential publishers. Then all went quiet. I emailed him to chase and got an automated response saying he didn’t work there anymore. I called the agency several times and each time I was told someone would call me back but they never did. I learned that PFD had been bought by another agency and a third of staff been made redundant. I tracked down my agent through Facebook. He was apologetic but distressed about his redundancy. We met for a drink and he offered to represent me independently. It meant I would have to give up my contract with PFD – a reputable and powerful agency. But I felt my loyalty lay with him because of his support.
I resigned from PFD and took a chance on my agent acting for me independently. But then I never heard from him. Whenever I phoned I would get an email three days later with an apologetic excuse. Eventually he sent the manuscript to two more publishers. One of them cc’d me in their reply (another rejection). From that, I could see his initial email pitch. It was two lines long and contained typos. I thought I can do better than this! As a journalist I pitch articles on a daily basis.
By now it was August 2010 and I felt like six months had been lost. Writing the book had become a huge part of my life and I wanted a deal more than anything else. I chased my agent one more time, but after getting no reply, I thought that’s it! Charged with frustration I marched to a book shop and bought the Writers Handbook. I vowed to send my manuscript to every singe publishing house which deals with memoirs. Starting with the letter A I went through the book alphabetically, phoning up forbidding receptionists one by one. Sometimes they gave me an email address for submissions, sometimes they told me they didn’t take unagented submissions.
When I got to the letter ‘M’ I thought I had better stop and see what happens. A month later I got a call from Nicholas Brealey Publishing. He wanted to see me. I sat in a board room with three of the editorial team opposite me, grilling me on the moral debates I raise in my book and inconsistencies in the story line. It was much harder than any job interview! They told me what the book needed (mainly more warmth and self-reflection). They asked that I send in another three chapters to demonstrate that I could take their feedback on board. I did this and they made me an offer but the very same day another publisher called – this time from Mainstream Publishing. This was far easier. I met the editor for gin and tonics. We scrutinized the storyline some more (all the feedback I ever had was on the story, never the writing, which wasn’t something I would have expected) and discussed publicity possibilities. A week later he made a verbal offer. I went with Mainstream because they were the bigger of the two and are part owned by Random House.
Although I was successful in getting a deal without an agent, I wouldn’t recommend this route. Getting a deal isn’t the end of the journey! I had a zillion questions about my contract, the editing process, who deals with what, and what I am entitled to demand in terms of publicity plans. I didn’t want to be the first time author constantly phoning with silly questions. The publisher suggested a different title and I didn’t want to change it. I also didn’t like some of the cover drafts. All these things would have been much less awkward to negotiate through a third party involved. An agent plays good cop bad cop. Even after publication, I still have questions – what are they doing with foreign rights? Is anyone pushing the dramatic rights? All these things would be so much easier to chase with a third party involved.
Helen will be giving a reading of Sugar Daddy Diaries: When a Fantasy Became an Obsession, followed by a Q&A session at Sh! Women’s Store, 57 Hoxton Square, on Thursday 28th April, from 7pm
Sugar Daddy Diaries is a confessional memoir charting Helen’s journey after she explored her penchant for older men. It examines the attraction of power and questions modern models of relationships.
http://www.helencroydon.com <http://www.helencroydon.com>
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sugar-Daddy-Diaries-Fantasy-Obsession/dp/1845967666