By Curtis Honeycutt
NSNC Member
Connie Schultz, Curtis Honeycutt and Lisa Smith Molinari
Earlier this year I was looking for some column advice when I stumbled into Suzette’s path. I didn’t realize she literally wrote the book on it. Not only that, I wasn’t aware of the existence of the NSNC. Suzette encouraged me to join the Columnist Clubhouse group on Facebook and consider submitting my columns to the annual column contest. It didn’t hurt that the NSNC conference was in Cincinnati, a two-hour drive from where I live in Indianapolis.
After being notified that my column (“Grammar Guy”) was a finalist in its category, I took the plunge and decided to go to Cincy. I’m so glad I did. Without knowing a soul, I soon found myself rubbing shoulders with giants including Dave, Rochelle, and Bill. I hung out with seriously funny people like Kathy, John, and Paul. I won’t mention how amazing and inspiring it was to talk to people who have won Pulitzers and/or have their own Wikipedia pages. All that to say, attending the conference was huge. It connected me with a community of like-minded columnists at varying stages in their careers.
Ultimately, I will speak for all of us and admit I want to make loads of money from writing. And by that, I mean I’d like to someday make the equivalent of a full-time living strictly from writing. After all, writers should get paid, right?
A major step in achieving this goal of a financially successful full-time writing career is writing a commercially successful book (I apologize for that passive sentence structure…I should really know better). After striking out with one of the literary agents who came to the NSNC conference, I came home encouraged by my third-place award, but slightly discouraged by my agent meeting. Then I found a phenomenal eight-episode podcast series called “Launch,” by screenwriter and author John August. Stop reading this now and download it onto your phone.
I’ll wait.
I reworked my book query based on some research, then sent it out to 15 different literary agents who accepted nonfiction humor queries. My query hit a sweet spot with four of the agents; one seemed particularly interested in the project. After writing two versions of a book proposal for Elaine, I got signed by The Knight Agency.
Currently, Elaine is pitching my book proposal to editors at all kinds of publishing houses, including some from “the big five.” In fact, one of the big five publishing houses that shall remain unnamed (let’s just say it’s named after a non-flying Antarctic bird) has already passed on my book…but the editor there was incredibly complimentary in her rejection. My first rejection (from a different publisher) hurried into my agent’s inbox in a record two hours.
Not all agents are going to be interested in your initial book query. Keep tweaking it until it’s in really good shape, and send it out to at least a dozen agents. The same is true with publishers; I’m not at all discouraged that two editors passed on my humor/grammar book proposal. It will strike the right editor in the right way at the right time, and she’ll fall in love with it. And, when the time comes, I’ll ask all of you to buy multiple copies of it.
If I hadn’t connected with Suzette, I seriously doubt I’d be at this stage with my book project. Had I stayed on the sidelines of the NSNC community, I wouldn’t have the inspiration to move forward in my quest to MAGA (make America grammar again). For me, the NSNC community has fast-forwarded my writing career three years over the last three months. As the verse in Proverbs states, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”
You all sharpen me. Don’t be upset (Jase) if I haven’t mentioned you specifically as a source of inspiration. You people already know who you are. If you’re on the sidelines of the NSNC, it’s time to get off the bench and get into the game. You’ll be pleasantly surprised if you do.
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Curtis Honeycutt is a nationally syndicated humor columnist. Connect with him on Twitter (@curtishoneycutt) or at curtishoneycutt.com.
