The Power of Discipline

Millions of people say that they’d like to write a book someday – a novel, their life story, a children’s book, a murder mystery, or perhaps a self-help book. Of these millions, perhaps a million of them actually do it in any given year. Of this million, almost 300,000 of them get published (in 2007 the figure was 291,922). Each of these books has less than a 1% chance of being stocked in an average bookstore, and the average book sells about 500 copies. (Publishers Weekly, 2006) In other words, once you write a book, getting it published is a long shot. And if you get it published, making it successful is an even bigger long shot.

Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen learned this the hard way. They spent three years gathering stories and editing them for a collection they called Happy Little Stories. By the time they were finished, they were $140,000 in debt.

Then they found a literary agent who agreed to represent them and he set about sending the manuscript to publishers he thought might be interested. The response was unanimous: “no.” One publisher said, “Nobody buys anthologies anymore.” Another said, “It’s not topical enough.” Yet another said, “We just don’t get it.”

And finally, the worst “no” of all – their literary agent dropped them. After pitching the book to dozens of publishers he came up empty-handed. “I can’t sell this book,” he told them. “Nobody buys short stories.”

That could have been the end of the story for Canfield and Hansen. Undoubtedly, most authors would have given up by now – but not these two. Instead, they decided to try to sell the book themselves.

They made 200 copies of their manuscript, stuffed them into their backpacks, and headed to the annual American Bookseller’s Association convention (now called Book Expo America). They roamed the aisles of the huge convention center, button-holing every editor and publisher they could find. They handed out dozens of copies of their manuscript, but still no takers.

Finally, after two days of non-stop hunting and schmoozing, they met Peter Vegso, owner of a small publishing house in Deerfield Beach, Florida – Health Communications, Inc. (HCI) This publisher was in the business of doing primarily recovery books (12-step), but they had fallen on hard times, as the recovery movement peaked and waned. On the verge of bankruptcy, Vegso had put his company on the market to sell it.

In the meantime, he was still trying desperately to save it by expanding into a broader category of spiritual books. Vegso agreed to take a chance on this collection of happy stories. After all, he figured, he didn’t have much to lose.

After much discussion, they changed the name of the book to Chicken Soup for the Soul, and in 1993 HCI published it. Then the hard work for the authors began in earnest. As Hansen says today, “Making your book successful is 5% about writing a good book, and 95% marketing.”

He knows what he’s talking about. He and Canfield lived it. For the first year after the book was published, both men lived, breathed, ate, and slept their book. They were monomaniacs with a mission. They had bet the farm on their book – mortgaging their houses to the hilt – working non-stop, day and night, to make their baby successful.

They went to their hometown newspaper, the Los Angeles Times, and walked through the newsroom one afternoon, handing out copies of Chicken Soup to every reporter and editor, hoping that someone would write about their book. No one did.

They spread the word: sending out press releases, doing book signings, promoting their book in their seminars and workshops, and hiring publicists and others to help them make their book successful.

Canfield and Hansen did everything they could to take their baby to the top, and in fourteen months they made it. They arrived at the Nirvana of books and authors – the #1 spot on the New York Times Best-seller list – where they remained for two years.
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We all face adversity in our lives. It’s not a matter of if…but when. And during those times we need encouragement and inspiration to get us through. The Chicken Soup story is one of many in BJ Gallagher’s new book, The Best Way Out is Always Through…The Power of Perseverance. I love it! And it’s gotten rave reviews since it was released a few weeks ago.