The Publishing Process of a Boxing Book
 By Dan Horgan (Nov 8, 2007) DoghouseBoxing
It's late June. I've just finished my school finals, and I'm ready for a nice, relaxing summer in which I can write, read, and watch boxing.
It's the third day of my summer break. My friends and I decide to hit the Providence Place mall in Rhode Island for an afternoon of fun. We walk into a Borders bookstore so my friend can pick up a book he's been meaning to read for a while. As he searches, I walk over to the sports books section, and I pick up a boxing book entitled "I Don't Believe It, But It's True" by the legendary writer, Tom Hauser. I flip through the pages,
reading his columns that were first published online. The man can certainly write. His succinct style allows the reader to enjoy each and every meticulous detail of his articles. I put the book down and my friends and I begin our trek home.
We're driving home back into Massachusetts, and I begin to think about Hauser's book. "That would be cool if I could do that one day," I think to myself. I arrive home and go on the Internet.
As I surf the web, I decide to read one of my old articles, a September 2006 interview with female star Lucia Rijker. I enjoy it thoroughly. "This actually isn't too bad," I think. And then, virtually on a whim, I say to myself: "Wait a minute…I can do it now! I'm going to write a boxing book this summer!"
I'll never regret the decision on that late June day. The summer was, by far, the most rewarding of my life. After buying several boxing books, including "Ring Ramblings" by Maxboxing.com editor Tom Gerbasi (my favorite of the bunch), I had an idea for the model of my manuscript. I then went on to spend hours upon hours typing away on my PC, concocting the book that I hoped would revive many people's interest in boxing. I interviewed boxing's media vanguards, and I watched copious fight film to master every aspect of what I wrote. By the end of the summer, the book was almost complete. But the writing was the easy part. Getting the book published would be more difficult.
For those of you who don't know, there are two methods of book publishing: traditional publishing (books that are picked up by companies who distribute the books to stores across the nation) and self-publishing (books that are promoted by the author and that are sold only online). Fifty-five percent of books are published traditionally while the rest are published through self-publishing companies. Naturally, I wanted my book to be in stores, so I looked at traditional publishers that specialize in sports books. Once my manuscript was completed in early September, I sent it out to six publishers and started the 2-3 month waiting process before I heard if the book would be picked up.
It's now been about two months, and I've yet to hear back. Thank God. In the eight week period of waiting, I researched self-publishing companies and their positive and negative aspects. By doing so, I realized that I was crazy to send my unsolicited manuscript to traditional publishers. If the book is picked up by any of the companies I sent it to (which it still may, I've yet to get a response), I'd likely make thousands of dollars less than if I self-publish. In order to make any money whatsoever off of a traditional book, one needs to have a literary agent; just sending in a book on your own is a poor idea.
As I looked at all of the self-publishing companies, one really caught my eye: Lulu (lulu.com). Unlike many other companies, Lulu does not charge ridiculous fees for printing and formatting. I decided to go with them.
My book, "Bringing Back Boxing, A Young Journalist's Attempt to Revive the Sweet Science" will be available for purchase on Lulu.com in the coming weeks. By the end of the year, it can be bought on all major online stores such as Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com . I know the book is good enough to make stores across the world (I can say this without bias), so I will start the hunt for a literary agent once the book is printed up. The agent will shop the book to traditional publishers and I hope to see it in stores by early to mid 2008.
Be sure to check Doghouseboxing.com for an exclusive preview and excerpt soon.
Dan Horgan's Book, Bringing Back Boxing, A Young Journalist's Attempt to Revive the Sweet Science, will be released on Lulu.com in the coming weeks!
Questions or comments,
e-mail  Dan at: danhorgan2@gmail.com
Dan's archives at: www.myspace.com/danhorganboxing
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