Stages of a book - part 1

I've just completed my second book, 'Champions of Women's Rights - Leading Canadian Women and their Battles for Social Justice'. It is to be published by Formac Lorimer Publishers in Toronto, and should be out next month, my editor tells me.

Some friends have asked me repeatedly how I go about writing a book. So here goes:

The whole process begins with thinking about a tiny germ of an idea. For instance, I love history and was pondering the major movements, let's say, under the broad headings of Canada, Immigration, Women.

Starting from this seed, I began doing preliminary readings to determine if there was any interesting shoot that could be developed to flourish on its own. In other words, I had to come up with a thesis that had legs (enough to write about 30,000 words).

Next, I ventured into more structured reading, and reached a conclusion, a marriage of my interests and practicality of a feasible project. So I drew up a proposal to pitch to the publisher.

Then the waiting begins - for their verdict. That is nerve wracking. Remember, this is the first step only, in this entire process.

When I wrote my proposal for the Champions book, it was completely different from the finished product that the reader will see. The acquistions editor urged me to refine my idea and then we had a deal.

Thus began the work of reading, reading and more reading! To write one book, you read at least 20. And that's the bare minimum.

Will write the following steps in my next entry.
Till then, goodbye.