Back in September my agent began sending out the proposal I wrote for a non-fiction book about Monsanto. It was titled “Nonsanto” and it was all about my attempts to avoid Monsanto products for a whole month last March.
After waiting a few weeks, we received the nicest rejections. Seriously, I had prepared myself for a beating, given everything that I’ve heard about how harsh the publishing world can be, but these publishers were really quite nice. Here are a few excerpts:
“I’m attracted to this idea and to April Davila, who has such a nice presence on the page….”
“The author has a great voice and I really enjoyed reading through it…”
and my personal favorite:
“Davila obviously has a very bright future ahead of her, and I have no doubt her experience as a scientist will give her a unique perspective to take on this subject from all angles….”
But then, the ellipses were shortly followed by the reason they couldn’t take on the book. Some had similar projects on their slates already, and some where weary of the “Month/year of” type book. It seems to be the general consensus of the publishing industry that “Eat, Pray, Love,” was the pinnacle of the “Month/year of” books and that they’re on the down swing from here on out.
So my agent and I went back to the drawing board and re-conceived the idea for the book. On Monday I sent her the revised version of the proposal now titled “Monsanto: How a company you’ve never heard of controls what you eat, drink and wear.”
Though loosely based on my experiences last year, it’s a much more in depth look at the evolution of the company, and how it has come to dominate our food supply.
Anyhow, my agent is reading the version over and I am waiting to hear her thoughts. In the meantime, this is a perfect time to sneak in a few hours with my fiction.
Fingers crossed for the little guy to take a long nap today.
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