Wrestling's Greatest Moments-How it All Started (Part One)

Today marks the official release date of Wrestling's Greatest Moments so I thought I'd share a little background on how the book got started. Back around 2006, I was off of work due to illness and I took my first real break in six years (I was working a full-time job and building a law practice). The time off was great and it got me thinking about my passion for wrestling and how much I enjoyed writing about it (doing PPV recaps for Pro Wrestling Illustrated's website and writing weekly columns for World Wrestling Insanity). I decided that I really wanted to try my hand at writing a wrestling book.

Fast forward a year later. I'd started a recurring feature over at World Wrestling Insanity entitled Great Moments in Wrestling which recapped some of the hottest angles in wrestling (such as the birth of the nWo, Hulk Hogan's WWF title win over the Iron Sheik, and Ric Flair's big win at the inaugural Starcade). It was a lot of fun and it finally struck me that it might be a good idea for a book.

The problem was that I really didn't know how to proceed from idea to book. Fortunately, James Guttman (owner of World Wrestling Insanity and author of two, count 'em two wrestling books!) told me how he broke into the business. He suggested I check out ECW Press, the same outfit which published his first (and eventually his second) book. I went to their website and checked out their submission policy. The folks over at ECW Press were looking for new books and when I told the editor what my proposal was, he suggested that I send him an outline of the book along with the first thirty pages of the manuscript and they'd review it.

I'd been fiddling around with an outline and some rough drafts for about six months so this part wasn't too difficult. I sent my manuscript and the outline to a couple friends, got some feedback, made some revisions, and sent the proposal out. Now all I had to do was wait.

Like Tom Petty once sang, the waiting is the hardest part. For the next three months, I agonized over what ECW Press' reaction would be. I knew better than to pester them with emails so I sat tight and hoped for the best. Every day I checked the mailbox, looking for a reply. By May, I still hadn't heard anything so I decided I'd write to ECW Press. The editor was very courteous and told me that he'd have an answer in a few weeks. I didn't have to wait that long and just a week later, I found out that he liked the book and he was definitely interested in it!

I felt like I was on top of the world! I'd sent a book proposal ten years earlier to an agent only to be turned down. For some reason, I never tried finding any other agents. Now, I was about to enter the book world. The journey was just beginning!