When I was a child, I dreamed of football
glory. My plan was to quarterback LSU to the
national title, to become a first-team
All-American and to win the Heisman
Trophy. Then I’d move on to the NFL and step
under center for either the New Orleans Saints,
the St. Louis Cardinals or the Baltimore
Colts. I was ready to be the next Archie
Manning, Jim Hart or Bert Jones. I was all set
to do United Way commercials and to have Howard
Cosell describe my performances as
“brilliant.” And I actually wanted more than
that. I would play three professional sports at
once, finding the time in the winter to soar
like Dr. J and in the summer to pitch like Ron
Guidry and to hit like Mike Schmidt. On top of
all those feats, I would work in an Olympic gold
medal or two, preferably in swimming.
By the time I became a teenager, I
realized the dream had to change. Athletically,
I was better suited to be a writer. My epiphany
was only a momentary disappointment. I soon
learned that writing was more fulfilling for me
than playing sports. But succeeding at it was
another matter. Before I submitted a book
proposal forOne
Dream, I had written two novels and failed
to sell them. Creating them was a rewarding but
frustrating experience. In five years, I’d
labored through countless drafts and “earned”
more than 100 rejection letters. I've already
written off the first novel as simply a good
education. While I believe the second novel,The
Baron of City Park, will sell after a little
fine-tuning, my journey to publication has been
a slow, sputtering gimp.
Then cameOne
Dream. There was nothing slow about its
gestation. From idea to sale to first draft, it
was pure blitzkrieg. On the timeline below,
I’ve tried to map out how the book came to
be. But really, looking back, it seems like it
just happened.
Summer 1999
The chain of events that led toOne
Dreamactually
began one year before the Saints hit Thibodaux
when I had just moved back there with my wife
Susie. I was practicing law and in my spare
time, writing fiction. Journalism, especially
broadcast journalism, was the furthest thing
from my mind. That changed when a production
company, LAFCO Marketing & Promotions, moved in
across the hall from my office. LAFCO’s big,
bad cameras and fancy computer editors intrigued
me. It had been eight years since I'd pieced
together a video story, but I suddenly had the
urge to do it again.
LAFCO’s owner, Tony Lafaso, read my
mind. Tony shocked me when he offered me the
position of host and co-producer ofThe
Rickey Broussard Show, a program about
Nicholls State basketball. I told him that I’d
never been a host, only a reporter, a
videographer and a short stint as a noontime
sports anchor. And this was all part of the
on-the-job training at the
University of
Missouri, where students make-up the talent at
KOMU-TV, the local NBC affiliate. Despite my
lack of experience, he hired me.
Fall 1999
I loved doing the show. I didn’t mind
working at my law firm all day, going home to
eat supper with my then pregnant wife, then
heading to LAFCO to help edit the show, often
working past midnight. The experience renewed
my interest in journalism. I was now on the
look for other opportunities.
March 9, 2000
I thought my next opportunity would come
on this day when the Saints announced that that
they would hold training camp in Thibodaux for
the first time in 25 years. We were about to
wrap up a season ofThe
Rickey Broussard Show, and I saw a
television project with the Saints as my next
journalistic foray. But first, I was on the
verge of a much bigger endeavor.
April 5, 2000
At 1:10 p.m., I officially became the
father of my first child, Grace
Elizabeth. Gracie immediately enriched our
lives. Her presence also motivated me to become
a paid writer. But by this time, I didn’t
believe I had a realistic chance at doing a TV
project associated with the Saints. No big
deal, I thought, I’ll do newspaper.
April 11, 2000
I mailed a letter to 40 different
newspapers who were in the Saints fan base area
but who wouldn’t be likely to send a reporter to
camp. I offered my services as a
self-syndicated, daily feature writer.
Early May 2000
Out of all the newspapers I queried, only
two responded, and both declined. One editor
was kind enough to tell me that there was a good
reason my services weren’t needed. It was
because the Associated Press would provide its
member newspapers with camp coverage. How
stupid could I be, forgetting about the AP.
I was about ready to scrap the whole
Saints camp idea when I thought about a
book. Oddly, I’d never really considered
writing a non-fiction book. I should have,
though, because for one, it’s less of a
gamble. A writer can sell a non-fiction book on
a proposal while a non-published novelist must
write the entire novel before submitting it.
After I decided to write the proposal, it
didn’t take long to select my angle. I asked
this question: Who has the most to lose at
training camp? The answer was the undrafted
rookies because for them, it’s probably a
one-time shot, where they’ll either grab their
dream or watch it slip through their sweaty
fingers. They go into camp with no professional
experience, no real money, and no guarantees
whatsoever.
When I sat down to write the proposal, the
first sentence came to me immediately, and I
banged out 16 pages in one weekend. I did a
little revision on it, but not much. I swear,
it almost wrote itself. I showed it to my wife,
who, while being my biggest supporter is also
one of my biggest critics (she trashed my first
novel). When she handed me back the proposal,
she was grinning. She wrote on it: “This is
awesome — get ready to sweat, write and hold a
baby at the same time.” Other readers also had
only positive things to say. I felt pretty good
about my chances.
May 10, 2000
I began to simultaneously send the
proposal to any reputable publisher that
published sports books. I mailed out 40 in
all. I asked the editors to please respond as
quickly as possible. Camp started in two
months, and I would need at least a week or two
to do some pre-camp interviews. I told myself
that the only way I could justify covering camp
and the preseason games was if I had a book
contract. Otherwise, it wasn’t worth cutting
back on my legal practice during that period and
spending extra time away from my family.
In a week, I began to receive the
all-too-familiar rejection letters. But this
time,rejection
didn’t equaldejection. The
letters actually got me excited. It was like
the editors really wanted to take a chance on
me, but they were afraid. Some of their
comments:
“The concept of following ten undrafted
rookies trying to fulfill their dream of playing
in the NFL seems very
compelling. Unfortunately, this isn’t the sort
of project ______ can take on.”
“Sounds like a fine idea for someone to
publish, but we wouldn’t do it justice.”
“I’m sorry to say that this is not right
for me — it’s my personal belief that the pro
game is tougher to sell.”
“Interesting concept — it doesn’t fit our
schedule, though.”
“It’s an intriguing idea, but I think it
would make a better magazine or newspaper piece
than a book.”
Despite receiving several “encouraging”
rejection letters, towards the end of May, I was
losing some of my optimism, until...
May 31, 2000
I received a long email from Adam
Rifenberick of Sleeping
Bear Press. He wrote, “I think the
trials of a dream are appealing from so many
levels to so many different types of people
whether it be in sport and/or in life.” But
Adam had some concerns. One, he wanted another
writing sample, even though he said my proposal
was “quite well-written.” Two, he wanted to
make sure I had enough access to the ten
undrafted rookies.
I sent him another writing sample, and it
sufficed. As to access, the Saints media
relations chief told me over the phone, “You
won't have any problem getting access to these
guys. You can get hours with them.” Well, I
learned later that while I wouldn't get “hours,”
the Dreamers would give me what I needed.
June 8, 2000
I took a day off from work to go to the
first day of Saints minicamp at their Metairie
compound, even though Sleeping Bear still hadn’t
decided whether to take on the project. But in
the early afternoon, I called my office, and my
secretary read me an email from Adam, saying the
book was all go. I can’t explain the
feeling. On June 22, we signed the contract. I
was on my way.
July 15, 2000
I stepped into the media area surrounding
the practice field for the opening day of
camp. It was a molten but beautiful
morning. Note pad, pen and tape recorder in
hand, I heard the air horn sound and watched the
players charge onto the field. The real story
was beginning. There would be ups and downs for
everyone involved, but at that point, it was
pure promise.
September 3, 2000
My coverage ended with the first game of
the regular season. Now, I had the time to
write Page One of the book.
During the entire month of September, I
put myself in front of a computer at every
opportunity. I finally had the excuse to make
writing my first professional priority. It was a
busy but blissful 25 days.
September 29, 2000
I mailed the 230-page first draft ofOne
Dreamto
Sleeping Bear. In March, I would catch up with
the Dreamers for the Epilogue. For the time
being, I had to catch my breath.
April 2, 2001
I turned in the first Draft of the 22-page
Epilogue.
July 20, 2001
The book goes to print.
July 27, 2001
The first, sneak-preview signing takes
place at Little Professor Book Center in
Thibodaux. I show up 30 minutes early at 5:30
p.m. to help set up, but a customer walks in and
grabs a book for me to sign. I start signing at
that moment and won't stop until after 9
p.m. In the middle of this madness, New Orleans
reporter Glynn Boyd enters the store with his
WGNO-TV 26 (ABC) crew. As I sign, Boyd
interviews me for a story that will air on the
10 p.m. news. By night's end, 81 copies are
sold. Even with my hometown advantage, I'm
shocked. It's the most successful author
signing in the store's one-year history. Owner
David Ameen is so happy he jumps up on the
counter and treats the world to his rendition of
"Rose from Alabama."
August 3, 2001
The book is “officially” released.
August 11, 2001
I'm pleasantly surprised by the results of
a signing at B. Dalton Bookseller at Lakeside
Mall in Metairie. This is suburban New Orleans,
and despite the short news segment on WGNO-TV,
the book's New Orleans publicity has yet to kick
in. In an hour and a half, I sell 16 copies, 10
to strangers, 9 of whom have never even heard of
the book. This is a result, I think, of the
book's "curb appeal," which was created by
Sleeping Bear Press and its cover and jacket
designer Felicia Macheske and by photographer
Cindy Skop, formerly ofThe
Courierof
Houma. It's also because of the nice back-cover
blurbs written by Jim Beseda, Michael Kim and
Tom Hoffarth.
August 13, 2001 One Dreamis
rising quickly on Amazon.com. I'm not sure
why. I'm puzzled because on the book's
Amazon.com page, there is no book description,
no official Amazon review and no customer
reviews. Amazon has yet to feature the book on
its Sports or Football pages. So it's difficult
for me to explain how One Dreamis
the bestselling book in the Amazon category
called, "National Football League." But I'll
take it!
August 22, 2001
I can feel the publicity machine churning
-- literally overnight. This morning, the book
made a one-day leap on Amazon.com from an
overall rank of around 53,000 to 7,937. The
jump is a result of several things. Last week,
WDSU-TV's Rich Lenz and Steve Paretti produced a
first-class, multi-subplot package on One Dream
that ran on their 10 p.m. and next-day a.m.
casts. Two days ago, I appeared with Eric
Paulsen on the WWL-TV morning show, the nation's
highest-rated local a.m. show. Then at some
point yesterday, Amazon featured the book on its
Sports Page and kept it there until 8:00 a.m.
this morning. Finally, last night, I was on WWL
870-AM with Buddy DiLiberto and Mike Detillier
for their entire 7 p.m. hour. The 50,000-watt,
clear-channel giant reaches into as many as 42
states. I've always enjoyed listening to the
Buddy D and Mike combo, and I got to see
first-hand just how talented they are. Buddy
has also written a new book,When
the Saints Came Marching In, with
photographer, Michael Hebert. His book
celebrates last year's Saints' dream season in
vivid pictures and in clear prose.
WOODY FALGOUX
writes, practices law, and is the co-owner of Cherry Books in Thibodaux,
Louisiana.
