Martin Parnell

In 2010, whilst running the 250 marathons, one of the recurring questions I was asked was “Are you going to write a book?”

I’ll be honest it was the last thing on my mind as I trudged through the rain and snow day after day.

Still, the Quest ended on Dec. 31 and as the months passed the pain subsided and the idea of a book resurfaced.

I’ve dabbled in the world of book publishing before. In 2008, I self-published three books.

The first was about my cycling trip across Africa called How do you eat an Elephant? The second was an illustrated children’s book called Riverbank Friends.

My mother-in-law, Terryanne Roberts, who is a gifted poet, wrote the story and I provided the drawings. The third book was Pause for Thought.

I had the honour of providing photos for Terryanne’s spiritual and inspirational poems.

Publishing these books made me realize self-publishing is a viable option. But it sure would be nice to get a publisher interested.

Fortunately, I have a secret weapon in Lyn Cadence.

Lyn and I met, through a mutual friend in the fall of 2009. I needed someone to handle the public relations aspect of Marathon Quest 250 and Lyn stepped forward.

All through 2010 she sent out news releases and lined up interviews for me. She also introduced me to the world of social media. I’m really not very good but she got me going on Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter.

You can teach an old dog new tricks.

This is one idea in the works for a possible book cover for Martin’s autobiography chronicling the 250 marathons he ran in 2010 raising more than $300,000 for the Right to Play charity. Photo courtesy Martin Parnell

Lyn’s background is in publishing and she agreed to be my literary agent. The first thing she told me to do was put together a proposal. Some of the key elements were a cover letter, author biography, book outline, book title, sample chapter, and marketing plan.

While preparing the plan, I had several chats with Mary Lou Davis, owner of Bentleys Books in Cochrane. Mary Lou has given me a number of excellent tips.

Did you know that 87 per cent of books are sold based on their cover? She said it was critical to do something eye catching, with a good title.

The working title for my book is “Marathon,” but that might be a bit boring. I think it’s vital to have something original, so I’m playing with Martin Parnell and the 250 marathons, The Man with the Running Tattoo and Twilight: the best time to run 250 marathons.

Well, two months ago I sent Lyn the book proposal and she recently got back to me. Don Gorman, publisher from Rocky Mountain Books, wanted to have a meeting. I checked out the company and found that they were established in 1979 by renowned mountaineers Tony and Gillean Daffern. One of their main focuses is outdoor adventure and their motto is “Think Outside.” One of the recent books they published is Bad Medicine by former judge John Reilly.

Stay tuned.

© 2011 Martin Parnell

mjparnell@shaw.ca

www.marathonquest250.com

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