Thoughts and Creative Nuggets by Art Fettig that Change People’s Lives
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I can still remember that Sunday morning in 1973 when a Father Farrell visited our Catholic Church in Battle Creek, Michigan. He spoke at all the masses soliciting subscriptions for a monthly magazine called Liguori. Our pastor introduced him as the Editor of Liguori Press. “Cha Ching Ching!” went those little sound effects in my mind. I had been writing short humor articles about raising our four children and some other material on our choir, our ushers and on being a Lector. I’d sold a number of things to various church magazines of different denominations and to parents magazines and even a diaper magazine..([The latter might give you an idea of the quality of my humor.)
I must admit I wasn’t much of a participant that morning. My mind was spinning with a new book idea and when the service was over I was headed to the church sacristy intent on meeting Father Farrell.
I rang the back doorbell and explained my mission and Father Farrell came out and joined us. When I explained my mission he reluctantly sat down with me and I asked “Father, how would Liguori Press like to publish my humor book on a Catholic family raising kids.?” I went on in more detail and after several minutes Father asked “How long would it be until you might be able to send me a completed manuscript?” My mind went into fast forward and I responded, “How long will you be here?”
He said, “Until 3 this afternoon.” And I said, “I will have it ready by three and bring it to you here.”
We shook hands and I raced out the door.
I went straight home to my attic office and dug out the carbon copies of those articles I had sold to magazines. Then I went to the pile of articles which had been rejected and others that had recently been sent to magazines and after about an hour of sorting I had 29 articles in all. None of this was easy because my office was a real mess.
I sat down at my typewriter and typed out a title. “It Only Hurts When I Frown”. Then I typed out a short pitch for the back of the book that said, “It Only Hurts When I Frown. A funny, happy, loving look at life.” By Art Fettig
And then I raced over to my office at the Railroad Station. I took that stack of 29 articles into the Train Dispatcher’s Office where I had the unlimited use of the copy machine and I spent a long time producing two copies of everything. Then I laid the whole thing out on a giant picnic table we had in the lobby and I danced around it moving the different articles around here and there and at a quarter to three I put it all together with a cover letter to Father Ferrell, into a manila folder and I got in my car and raced to the church which was just a few blocks away.
Father Farrell answered the door, smiled and looked at his watch. “You made it! I was just getting ready to leave.” He pulled the manuscript out of the folder, looked through it quickly and all he said was “Hmmmm.Hmmmm”
Just a few weeks later he called me and said they planned to print 3,000 paperbacks.
It was my first book sale. Imagine, a book that didn’t even exist until I got that flash in my mind there at mass that morning. Certainly I had all of the ingredients for the book but I never looked at it that way until that morning.
We sold out the original edition and then republished it in 1986, 1990 and 1993.
It was a good start and I tried to make up with my prayers the following Sunday.
Recommended Reading
The Platinum Rule by Art Fettig
The Age Old Secret to Happiness and Prosperity. If you believe in the Golden Rule then, just maybe, you are one of those fortunate few who are ready to take a giant step forwaqrd in your lives to fame, fortune and a great new plateau of personal satisfaction.
Art Fettig has identified a little known key to wealth and happiness in his book The Platinum rule. I hope that millions of people discover this little book and apply this giving formula. Trul their lives will be enriched and certainly this will be a better world.” – The Wickman Formula, Executive Press 1991
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