I am pleased to announce that Money or Love and I are now being represented by Chip MacGregor, President of MacGregor and Luedeke (formerly MacGregor LIterary) and I am beyond excited by this recent turn of events.
As a bit of background, Chip and I know each other through our mutual love for his wife / my Crown Hill editor, Holly Lorincz. We recently connected through a conversation Holly and I shared about my latest “Hallmark-style” Money or Love book, and Chip’s established track record in representing Hallmark authors.
Checking out the MacGregor and Luedeke website, I found Chip’s bio detailing his comprehensive knowledge of the publishing iindustry, from book development to writing, acquisition to production, marketing to sales. He is a former publisher with Time-Warner and Hachette and has secured nearly 1,000 book deals for authors with all of the major publishers, including numerous imprints at Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, HarperCollins, Thomas & Mercer, Jossey-Bass, Llewellyn, Zondervan, Thomas Nelson, Baker, Tyndale, Waterbrook, B&H, Worthy, Revell, Harvest House, and dozens of others.
Yet it was the “About Overview” section of the website that I found equally impactful. Over the past several years, Chip has done more book deals than any other agent in the United States… and worked with dozens of bestsellers, sold numerous movie and TV projects, watched authors honored with all variety of writing awards, and have become a voice in the industry for helping authors think long-term about their writing careers.
From there I reached out to Chip. We emailed and chatted about my book and and he agreed to represent me and Money or Love.
So, what does all of this mean?
Well, Chip is already contacting publishing houses including Penguin/Random House, Harper Collins/Harlequin, and Hatchette/Forever. The first two are connected to Hallmark books and films and the third is the publisher of authors such as Mitch Albom, Tina Fey and Nicholas Sparks. Yeah….my brain is not allowing me to sleep much these days!
Realistically, despite Chip’s successful track record and his strong connection to the publishing industry, it’s still a long shot that an indie author such as me will end up with a publishing contract. At the same time, why not me?!
Chip’s goal is to determine in short order if there is interest in Money or Love. Should there be none, then I will continue to move forward with this book, as I have with all the others, presenting to book clubs and community groups throughout Western New York and across the nation—-sharing this humorous and touchging story of finding love from the far side of 40.
In the meantime, while I wait on pins and needles to find out the fate of my fifth book, I will continue posting fun Money or Love reader polls and quizzes across social media. And, of course, you can still download a free reader preview though this link. https://www.christinaabt.com/money-or-love#preview.
Fingers crossed. Stay tuned……