OT: 53rd Man, Includes Matthew Slater's Story

[Ian]

I don't normally do this, but one of our own guys in here (@ivanvamp) wrote a book that just came out that I got a hold of called "53rd Man: Fighting to Make It in the NFL" and it's terrific, so I figured I'd pass it along in here. He covers several NFL players' journeys to the NFL, including Matthew Slater, and it's just a really great read:

Amazon product ASIN 1538181495
The forum software apparently converts the link to a cart-looking thing, but the link just takes you to the page for the book.

Not that often one of our own guys does something like this, so I wanted to pass it along. Congrats, Man, and best wishes to you.

 

[ivanvamp]

Thanks Ian!! And if anyone here wants to get a 30% discount from my publisher, send me a PM and I'll pass it along. If you want a signed copy, you'll have to order it from me directly. Here's the links to Amazon, my publisher, and my personal website.

Much appreciated! And I think you all will love the stuff on Matthew Slater, and there's also a great scene in there with former Pats UDFA Austin Carr, when he was in camp with NE back in 2017.

Spoiler: You get to read the story of what it was like to be cut by Bill Belichick.

 

[WaterfallJumper]

Thanks Ian!! And if anyone here wants to get a 30% discount from my publisher, send me a PM and I'll pass it along. If you want a signed copy, you'll have to order it from me directly. Here's the links to Amazon, my publisher, and my personal website.

Much appreciated! And I think you all will love the stuff on Matthew Slater, and there's also a great scene in there with former Pats UDFA Austin Carr, when he was in camp with NE back in 2017.

Spoiler: You get to read the story of what it was like to be cut by Bill Belichick.

Huge accomplishment. Congratulations!

 

[ivanvamp]

Huge accomplishment. Congratulations!

Thank you! It was a TOTAL blast to write.

 

[ivanvamp]

Also, just so you all know.... I've written a huge article that patsfans.com published regarding Deflategate (yes I wrote it many years ago). So it's an area of huge interest to me...STILL.

And when I was interviewing Matthew Slater for the book (I had multiple interviews with him over the span of several months - he is a GREAT guy), at one point I asked him, "This isn't going in the book but I gotta know...what did you think of Deflategate?" And his answer was simply this: "It was the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen." Of course he's a Patriot, but he's also a total standup guy. One day I'm going to sit down with him and really unpack it - maybe that's another book - but just so you all know, the Pats people all knew it was total, unadulterated BS.

 

[ivanvamp]

Last Wednesday we had a great kickoff zoom call with Austin Carr, one of the featured guys in the book. On September 6 at 8:00pm EST, we will have another zoom call, and our guest will be Andrew Callahan, Pats beat reporter with the Boston Herald. He is great to talk to and can give us awesome insight into all things Pats. Let me know if you're interested in it. It will be public in that it's open, but it also requires a zoom invitation that I need to send you. So please let me know if you want to be part of this.

 

[mgcolby]

Congrats. And yes please on the invite

 

[patfanken]

Congratulation on getting a book published. It's a feat and I know it.

I wrote a book back in 1998 just because an idea popped into my head. I gave it to a few friends and they liked it and told me I should get it published. One even offered a number of an agent. I sent it to her and SHE liked it and got me an editor to get a manuscript finalized. She then sent it to several of the biggest publishers. All of them wrote me back some very nice compliments about the book, while in the NEXT paragraph explained why they wouldn't publish it.

Mostly it was because I had never been published and maybe if I could write a series it would make sense. Maybe another 2 books related to the first. I actually started a second novel, but then life got in the way and both books have laid in desk draw for the last 25 years. And for most of that time I haven't given it a 2nd thought

But this is YOUR success story, Ivan, I just wanted you to know that someone who understands, a bit about how hard it is to do what you have accomplished, will make it feel even better. Just super cool.

BTW- not for nothing, but a comprehensive book exposing the league, the Colts and Ravens' injustice and mascinations for what they were. An blatant attempt to derail the freight train that was the NE Patriots and win back "parity". Make it happen Ivan, make it happen

 

[ivanvamp]

Congrats. And yes please on the invite

Ok cool. PM me your real name and email address and I'll get you in!

 

[ivanvamp]

Congratulation on getting a book published. It's a feat and I know it.

I wrote a book back in 1998 just because an idea popped into my head. I gave it to a few friends and they liked it and told me I should get it published. One even offered a number of an agent. I sent it to her and SHE liked it and got me an editor to get a manuscript finalized. She then sent it to several of the biggest publishers. All of them wrote me back some very nice compliments about the book, while in the NEXT paragraph explained why they wouldn't publish it.

Mostly it was because I had never been published and maybe if I could write a series it would make sense. Maybe another 2 books related to the first. I actually started a second novel, but then life got in the way and both books have laid in desk draw for the last 25 years. And for most of that time I haven't given it a 2nd thought

But this is YOUR success story, Ivan, I just wanted you to know that someone who understands, a bit about how hard it is to do what you have accomplished, will make it feel even better. Just super cool.

BTW- not for nothing, but a comprehensive book exposing the league, the Colts and Ravens' injustice and mascinations for what they were. An blatant attempt to derail the freight train that was the NE Patriots and win back "parity". Make it happen Ivan, make it happen

Ha! Well as you may know, I wrote a LONG article for patsfans years ago about Deflategate. I dare say that there aren't many people in the world who have looked into that subject as much as I have. And yes, it definitely is one of the books I want to write. 100%.

And thank you for your kind words. Writing is actually the easy part for me. I write pretty quickly. The hard part for me is the marketing piece, which I'm terrible at. Ian has been helpful to me here on patsfans, for which I am eternally grateful. I figure a book featuring Matthew Slater would find no better audience than this one right here, and Ian has been so gracious to let me share about it.

This is my fourth book actually. The first one is a family book really. The story of my grandfather's immigration to the US from Sicily in 1913, set in the context of the Italian-American experience in the late 19th and 20th centuries. I self-published that one. The second one is a baseball book titled The Forgotten Game, which is a deep dive into Game 5 of the 2004 ALCS and was a total blast to write. The third is a professional book about religion (I work in sports ministry) and then this last one, 53rd Man. The last three were all professional published.

It's hard to get a book published for sure. I got very fortunate to find an agent. I went to a writer's conference in Chicago in 2019 and paid $35 to get ten minutes with an agent. In ten minutes I pitched two ideas. She didn't like one (well she liked it but said, "I don't think I can sell that one.") and liked the other. I actually had a book deal in place (contracts were agreed on but not yet signed) with a smaller publisher in the spring of 2020 but the pandemic killed the deal. Huge bummer for me, though obviously the pandemic impacted a lot of people in a lot worse ways than that. But it led to a different deal with a different publisher and my writing "career" got off and running.

But I know I got very fortunate. It's hard to get an agent and I got one pretty quickly. I found it was important to sell myself, not just my manuscript. And then it's hard to get a publisher to want to publish your manuscript. I had a bunch of rejections, of course, but that's the business. But finally my agent was able to connect me to the right people and we had a deal and voilà. But it's a lot of work.

I do enjoy it though. Immensely. I'd love to hear more about what you wrote. PM me if you want. I'm sure it's worth giving it another shot and I'm more than willing to come alongside you and give support if you'd like.

 

[patfanken]

Ha! Well as you may know, I wrote a LONG article for patsfans years ago about Deflategate. I dare say that there aren't many people in the world who have looked into that subject as much as I have. And yes, it definitely is one of the books I want to write. 100%.

And thank you for your kind words. Writing is actually the easy part for me. I write pretty quickly. The hard part for me is the marketing piece, which I'm terrible at. Ian has been helpful to me here on patsfans, for which I am eternally grateful. I figure a book featuring Matthew Slater would find no better audience than this one right here, and Ian has been so gracious to let me share about it.

This is my fourth book actually. The first one is a family book really. The story of my grandfather's immigration to the US from Sicily in 1913, set in the context of the Italian-American experience in the late 19th and 20th centuries. I self-published that one. The second one is a baseball book titled The Forgotten Game, which is a deep dive into Game 5 of the 2004 ALCS and was a total blast to write. The third is a professional book about religion (I work in sports ministry) and then this last one, 53rd Man. The last three were all professional published.

It's hard to get a book published for sure. I got very fortunate to find an agent. I went to a writer's conference in Chicago in 2019 and paid $35 to get ten minutes with an agent. In ten minutes I pitched two ideas. She didn't like one (well she liked it but said, "I don't think I can sell that one.") and liked the other. I actually had a book deal in place (contracts were agreed on but not yet signed) with a smaller publisher in the spring of 2020 but the pandemic killed the deal. Huge bummer for me, though obviously the pandemic impacted a lot of people in a lot worse ways than that. But it led to a different deal with a different publisher and my writing "career" got off and running.

But I know I got very fortunate. It's hard to get an agent and I got one pretty quickly. I found it was important to sell myself, not just my manuscript. And then it's hard to get a publisher to want to publish your manuscript. I had a bunch of rejections, of course, but that's the business. But finally my agent was able to connect me to the right people and we had a deal and voilà. But it's a lot of work.

I do enjoy it though. Immensely. I'd love to hear more about what you wrote. PM me if you want. I'm sure it's worth giving it another shot and I'm more than willing to come alongside you and give support if you'd like.

Thanks and I will.....eventually.

 

[ivanvamp]

Thanks and I will.....eventually.

Ha! Excellent. Now I feel a tiny bit obligated to hold you accountable for this.

 

[ivanvamp]

Announcement: We will be having a 53rd Man zoom call Wednesday night, September 6, at 8:00pm EST. It will go for an hour. We will talk about the book for a little bit and then we will spend some time with Andrew Callahan, Patriots' beat reporter for the Boston Herald. Will be a great chance to ask him some NFL or Pats-specific questions! It's open to anyone, but you have to register to be let in.

Click here to register. Would love to "meet" some of you that night!

 

[Steve102]

Thanks Ian!! And if anyone here wants to get a 30% discount from my publisher, send me a PM and I'll pass it along. If you want a signed copy, you'll have to order it from me directly. Here's the links to Amazon, my publisher, and my personal website.

Much appreciated! And I think you all will love the stuff on Matthew Slater, and there's also a great scene in there with former Pats UDFA Austin Carr, when he was in camp with NE back in 2017.

Spoiler: You get to read the story of what it was like to be cut by Bill Belichick.

Congrats on the book! I hope you sell out!

 

[WaterfallJumper]

Ha! Well as you may know, I wrote a LONG article for patsfans years ago about Deflategate. I dare say that there aren't many people in the world who have looked into that subject as much as I have. And yes, it definitely is one of the books I want to write. 100%.

And thank you for your kind words. Writing is actually the easy part for me. I write pretty quickly. The hard part for me is the marketing piece, which I'm terrible at. Ian has been helpful to me here on patsfans, for which I am eternally grateful. I figure a book featuring Matthew Slater would find no better audience than this one right here, and Ian has been so gracious to let me share about it.

This is my fourth book actually. The first one is a family book really. The story of my grandfather's immigration to the US from Sicily in 1913, set in the context of the Italian-American experience in the late 19th and 20th centuries. I self-published that one. The second one is a baseball book titled The Forgotten Game, which is a deep dive into Game 5 of the 2004 ALCS and was a total blast to write. The third is a professional book about religion (I work in sports ministry) and then this last one, 53rd Man. The last three were all professional published.

It's hard to get a book published for sure. I got very fortunate to find an agent. I went to a writer's conference in Chicago in 2019 and paid $35 to get ten minutes with an agent. In ten minutes I pitched two ideas. She didn't like one (well she liked it but said, "I don't think I can sell that one.") and liked the other. I actually had a book deal in place (contracts were agreed on but not yet signed) with a smaller publisher in the spring of 2020 but the pandemic killed the deal. Huge bummer for me, though obviously the pandemic impacted a lot of people in a lot worse ways than that. But it led to a different deal with a different publisher and my writing "career" got off and running.

But I know I got very fortunate. It's hard to get an agent and I got one pretty quickly. I found it was important to sell myself, not just my manuscript. And then it's hard to get a publisher to want to publish your manuscript. I had a bunch of rejections, of course, but that's the business. But finally my agent was able to connect me to the right people and we had a deal and voilà. But it's a lot of work.

I do enjoy it though. Immensely. I'd love to hear more about what you wrote. PM me if you want. I'm sure it's worth giving it another shot and I'm more than willing to come alongside you and give support if you'd like.

That's a great story! Thanks for sharing.

My experience with traditional publishing is much closer to @patfanken's description. I've dabbled instead with self publishing and online serialization (I'm wrapping up book four in my current series of novels this week), but I've never been able to take the next step. I might have to pick your brain at some point.

 

[ivanvamp]

Congrats on the book! I hope you sell out!

Thanks so much! I appreciate your support!

 

[ivanvamp]

That's a great story! Thanks for sharing.

My experience with traditional publishing is much closer to @patfanken's description. I've dabbled instead with self publishing and online serialization (I'm wrapping up book four in my current series of novels this week), but I've never been able to take the next step. I might have to pick your brain at some point.

Thanks! I'm more than happy to help you in whatever way I can. I'm not exactly a millionaire writer, but now that I've gotten a few books published, I do have a little experience in these matters so anything I can do for you, let me know.

 

[ivanvamp]

Click here to register!