Five Pages a Day by Peg Kehret Page B

Hour Day , aimed at family members who care for people with Alzheimer’s disease, was published. My editor decided there was no need for a second book on the subject. I put my manuscript away. By the time it became clear that Alzheimer’s disease was far more common than first thought, and other books on the subject would be worthwhile, my research was out of date.
    I had now spent two years writing two books that did not get published. Still, I didn’t regret the year that I spent writing the Alzheimer’s book because the knowledge I gained helped me understand and care for my father.
    About that time, I went to a wedding, usually a happy event, but in this case I grew uneasy as I listened to the vows that were spoken. The bride, a lively young woman with a great sense of humor, solemnly promised to let her husband be head of the household and make all the decisions. I wondered how my friend could make such a pledge.
    She had spent months planning the flowers, what the bridal party would wear, and the food for the reception, but clearly she had given no thought to the most important part of the wedding: the vows.
    I wish I could have written those wedding vows for her, I thought.
    I paid little attention to the rest of the ceremony, for I was mentally writing wedding vows. A book idea had just been born.
    Beginning writers are often told to write about what they know best. I knew about love. I knew about a happy marriage. I knew my friend should not be agreeing to let her husband decide everything in what ought to be an equal partnership. (Less than two years later, she was divorced.)
    The morning after the wedding, I called my minister. “Do many couples write their own wedding vows?” I asked.
    â€œLots of them want to,” he replied, “but they don’t know how to go about it. Usually they end up using the standard vows. Then they’ll add a poem or reading to personalize the ceremony.”
    I called a Catholic priest, a Unitarian minister, and a justice of the peace and got the same response each time. Couples want to write their own personal vows, but they don’t know how.
    I checked Books in Print , a reference book that lists all books that are currently available, to see if there was already a resource for such couples. There wasn’t, so I began writing original wedding vows, along with suggestions on how couples could use my vows as a starting point to write their own. I also wrote ring ceremonies and anniversary vows. Six months later, I had a book manuscript.
    Once again I sent it to the agent who had tried to sell my novel but had returned the Alzheimer’s book. She returned this manuscript, too.
    â€œYou write so well,” she said, “but I have no market for this book. None of the publishers I work with have published anything like this.”
    This time, instead of crying over her letter, I got angry. They haven’t published anything like this, I thought, because it’s a new idea. Publishers always say they want fresh material, but now she can’t sell it because it’s too different.
    This agent worked for a large agency and dealt with all the well-known publishing companies. If she saw no market for my book of wedding vows, I knew I had a problem.
    I also knew that she wasn’t the right agent for me, and I never sent her anything else.
    Contemporary Drama Service, where I had published many of my plays, is a part of Meriwether Publishing, which publishes books. I submitted Vows of Love and Marriage to Meriwether, and they decided to publish it. I still get goosebumps when I remember learning that my first book would be published.
    Vows of Love and Marriage was published in 1979 and stayed in print for ten years. A paperback edition, Wedding Vows: How to Express Your Love in Your Own Words , is still in print.
    Every writer looks forward to the day when the first copy of his or her book arrives. I had dedicated Vows of Love and