Tough sell for writers at NY literary "speed-dating"

By Claudia Parsons

NEW YORK (Reuters) - If you think speed-dating is tough, try selling your book to an editor in three minutes.

That's what hundreds of aspiring authors were doing this week at a New York trade fair, and the odds were against them.

Literary agent Peter Miller said there were as many as 15 million wannabe writers in the United States with books to sell.

"If you do the math, it's less than half of one percent of the people that want to get published actually get published," Miller said as he prepared himself for a barrage of pitches.

Among those he gave short shrift was Kathleen Dolan who was selling her self-help book of anecdotes and poems titled "I Need A Face-Lift! (Spiritually Speaking)."

"I make very quick decisions about whether I can make a whole lot of money for you and me," Miller told her, adding that he had a firm rule: "I don't represent porn or poetry."

Larry Tavlor, a retired family practice doctor and a Mormon who came from San Diego to attend the event at BookExpo, was promoting his book "Diminishing Love", which he said presented scientific proof that gay marriage is wrong.

"As lust increases, love diminishes and families are destroyed. And it's related to oxytocin," Tavlor said, referring to a hormone released during orgasm and childbirth.