Book Deal for Science Teacher

How did Rob Buyea juggle a full-time job at NMH teaching biology, coaching the super-star wrestling team, and a family with three daughters under 6—and manage to write and publish a young adult novel? It may have started when he was 7 years old in rural upstate New York. That’s when he knew in his heart he would be a wrestling champ. It continued as an eighth grader who knew he would be an All-American college wrestler. That relentless drive pushed him to be a great athlete, and when he became a teacher and stopped wrestling, "there was a void," he says. "Writing is what filled that void for me."

Buyea has been told that the manuscript he sold to Random House will be on bookstore shelves by the fall of 2010. However, after the winding road he’s been on to secure a publisher for his young adult novel, tentatively called The Dollar-Word Man, he’ll believe it when he sees it.

He started writing the story four-and-a-half years ago, when he was an elementary school teacher in Connecticut. While working in his spare time on another writing project, the characters in The Dollar-Word Man kept popping into his mind. “I tried to push them aside, but they kept getting stronger,” he says.

Finally he gave in, and, writing daily before heading to work, he produced a story that takes place over the course of a school year, narrated by seven fifth graders. The students are composites of the third and fourth graders he taught at his former job.

The book unfolds over 200 pages and the structure is modeled after the racially tense Virginia Euwer Wolff story Bat 6. “It’s not a ‘My Little Pony’ book you get at Stop & Shop,” jokes Buyea, who adds that when some people learn he’s written a young adult novel they think lightweight picture book.

Buyea wasn’t interested in reading or writing until after college. He says his SAT verbal score was dismal. But teaching his elementary school students to write made him want to be a better reader and writer. His first published article ran in a journal for math educators.

With his current book, he endured tantalizingly close calls with three publishers and ended up striking a deal with Random House in January.

Buyea’s acquaintance with another boarding-school-teacher-and-wrestling-coach-turned-writer, best-selling author John Irving, had a role in the story of The Dollar-Word Man’s publication. Buyea and Irving, a parent of an NMH student and a wrestling fan, knew one another through the wrestling program. After they had been friends for about a year, Buyea mentioned he was working on a manuscript, and that a Random House editor was interested, having asked for a revision. Irving read the manuscript and encouraged Buyea to do the revision.  He read the manuscript again after Buyea's revision and loved it.  The editor had nothing but praise for the book, but rejected it.  Then Irving helped to get the book in the hands of a different publishing house. A deal with Simon and Schuster was nearly finalized when the economy started tanking and the publisher pulled back.

Then Buyea engaged an agent, with Irving’s help, who shopped the book around again, and Delacorte Press, a division of Random House, bought it. He says he’s thrilled, as is his family. “It’s been this huge rollercoaster ride,” he says with a sigh. Buyea is working on revisions for the book and has other writing projects in mind for the future. He says his friendship with Irving helps him stay focused. “Knowing John’s story helps me keep the faith,” he says.