After 104 Rejections, Company #105 Said Yes: Tommy Short's The Call I Almost Missed
Tommy Short spent nearly two decades officiating Division I college basketball and worked the USA men's Olympic team before retiring in 2020. A question from his six-year-old daughter — "Daddy, why are you always on your phone?" — sent him on a 365-day journey without a cell phone that became The Call I Almost Missed, his Scribe-published debut. Before Scribe said yes, 104 publishers and literary agents had said no.
Why He Wrote the Book
Tommy was a paid professional whose phone was an appendage. He spent twenty years on the court in arenas full of noise where his phone never came with him — the same discipline he's now adopted at home. The catalyst was the kind of moment any parent recognizes instantly.
"I can very clear as day remember, it was a Saturday, I'm sitting on the couch. I don't remember, and I think that says a lot about it, I don't remember what I was looking at. And I can just remember my now six-year-old looking up at me and asking, daddy, why are you always on your phone? And for any parents out there, that question, it strikes deep, deep in your soul."
— Tommy Short, author of The Call I Almost Missed
He gave himself five or six weeks from idea to launch. August 6, 2023 to August 6, 2024 — 365 days without a phone. Laptop was for email once a day and for virtual coaching only. He told 100 to 125 close friends, family, and clients. No social announcement.
After 104 Rejections, Company #105 Said Yes
"I think I reached out to 104 different publishers and literary agents and got either nothing or a no from them. 105 was the magic number."
— Tommy Short
What he describes about working with Scribe is the experience every author hopes for after they have been beaten up by the rejection cycle.
"It felt like I wasn't just a name on a sheet. I owe a lot to [the publishing manager] I first came in contact with at Scribe. I mean, even when my mom was sick, she was reaching out to me, not about when is the book coming out. It was just like, hey, is there anything I can do for you. We've never met in person. It felt like I was a member of the Scribe family even before I signed with them."
— Tommy Short
The Book That Almost Did Not Happen
A few weeks after Tommy turned his phone back on in August 2024, his mom went into the hospital. For 105 straight days she never came home. She passed away in November. From August to late March of the following year, Tommy did not touch the manuscript.
"I am not a procrastinator by trade. At that point the book was probably 90% finished. And I remember my therapist saying, you're subconsciously connecting finishing the book and ending the grieving process with your mom. Those are two separate events and you're allowed to finish one and continue the other. And Eric, I completely rewrote the book that people have in their hands today in 22 days."
— Tommy Short
The version readers hold today is the version that came out of those 22 days. Tommy says losing his mom was the biggest gift the book got, because it forced a level of vulnerability he could not have written before.
What the First Few Weeks of Launch Have Looked Like
The book has been out for only a few weeks. Tommy has already spoken at one of the largest churches in America and at a prison. Eric Jorgenson, who read every review on launch week, said the book is "clearly gaining some real traction" and "has struck a chord." The reach beyond his immediate network has begun.
The cover, designed by [the cover designer at Scribe], is a cell phone submerged in water, ringing, with the title on it. Tommy says people at coffee meetings see the book on the table and reach for their pocket thinking their own phone just rang.
What He Tells First-Time Authors
"Don't get hung up on the how. On day zero, I didn't know the title, I didn't know the format, I didn't know anything. All I knew is that I was just going to be present in every conversation. So just get the shittiest first draft on paper, really know who you're writing to, and just start. There's no perfect way... Writing a book is the hardest thing I've ever done. It's not even close. But it's arguably the most self-gratifying, sometimes selfish, but so therapeutic."
— Tommy Short
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