When it comes to getting over a breakup and becoming authors, Maryjane Fahey and Caryn Beth Rosenthal don’t take half measures. Their story of how Dumped: A Grown-Up Guide to Gettin’ Off Your Ass and Over Your Ex in Record Time (Sellers Publishing, Sept.) came to be published is almost as lively as the book itself.

Fahey, a writer and designer, and Rosenthal, an actress and former Benny Hill babe, are longtime friends who both went through breakups and got together over cocktails to commiserate and figure out how to get over their exes and move on. “Together, we were two determined chicks who were anxious to reclaim our fun, sexy selves again,” the authors say. After seeking guidance from various books, they found them lacking in inspiration, primarily written by men, and long on sentiment but short on helpful ideas. A year later Rosenthal and Fahey, both of whom had successfully moved on from being dumped, decided they needed to share what they had learned with other women by writing their own book.

Instead of writing a book proposal, Fahey and Rosenthal spent three months writing the entire book, which Fahey designed in a bold graphic style. They also created 10 mock-ups of Dumped to show to potential publishers. Steve Ross, director of the Abrams Artists Agency’s literary division, signed the authors. Before they even had a publisher, they created a Web site—dumped411.com/HOMEPAGE.html—and made a book trailer.

Fahey and Rosenthal had meetings with some of the Big Six publishers, who raved about Dumped and seemed on the verge of making offers. “But the biggest publisher got cold feet, and another gushed with praise but then said they wanted to take the book ‘in a different direction,’ ” say the authors. So they found Sellers Publishing, an eclectic indie house based in Portland, Maine. Editor-in-chief Mark Chimsky became the women’s champion, and they feel their book has found its perfect home at Sellers. Chimsky says, “I hope this will be the book to help women through getting dumped.”

Fahey and Rosenthal sign copies of their book today at Sellers’s booth (3679), 2–4 p.m.