Stumbling toward publication
So, it looks like I may have the chance to squeeze out a book. I won’t bore you with all the details…okay, I will. You know I wrote that little manifesto over at ChangeThis and it turned out to be moderately popular. I figured I’d noodle around with a book proposal based upon the same stuff, since there’s a lot of fleshing out that ought to be done. I mentioned the proposal a couple of times on the blog and then out of the blue, got an inquiry from an executive editor at one of the big publishing houses asking to have a look. I wrote back and said that it wasn’t finished (I had to work on the marketing bit), but the editor didn’t mind, so I emailed it. That was pretty weird, but about a week or so later, I get a similar request from another big publishing house. Again, I say it isn’t finished, but they want a look, so I email it again.
A week ago today, I had a phone call with the editor from publishing house #1 (sorry, I was asked to be vague if I blog about this–at least for now). The call went well–they generally dig the proposal, but are asking me to work on my "platform." I’m a complete noob when it comes to this stuff, so I needed a little coaching on the platform
thing. Put bluntly, it’s basically a rundown of all the ways the author might be able to market and sell their own book.
After a bit of brainstorming, I’ve got a modest platform going…not super-impressive, but I’ve never paid much attention to social networking (okay, I’ve avoided it). One thing I’m pretty excited about is that Bill Jensen has agreed to write the Foreward for the book. I’ve been a fan of Bill’s thinking and writing for a while, so I’m totally stoked that he’s on board.
Nothing is set in stone yet, and everything could still go down the tank. But I’m feeling pretty fortunate to just get this far. It’s totally surreal, but I’m comfortable with surreal.
I do have as request for those of you who have read this far. If you’re willing to review the book on your weblog, ‘zine, newspaper or magazine, I’d love to hear from you. Just drop in a comment and let me know. ‘Course, this is good stuff for the publishers to see as well. If you’re willing to review it, I’ll probably be writing to you and asking for some readership numbers, since that’s what it seems like publishers are interested in seeing.
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POSTED IN: writing
13 opinions for Stumbling toward publication
Kyle
Mar 7, 2005 at 9:12 am
If you indeed write it, I’d be happy to review it on my blog. Your manifesto is right in line with my philosophy (mostly, anyway :) ) and I’d love to see it fleshed out.
Mary-Ann Horley
Mar 7, 2005 at 9:33 am
I’d like to review it - any time I cover relevent business-related topics they seem to be popular even though my blog is about a sport. I only get a couple of thousand uniques a month though.
Steve Pavlina
Mar 7, 2005 at 10:21 am
Sounds like a great idea. I’d be happy to review it (assuming of course you do a good job so I’m not forced to trash it, hehehe). My 5-month old blog at http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog currently averages 4000 visitors/day.
K. Todd Storch
Mar 7, 2005 at 11:50 am
You know you can count on me to review it!
Glad that Business Thoughts (www.ktoddstorch.com) could be a part of this from the beginning.
Todd
Josh Kaufman
Mar 7, 2005 at 12:35 pm
AWESOME! Congrats, Bren - very well deserved. Nice to know some publishing execs have a clue when it comes to good material. Would love to help in any way that I can, including reviewing and discussing the book.
My current blog traffic is small (new site), but my offline knowledge-sharing network is ginormous. :-)
Lyndon
Mar 7, 2005 at 2:48 pm
Sounds to me like maybe the publisher that offers you to market and sell your own book might be headquartered in Denmark.
Let me get this right: you write it, you edit it, you market it and you sell it. Maybe you should buy the ink and the paper too?
Publishers have professionals to market and sell their products. I would expect a professional publisher to furnish professional services, and nothing less.
thats my nickel on that one.
Bren
Mar 7, 2005 at 3:13 pm
Eh, that might be worth more like 3¢, Lyndon.
For self-publishing, you’re right on (except you actually do have to buy the ink and paper too). For traditional publishing, you’re mostly right on.
I’ve gotta write it and the publisher wants to know about the author’s reputation. Publishers seem to believe that people with larger networks sell more books AND people who are taking an active role in the life of their book will have better selling books. Makes sense to me that a publisher would want to know that they’re maximizing their marketing dollars.
There are a bunch of blogs that cover the publishing business. A new one that you might like is Joe Wilkert’s. Joe’s the guy that’s publishing Scoble and Israel’s ‘Blog or Die’ book.
tobias s buckell
Mar 7, 2005 at 5:44 pm
I’d be willing to take a look at it, I get something like 10,000 visits/month at my site. I’ve linked to your entries in the past there as well…
-Tobias Buckell
Lisa Haneberg
Mar 7, 2005 at 7:44 pm
Bren, I would be happy to review anything of yours on Management Craft. Good luck, I hope you get a giant advance!
Dave
Mar 8, 2005 at 2:11 am
I see your post along with comments here will keep me busy with a little additional investigation. This opportunity is most interesting - please continue to share tidbits as you go!
Wiz Speak is aboard the Slacker Manager express.
Rosa Say
Mar 8, 2005 at 3:37 pm
Whatever you need Bren; it’ll come to you from me and Talking Story, with aloha :-)
Rosa
Yvonne DiVita
Mar 9, 2005 at 9:07 am
Bren, you rock! Just make sure those publishers don’t run off with your great idea. It’s happened before. From the looks of things…you can presell– the publisher should LOVE that! Why not? We’ll all preorder copies–or, request review copies for free! Then write about you on our blogs…I like Wiz Speak’s description: Slacker Manager Express. Nice work! So, can we do another interview when the book comes out??
Adam M.
Mar 17, 2005 at 8:45 am
Speaking of your manifesto, I just got done reading it and wanted to let you know about a broken link. The link to Mac OS X keyboard shortcuts has moved, but you can find a more permanent source of the same info on this page of the Apple web site: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=75459
I liked your manifesto, and wish you luck on your book. I’m looking into starting my own small business, a scenario where the necessity for hard work is pretty much a given. I don’t think I can personally make much use of your advice, but I’m sure many others can.