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Coronado Adult EducationSpring 2016
Non-Fiction: The Hungry MarketFebruary 9, 2016
“It’s none of their business that you have to learn to write. Let them think you were born that way.”
Ernest Hemingway
Recap of What We Covered Last Week
First - and Essential - Steps
• Creating content and placing it to win:– Content-hungry media– Recycling and building content– Building relationships with editors – a win-win for both
parties – examples….– Solo or with a wingman? The pros and cons of
collaboration• Ensuring what you produce is embraced & accepted:
– Avoiding the slush pile – tilting the board in your favor– Getting paid and getting invitations to reduce speculation
This Week:Non-Fiction - The Hungry Market
“History is what the historians and writers say it is.”Norman Polmar(Forty books – and counting)
Non-Fiction - The Hungry Market
• Being - or becoming - the expert?• Pursuing a subject - or letting life happen?• Scratching itches - or entertaining?• How much to tell and what’s next?• Getting a publisher to buy your book• Examples and resources
These two quotes might make your head explode…so let’s deconstruct them….
“Now, if you’re getting all fired up and ready to pound the keys, I might inject a word of caution. Actually, this word comes from my wife. For most of us, writing is not a team sport. An article for a trade journal or a short story is no big deal, but if you find yourself writing a long piece or a book, you probably ought to have a chat with your spouse. For most of us, writing means closing off the other people in your life for several hours a day and it’s something you may want to talk about before you begin.”
Dick Couch(Fifteen books – and counting)Shipmate, April 1993
“If you have other things in your life—family, friends, good productive day work—these can interact with your writing and the sum will be all the richer.”
David Brin
….first, let’s look at the optional homework assignment….
Optional Homework Assignmentfor Next Week
• We’re mindful the non-fiction book market is vastly easier to enter than the fiction market
• Let’s assume there is an area you are passionate about and have some street creds
• Assume someone you’re met while engaging in this passion is going to compile a book on the subject
• Write a short e-mail to him or her and explain why the book would rock if you wrote one chapter
• Send it to me no later than February 7, and I’ll roll it into the power point slides
Dear Phil Had a great time playing golf with you last week at Torrey Pines. Only wish that my score had been a little lower! During the drive back to Coronado, I began thinking about the book that you’re writing: A Duffer’s Guide to the Best Golf Courses in San Diego County. May I suggest that you consider including a chapter about the local military courses? To my knowledge, these courses have never been included in other San Diego golf guides. I’d welcome the opportunity to co-author such a chapter. In addition to a description of track layouts, I could also provide a few lines about the history of the military bases on which they’re located.
Many people think that access to these courses is restricted; that’s not entirely true, as service members and retirees are permitted to host civilians. With that in mind, I’d like to invite you to play a round as my guest on what many consider the top military course in the area: Admiral Baker North. That way, you can judge for yourself how a popular military course stacks up against all the rest in San Diego County During my time as a naval aviator and airline instructor pilot, I’ve written extensively on a variety of technical issues. It would be a pleasure to “put pen to paper” on a more enjoyable passion that we both share: the great game of golf! I look forward to hearing back from you. All the best,Larry Carello
The most essential questions you must ask yourself before you embark on a book….
I keep six honest serving-men(They taught me all I knew);Their names are What and Why and When And How and Where and Who.
Rudyard KiplingThe Elephant’s Child
Some Things to Consider Before You Write
• Who are you writing for?• What are you going to write?• Where are you going to write?• When are you going to write?• Why are you going to write?• How are you going to write?
Why Non-Fiction Books?
• It is a hungry market• Relatively easy to enter• Lower risk – sell then write• Can be steady money• Can query without an agent more easily• Vastly more nonfiction published than fiction
“I do not over-intellectualize the production process. I try to keep it simple: Tell the damned story.”
Tom Clancy
Being – Or Becoming - the Expert
• Some essential “first order” questions:– Is this something you’re passionate about?– Do you have enough “street creds” that you’re an expert?– If not, is there a way you can acquire those street creds?– Do you really want to spend several years doing this?
• If the answer is yes, then it’s all about the packaging:– First stop – solo or with a collaborator?– Next stop – the library and the internet – due diligence – Is it a book – or an article?– If it’s a book – packaging – query letters and proposals
So What Should You Write About?
• Whatever you are passionate about• Recall our “You’re in a bar with your friends” story• What my first agent always asked:
– What are you really passionate about?– What do I wish I had more time for?– How would I spend year as a “professional dilettante?”– What do I think about when I’m alone?– What do I worry about and what issues concern me most?– What have I done that people seem curious about?– Is there a topic where friend turn to me for advice?
Pursuing a Subject-or Letting Life Happen?
• Beyond the Law of the Sea• Leave No Man Behind• The Kissing Sailor • A Doolittle Raiders book
Scratching Itches - Or entertaining?
• Beyond the Law of the Sea:– We had a mission – We had a message– We wanted people to do something – It gave us a platform
• The Kissing Sailor– We had a mission– We were on a “Mission from God”– In some ways, the day the book was published–we’re done– And…the book “percolated” into downstream goodness
• Leave No Man Behind – “the blend”
How Much to Tell and What’s Next?
• Getting past: “It’s an article, not a book”• Recall last week: Article to book ratio• One book – or a series• Above all else – the purpose of the book (LNMB)• At the end of the day – you decide, not the editor• If you didn’t write articles – now you should!
“Creating a book takes more than a good idea and solid writing. Beyond the preparation of the text, the book must be produced, then promoted.”
Gordon Burgett Before You Write Your First Book
A Strategic Pause…
You’re in the Starting Blocks!
• You know what you’re going to write about• You know why you’re going to write about it• You know who is going to write it (solo….or….)• You know roughly when you’ll write• You already have the where figured out:
– Solo– With collaborator (the “how” question)
• Now all you have to do is get someone interested in publishing the book!
Getting a Publisher to Buy Your Book
“The toughest hurdle you must scale is getting a publisher to agree to handle your book. You are a new name, a new risk to them. They will judge you on what you send, the thought behind it, the obvious professionalism, how it reaches them, sometimes your expertise or previous writing output, and always on how your book will increase their profit line.”
Gordon Burgett Before You Write Your First Book
“It’s already been done, or it’s on
Wikipedia”“It’s an article,
not a book”
“You don’t havea platform”You must
overcome all three!
Getting a Publisher to Buy Your Book
• Due diligence – with a vengeance!• Finding the right agent or publisher• The query letter – address those three circles• Your book proposal – and some examples
Due Diligence – With a Vengeance!
• Once you get past the “It’s an article, not a book” roadblock, the next one is…
• “It’s already been done before”• You have to convince yourself it hasn’t and then you
have to convince an agent or editor• So how to you do that? (Your “Mission from God”)
Due Diligence – With a Vengeance!
• Meet Your Two Best Friends:– The library– The internet
• The library– Books– Journals and magazines
• The internet– Subject searches– Writer searches
• Other friends– Your colleagues and fellow travelers– Bookstores – large and small
So What the End Game – What Are You Looking For?
• Publishers who publish this kind of book• Agents who agent this kind of book• Once you know that, it’s all about the query• Persistence on steroids!
The Query Letter
• There is a cottage industry of courses on how to write a query letter
• There are a number of books on how to write a query letter• There is a cottage industry of experts on how to write a
query letter – and some of them are here!• There is a massive amount of information on the internet
on how to write a query letter• One source:
– Google: http://www.agentquery.com/writer_hq.aspx– But this is only one, there are a universe of them out there
The Query LetterThe “Bell Shaped Curve” For Most
• The hook• Mini-synopsis• Your bio• Your closing – “where’s the beef?”
– High Concept– Outline– Table of Contents– Sample Chapters
• “Bound the problem” for how much time you’re going to spend on getting an “A” in query letters
The Magic Words….
…Yes, I’d be interested in reading it
How long will the editor have to wait to see your proposal?…
“Interest” has a half life….
Before You Write the Proposal
• Come up with a “purpose statement” for your book and write it down in one sentence
• Then put this into a working question: This book is the answer to….
• Two sources (there are a multitude of them in print):– John Boswell – The Awful Truth About Publishing– Jeff Herman – Write the Perfect Book Proposal
The Proposal – The 100,000-Foot View
• Who would read your book?• Why would they buy it?• Where would they use it?• What else is available like your book?• How does your book differ from others?• When did you decide it’s better than Wikipedia?
Think about your competition today – not just books, but the internet? Is your book better than Wikipedia?
Your Book Proposal
• This is not the time for humility • Think back to when you wrote your first resume• Advice from John Boswell: The Awful Truth About
Publishing– Define the book’s audience– Describe the book generally and specifically– Show that your book fills a need for your audience– Show that you are uniquely qualified to write this book
Today – You Are the Publisher’s Marketing Department
• Part of your proposal must include how you are going to do their work for them!
• What’s your platform?– Media of all kinds (talks, interviews, print, et al)– Internet presence
• Facebook• Twitter• And more….
– How you are going to make promoting our book a constant drumbeat
Let’s look at two examples of proposals that worked….
Leave No Man Behind
• The “Hook” – Rescue Story (Clyde Lassen – Medal of Honor)
• About the Book• Table of Contents• Chapter Summaries• The Market• The Authors• Promotion• Length and Delivery
Leave No Man Behind“An important and comprehensive work on that most American of military imperatives--going in harm's way to get one of our own.” Dick Couch (NYT bestselling author)
“Leave No Man Behind is a solid piece of history. Well written, well told, well done!” Darrel Whitcomb Author of The Rescue of Bat 21
“This story has never been told before! Leave No Man Behind offers a unique blend of operational experience and technical description.” Dr. Norman Friedman – author of over 30 books.
“George Galdorisi and Tom Phillips have provided a comprehensive, and well-written history of the development of combat rescue up to the present, including dramatic accounts of rescues, among them many never before revealed.” Norman Polmar – author of over 40 naval books.
The Kissing SailorCoverQuoteTable of ContentsConcept (Why this book?)Competition (Surely this story has been told before?)Timing (Why are we doing this book at this time?)Methodology (How are we going to pull this off?)About the AuthorsChapter SummaryThe MarketPromotionLength and Delivery
The Kissing Sailor“What a wonderful detective story about a kissing sailor and a beautiful nurse – the most famous couple celebrating the end of WWII. Famous but anonymous - until now. I loved it.” Tom Brokaw, author of The Greatest Generation
“The Kissing Sailor is a whodunit that provides once and for all the identification of the world’s best-known smoochers…You have to read this book!” David Hume Kennerly, Pulitzer Prize winning photographer
“A blank piece of paper is God’s way of telling us how hard it is to be God.”
Sidney Sheldon
Some Iconic Non-Fiction Writersand Helpful Resources
“There comes a time when you realize that everything is a dream, and only those things preserved in writing have any possibility of being real.”
James Salter“All That Is”NYT MagazineDecember 27, 2015
Some Iconic Non-Fiction Writersand Helpful Resources
• David McCullough• Walter Isaacson • Malcolm Gladwell• Laura Hillenbrand• NYT Book Review• NYT Book Review – Last Page
A Summing Up of What We’ve Covered:Whew – Is It Worth It?
• Being - or becoming - the expert?• Pursuing a subject - or letting life happen?• Scratching itches - or entertaining?• How much to tell and what’s next?• Getting a publisher to buy your book• Examples and resources
“Being a comparatively successful writer is a good life. You don’t have to work at it all the time and you carry your office around in your head. And you are far more aware of the world around you. Writing makes you more alive to your surroundings and, since the main ingredient of living, though you might not think so to look at most human beings, is to be alive, this is quite a worthwhile by-product, even if you only write thrillers.”
Ian FlemingHow to Write a Thriller
Slides Posted:http://www.georgegaldorisi.com/
E-mail address:[email protected]
E-mail me if you’d like a copy of:Book proposal for: Leave No Man Behind
Book proposal for: The Kissing Sailor
Next Week
“The Great American Novel”
• Great or not-so-great? What you need to know getting started
• Mainstream or genre? Which way should you go?• Defining your audience and picking a “voice” and
point of view• Getting the sale
Optional Homework Assignmentfor February 23
• Novels have the lowest barrier to entry of virtually anything you can write except social media
• You have a novel idea you want to pitch to an agent or a publisher:– Tell us whether it’s mainstream or genre– Tell us why it is “familiar but new”– Convince the agent it will have fabulous:
• Plot• Characterization• Action
• Put this into prose you can read in two minutes
