Five former Ted Scripps Fellows鈥擠avid Baron, Scott Carney, Erin Espelie, Michael Kodas and Hannah Nordhaus鈥攕at down together at the 乐播传媒 Boulder campus on Feb. 1, 2018 to discuss the whys and hows of nonfiction book writing at the first ever Center for Environmental Journalism book publishing panel.
While each of these writers鈥� circumstances are unique in why and how they have pursued becoming nonfiction authors, they all returned to a similar thought throughout the discussion: to become published, make yourself鈥攖he writer鈥攁 high priority.
"The first thing you need is faith that you can do it,鈥� said Carney, bestselling author of What Doesn鈥檛 Kill Us, The Enlightenment Trap and The Red Market.
The biggest hurdle to writing a book is often writing the proposal for the book, as the panel discussed in detail. First, how does one find the time to write a proposal with all their other priorities and responsibilities?
鈥淵ou have to treat it as a job. An hour a day before you do all of your stuff," advised Nordhaus, author of The Beekeeper's Lament and American Ghost. She admits it鈥檚 been a labor of love, one for her that would not be possible without her husband鈥檚 support. There鈥檚 a 鈥渃ombination of confidence, futility and obscurity,鈥� in the process, but for Nordhaus it鈥檚 worth it.
Second, what is the goal of writing the proposal?
鈥淎 book proposal is the book you write about the book you want to write," said Kodas, bestselling author of High Crimes and Megafire, and Acting Director of the CEJ. "It's supposed to convince your agent and your editor that you have the chops to do this."
鈥淭he proposal can be a good way to get ideas down on a page and start thinking about structure,鈥� said Espelie, co-director of the new NEST (Nature, Environment, Science and Technology) Studio for the Arts and Associate Director for the CEJ. 鈥淚t鈥檚 doing some of the work for you.鈥�
The panel overwhelmingly agreed it is also critical to emphasize how the author鈥檚 marketing strategy for the book will be profitable for the publisher.
鈥淭ry to pinpoint as narrowly as possible how the book can sell,鈥� said Espelie.
Next, there鈥檚 finding an agent and an editor for your book.
When choosing an agent, the 鈥渕ost important single denominator is enthusiasm,鈥� Carney said. 鈥淪ome people really invest in your work and edit it with you and those [folks] are the diamonds in the rough.鈥�
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 want the agent who represents the famous author. You want the agent who represented the nobody who ended up a bestseller,鈥� he said.
Or as Nordhaus said: 鈥淎 young, hungry agent is better than a full one.鈥�
Carney often experiments with different ways to connect the creative and business aspects of publishing to make the process more financially successful. First, he said, retain as many rights as you can.
Carney retained the audio rights to his most recent book, What Doesn鈥檛 Kill Us, and recorded an audiobook himself鈥攊n his own closet. So while he would never see royalties on the paper copy, Carney knew every time he went out on the road to promote his book, he could sell copies of his audiobook and keep the full profits. 听
鈥淚 have actually ended up making more on the audio book then I did on my advance,鈥� he said.
Carney also made a book trailer for his latest release, a video on YouTube that could be easily shared on social media channels and his website. Kodas agreed this kind of self-made promotional material seems to make a difference. The panel acknowledged that the publisher is unlikely to do much marketing for your book, and if you want good press, you will have to work on marketing it yourself.
When it comes to money, they all agreed to aim for as large an advance as possible. Between paying expenses for the reporting and the fact that usually 15 percent goes the agent, what looks like a lot at the beginning may leave you in the red at the end鈥攊f you鈥檙e not careful.
鈥淚 always shoot for six figures,鈥� said Kodas. 鈥淵ou need to do the math in advance.鈥�
David Baron, author of The Beast in the Garden, former Ted Scripps Fellow, and current CEJ Scholar in Residence, planned 19 years in advance for his most recent book, American Eclipse. He had the idea back in the late 1990s but knew there would be a total solar eclipse in August of 2017. While it didn't take that long to write, Baron鈥檚 book is a great example of not giving up on a good idea and waiting for the right time to pitch a proposal and publish.
It became clear that nonfiction book writing is a complicated, committed process of work for these authors. Yet all but one of them have at least two books to their name, and will likely write more. What motivates them to continue this career?
鈥淭hree things,鈥� Nordhaus said: 鈥渟ales, reviews and satisfaction with the process.鈥�
For Carney, it is simply the best lifestyle. 鈥淚 get to keep doing this,鈥� he said, 鈥渁nd that is the reward.鈥澨�