Andy Unedited

Don't Just Spot the Future, Make the Future

Wed, 16 May 2012 09:12:09 -0600

Our desire to know the future seems limitless. Our ability to know it, however, is very limited. So how are we to satisfy those longings that even Snickers can't satisfy? Here's a clue: it's not measuring how many hits you get when you Google something because everything gets a gazillion hits.

The latest issue of Wired magazine, on the other hand, has a helpful article on how to spot what could be the next big thing. Their first of seven tips is the most helpful: Look for cross-pollinators. The intersection of two disciplines, two enterprises, two hobbies has been the source of new sciences, new marketing methods, new music. Look for those who creatively bring together two otherwise unconnected things.

Clarence Birdseye was a naturalist who took a vacation in Labrador where he saw how frozen fish tasted great when cooked later. As a result he launched not a new science but a whole new food industry.

Then there was the Oxford philologist who invented a language. His Catholicism, love of nature and suspicions of the industrial world, combined with his need to create a history for this language, resulted in what we all know as Middle Earth.

And that is a clue for writers and publishers looking for good book ideas. Look for the creative intersection of typically unrelated fields of thought or enterprise.

Kenneth Bailey combined New Testament studies with a savvy understanding of Middle Eastern peasant culture to bring us Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes. William Struthers combined brain science with the topic of pornography addiction and the result was Wired for Intimacy, a very insightful book on the why and how of a rampant problem.

Yes, we take a chance when pursuing something that's not tried and true. But it just might be the future.

Sherlock and Me

Fri, 04 May 2012 08:59:18 -0600

I've never been much of a mystery reader. And not much of a Sherlock Holmes enthusiast either. I found the Robert Downey Jr. movies enjoyable but not enthralling. Nonetheless I have become of megafan of the new Masterpiece Mysteries series. Definitely watch the premier of season two of Sherlock this Sunday. The writing is fabulous, the casting perfect, the production values high, the setting fresh (present-day London), the soundtrack terrific, the balance of humor and tension spot on.

I Finally Read My First e-Book

Tue, 01 May 2012 08:46:20 -0600

I finally read my first e-book.

OK, call me late to the party, late adopter, troglodyte. Tell me, "Welcome to the twenty-first century." Ask me if I have indoor plumbing.

So, here's how it went.

A Book by Any Other Name

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 08:47:48 -0600

How important is the title of a book when sending a proposal? Very important and not at all.

Sometimes a title can be so bad the editor can't get past it and rejects the project before ever looking at the proposal seriously. A proposed title can also be so good that it sets expectations sky high. But often the title doesn't help or hinder, so the editor has to engage the proposal to make a determination.

Slide Rules and Blank Stares

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 08:54:09 -0600

"We used to do that with a slide rule."

Blank stare. "What's a slide rule?"

"It's a device they used before calculators to do division, multiplication, square roots, squares and trig functions."

Blank stare.

Hungry for The Hunger Games?

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 08:53:06 -0600

Massive box office smash. Best selling books. What's the appeal of The Hunger Games? My take is that boys love the action. The girls love it as a romance. The guys love it as a video game/reality show mashup with not-so-virtual violence. The girls love the idea of being torn between and pursed by two courageous, honorable hunks, especially as that is played out more in the second and third books.

Not a Straight Story Line

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 09:07:04 -0600

Postmodernism tells us there is no purely objective observer. We all have a bias when we come to a subject, no matter how well trained we might be in science or law or history. This would seem to be a rather difficult problem to overcome. How do we say something is true when it will inevitably be colored by our own perspectives?

Murder, Apathy and Urban Legends

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 07:34:09 -0600

Kitty Genovese was murdered in Kew Gardens in Queens, New York, forty-eight years ago today. It rocked the nation. The New York Times article about the incident famously began, "For more than half an hour 38 respectable, law-abiding citizens in Queens watched a killer stalk and stab a woman in three separate attacks in Kew Gardens."

What If You Wanted to Publish?

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 08:50:53 -0600

Would you join me in a thought experiment? What if you had to answer the following questions?

Pastor Beware (and Writer Too)

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 08:41:07 -0600

I call them preacher stories--those tales that pass from church to church, book to book, blog to blog. Sometimes corny, sometimes profound, they can inspire, accuse, challenge, amuse, surprise or inform.

I recently came across the same story three times, and it made me wonder.

My Conversation with Jeff Bezos

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 08:30:18 -0600

It was over a dozen years ago that I spoke with Jeff Bezos at a conference in Washington, D.C. In the early years of Amazon, the company was losing money hand over fist (losing $125 million in 1998 alone) in its all-out effort to gain market share. I told him I understood the strategy, but realistically, how long could they keep it up? With his famous Jeff Bezos smile he told me, "I appreciate your concern. But there's no need to worry about Amazon."

What Publishers Can Learn from the Airlines

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 08:11:33 -0600

Book publishers are desperate for new business models. While standing in line at the airport recently, I thought maybe we could look to the airline industry for inspiration. If we did, here are some things you might see from publishers:

Reaching the World (or Not)

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:40:54 -0600

With all the options and advantages for self-publishing print and ebooks, authors are weighing their options these days, wondering what traditional publishers really have to offer. One consideration is selling rights.

Self Publish? You Bet.

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 10:04:59 -0600

Do I, as the editorial director for a traditional print publisher, encourage and support self-publishing--even self-ebook publishing? Yes. I do. Here's why.

The 2012 Andys

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 10:19:45 -0600

What are the winning books from the list of titles I finished this year? Yes, you will get the answer to that pressing question here. In addition you'll find my über-creative categories and the wit-soaked comment of the judge. More than that (yes, it is hard to believe), you also find below what the people demanded-- short summaries of each. So included for the first time is a Synop-Tweet (a tweet-like synopsis) of the winning books. Here they are.