My copy of the book contract and my advance check (minus my agent’s 15%) arrived this afternoon, about six weeks after I signed the contract. Yippee! As a long-time freelance writer, I’ve learned to wait for the paper before getting too excited about the deal. Happy dancing all around.
A few weeks ago at the Nonprofit Technology Conference in San Francisco, I met Jesse Wiley, my editor at Jossey-Bass (JB), in person. My friend Nancy Schwartz said something funny while taking this photo, thus the dorky look on my face. Poor Jesse had his appendix removed a few days before and still showed up to work the booth!
Jesse and I had a good meeting where he explained to me all the steps the book will go through once I submit the draft at the end of August. A whole bunch of people have to touch this thing.
He also answered several questions I had, such as “Can I use my blog as a first draft of various sections I’m working through?” (Yes) and “Can I get feedback on sections from various nonprofit friends who I’d like to read it before I submit it to him?” (Yes).
We talked a bit about integrating online content and promotion within the book itself. For example, JB can add icons in the layout that signal to readers that they can find additional resources online (Cool!). We might also do an online conference together after the book comes out, in addition to webinars I’ll do on my own through NonprofitMarketingGuide. And I’ll need to get up to speed on all the stuff that authors can do on their book’s Amazon pages.
Jesse also agreed to write a guest blog post, but I have to give him some direction first (turning the tables here, I guess). What questions do you have for an editor at one of the top publishers of nonprofit professional books? Or for someone with book publishing in his DNA (JB is an imprint of Wiley – and Jesse is one of those Wileys)? Click on “Read Comments” to add your questions and comments.
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First of all, congratulations on the contract! I’m a fan of your blog, so I’ll be following the book’s progress here. I wanted to comment about your publisher. I teach grant writing at the University of California San Diego Extension, and use their “Winning Grants Step by Step” as the textbook. They do an excellent job of producing a clean, easy-to-use text – and the ability to find additional online resources is such a plus for my students. I hope this turns out to be a great experience for you. Here’s my question for Jesse: Are there any gaps in your pile of submissions, i.e., is there some topic you wish prospective authors would submit, but you are just not seeing? And on another subject, if you’ve just had major surgery, why aren’t you resting and asking your friends to bring you some warm milk/cold compresses/Valium shooters? What keeps you going in your profession in these difficult times?