Advice for Authors

Helpful Insights From Our Editors

Internet: Authors' Friend or Foe?

by Sandi Gelles-Cole

All of us in the writing and publishing communities know that the book business is going through major technological change. Perhaps most difficult to accept are the changing of editorial, marketing, and distribution traditions.

But change is good, and after thirty-five years as an editor in trade publishing, I have stopped resisting the influence of the Internet, epublishing, website marketing, and website literary agents. Instead, I am finding ways to work creatively with all these innovations for the benefit of authors.

Case in point: a client of mine is beginning to research a book pertaining to the Baby Boomers and their transition through middle age. While organizing her ideas, she got stuck on how to structure the book so that it would not be just another book on mid-life. She had plenty of ideas in her head, including her personal story of mid-life change, but she couldn’t articulate them. How would she engage the readers she wanted to reach? Who and where were they? What questions did they have concerning their future? Where would the answers comes from?

She and I decided it was time for her to use the Internet—not just as the largest research library in the world, but also as a source of inspiration and insight for her book concept. She set about to visit every single site that related to the core concept of her book. Suppose her central idea had been “Grandparenting.” She would have started with that one word and begun tracking down all the sites that touched on the idea. The blogs on these sites would help her start understanding the dialogue around grandparenting among her perspective audience. Based on those discoveries, she would add new search words: for example, “Resisting grandparenting,” or “What is new in modern grandparenting.”

Starting with this simple search, she could gradually discover everything she needs to help her develop a large, inclusive concept, transforming what might have been a mediocre book into a fascinating one by drawing upon the views and experiences of the whole world—not just cutting and pasting web-based contents, of course, but enriching them with her unique interpretations, experiences, and style.

The Internet is playing an equally important role at the other end of the publishing process—the selling and marketing of books.

Historically the province of publishers, book marketing is in complete transition because of the web. When I began my career as an editor, in-house staff would cringe when an author was granted the contractual right to review his or her own ads. How dare an author presume to know anything about publicity!

How far we have come. Now authors are deeply engaged in the marketing process, whether they are self-publishers or work with traditional publishing houses. And the Internet is where the action is, starting even before a book idea is in development. Literary agents now have assigned staff to go through the web to find new authors, searching for web sites that might make good book ideas, just as they used to cruise magazines.

Author websites are an invaluable tool for developing, marketing, and promoting book ideas. Beyond building up readership by accumulating steady visitors, one can prove the popularity of an idea by using the sophisticated tracking processes offered through the Internet to quantify and define the market. Self-published authors can use the web to go directly to their audience and reach them where they habitually gravitate. Radio blogs can be created through services like TalkRadio, where authors can host shows and invite guests to talk about the topic, thereby generating more readers, who can listen live or download the shows to enjoy at their convenience.

Some wonder whether the next generation will give up reading books and simply turn to the web for all their information and entertainment. But for me, the argument over whether the net will eclipse the written word has been resolved. Books and the Internet have begun to complement each other, and smart authors, editors, and publishers are recognizing that fact and using it to their advantage.

Sandi Gelles-Cole founded Gelles-Cole Literary Enterprises in 1983, after eleven years as an acquisitions editor for major New York publishers. Authors she has worked with include Danielle Steel, Alan Dershowitz, Victoria Gotti, Christiane Northrup, Rita (Mrs. Patrick) Ewing and Chris Gilson, whose first novel, Crazy for Cornelia, was sold in an overnight preemptive sale as a major hardcover and became a Los Angeles Times bestseller. She can be reached at sgelles-cole@consulting-editors.com.

When To Call the (Book) Doctor

Does Your Writing Need the Help of a Consulting Editor?

Inside Advice From a Publishing Professional

by Sandi Gelles-Cole

Chances are, if you are checking out the CEA web site, you are an author with an inkling that you might require editorial assistance. Of course, in the world of legendary editor Maxwell Perkins and novelist William Faulkner—or for that matter the world of Carole Baron and Judith Krantz, or many other contemporary editors and the authors they have worked with—it’s understood that every author needs an editor, just as every actor needs a director. Traditionally, the editor was provided by the publisher. But this is no longer the case. Editors who work for publishing houses have had their job descriptions changed over the past decade. Their mission now is generally to acquire books and help package and market them—not to edit them.

Maybe you’ve been getting the message that your book needs editorial work. The message may be coming from that nagging voice inside you, from your dearest friend and critic, from every agent you have submitted the material to, or even, if you are lucky, from a publisher who has committed to the book provided you improve it. No matter the source, if that message is reaching you persistently, then it is probably time to call the book doctor.

It’s fine to seek editorial help after writing a complete first draft of your book. However, it is easier and more productive to begin working with an editorial consultant much earlier. For example, consider nonfiction. The author in any field, whether writing a memoir, a biography, or a book about business, health, science, or psychology, would do well to begin working with an editor as soon as the book idea begins to take shape. The editor will help you develop your idea into a full-fledged book concept and then help you put together the book proposal.

Suppose you are an astronomer who has discovered a new galaxy. Maybe the entire world knows your name, and you have been on talk shows and radio call-in shows. You may have already made it to the late-night talk circuit, and Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien may already be making fun of you. When you decide to write your book, it may take many forms. It might be a dramatic narrative relating how you found the galaxy. It might be a ground-breaking exploration of what finding the galaxy means to scientists and to our future. It might even be a “tell-all” book exposing the seamy side of scientific competition. An outside editor can help you choose among these and other options, expanding your thinking from the outset.

On the other hand, it may be that your nonfiction idea is quite fully developed, but you have come to realize that the book’s organization is making it less broadly appealing than it could be. An editor can help you find the largest concept in the material and a form of presentation that will highlight the facets of the idea that are new or uniquely yours. Even familiar material can be made more appealing through shrewd editorial intervention. For example, there are zillions of self-help guides, but the best sellers in the category have some unique concept, structure, or organization that puts them over the top.

If your material is not reader-friendly, is disorganized, or fails to fulfill its potential, consult an editor before you submit your book to agents. If you do, the agents will ultimately have the opportunity to consider the best possible material you can turn out, avoiding frustration and loss of time on all sides.

For the fiction writer, there are different considerations. Perhaps you have written and tucked away a thousand pages. When you think you finally have something worth showing to other people, this is a really good time to call an independent editor. For a fee, the editor can read and evaluate your work, providing a detailed editorial letter that will honestly appraise the book’s chances of getting published and explain how you can make it the best book it can be.

Some would-be novelists have a great idea (a “high concept” in industry parlance) or special and unique knowledge suited to a fictional recounting, but don’t know where to begin to tell a story. An independent editor can help develop a story around your concept, help you build characters and subplot, and either write the book for you or review the book as it leaves your computer. An experienced editor knows what works for your market and can help to ensure you have created the optimal story to wrap around your idea.

Perhaps you’ve been getting really nice rejection letters from agents rather than form letters. These suggest that your work is promising, though currently inadequate. Consider digesting what all the agents have to say and then finding an outside editor to help you deliver. An independent editor may be called when you find that you need help in applying various literary techniques, such as flashback; flash-forward; prologue; use of various narrative voices; the third-person-limited point of view, or any other elements of the craft of writing that you have not mastered on your own.

For example, the complicated plots necessary for mysteries, thrillers, psychological suspense, romantic suspense, science fiction, and so on, can be daunting to work out. A seasoned, objective editor may be able to “see” the ending of your book even when you can’t.

A fictionalized memoir like David Peltzer’s A BOY CALLED IT can also benefit from an objective eye. An editor can weed out those parts of the book that are not interesting to readers (even though you may consider them the high points of your life story). And an editor can help you organize the events, reordering and modifying them if that makes for a better story.

Still in doubt as to whether it’s time for you to call the book doctor? Examine the lists of genre specialties for each CEA member, and find an editor with expertise in your field of writing. Send a query describing your project, and the editor will be happy to advise you as to whether you might benefit from professional help.

Sandi Gelles-Cole founded Gelles-Cole Literary Enterprises in 1983, after eleven years as an acquisitions editor for major New York publishers. Authors she has worked with include Danielle Steel, Alan Dershowitz, Victoria Gotti, Christiane Northrup, Rita (Mrs. Patrick) Ewing and Chris Gilson, whose first novel, Crazy for Cornelia, was sold in an overnight preemptive sale as a major hardcover and became a Los Angeles Times bestseller. She can be reached at sgelles-cole@consulting-editors.com.

Is Authorship for You?

A Guide for Business People and Others

by Karl Weber

Once upon a time, the writing of memoirs was reserved mainly for notable statesmen, artists, and generals. Samuel L. Clemens, who was an entrepreneur as well as the author "Mark Twain," made a fortune publishing the memoirs of President Ulysses S. Grant, who turned out, surprisingly, to be no mean stylist.

Occasional business people have always written books, too. Alfred P. Sloan's MY YEARS AT GENERAL MOTORS (1963) is still considered a business classic, and generations of youngsters have been lured to Madison Avenue by David Ogilvy's urbane CONFESSIONS OF AN ADVERTISING MAN, published the same year. But the modern era of business books was launched by IACOCCA (1984), the mega-bestseller which made Lee Iacocca a sort of business folk hero and even prompted a short-lived presidential boomlet for him.

Today, executives of every stripe are authoring books, with mixed results. Some books by business people, like Bill Gates' THE ROAD AHEAD (1995) and Michael Eisner's WORK IN PROGRESS (1998), are bland and uninspiring (though their authors' fame may sell many copies). Others are unintentionally revealing. "Chainsaw Al" Dunlap's MEAN BUSINESS (1997) exposed its author's self-centered arrogance in a way that clearly foreshadowed the ignominous fall to come. The best business books combine a compelling personal story with valuable "takeaways"--lessons readers can apply to their own working lives. It's a recipe that describes such varied books as MOMENTS OF TRUTH by SAS chairman Jan Carlzon (1989), Jack Stack's THE GREAT GAME OF BUSINESS (1992), Andy Grove's ONLY THE PARANOID SURVIVE (1996), and Guy Kawaski's HOW TO DRIVE YOUR COMPETITION CRAZY (1996).

Why Write? If you're considering writing a book, start by deciding why you're interested. Understanding your own motives is important And they're not always obvious--even to you

As a publisher, I once signed up one of the world's great real-estate moguls to work with a writer on an authorized biography. With the manuscript complete and the presses ready to roll, the mogul suddenly demanded that we not publish the book.

In consternation, I flew to his office in an effort to salvage the project, but he refused even to explain his decision until we'd been wrangling for an hour. A bit desperate, I urged the mogul to consider the value of the book as a legacy to future generations. He responded, "Oh, I know this book will be my legacy. In fact, the way I look at it, the minute this thing is published, I might just as well retire and die--my life's work is done!"

At last the mogul's feelings about the book were clear. It was also clear that his objection to publication was purely irrational. Heart in my throat, I announced, with all due respect, that we fully intended to publish the book--in effect, defying the mogul to sue us. Of course, he didn't sue--in fact, once the book had been safely published, and the mogul had not keeled over as a consequence, his firm bought several thousand copies of the book and proudly distributed them to clients and friends.

As this story suggests, authoring a book is a very personal process which will closely reflect some of your deepest dreams and desires. Before you embark on it, think hard about why you want to do it. Is the book your personal legacy? A creative outlet? A billboard for your philsophy? A place to settle scores? A potential career-enhancer? Books have served all these purposes, and more. But the experience of authoring a book will be more enjoyable and rewarding if you're clear on your goals from the outset.

Is Authorship for You?

The old saying has it that everyone has a book in him. Maybe so, but not everyone ought to let it out. If you want to write a book--and still more, if you plan to publish one--you ought to consider what makes for a saleable business book. Few business people, of course, can expect to write a best seller along the lines of IACOCCA, Peters and Waterman's IN SEARCH OF EXCELLENCE (1982), Hammer and Champy's REENGINEERING THE CORPORATION (1985), or Jack Welch's JACK (2001), but anyone who publishes a book wants to reach a significant audience. Your chances of doing so will be greatly influenced by your honest answers to the following questions.

Who Knows You?

It's very hard to sell a book by an unknown author. Fame within an industry doesn't mean that the general public knows or cares about your work. It's a bit absurd, but second-tier basketball players and one-hit pop music stars are better known than ninety percent of the top executives in business. (Just ask the editors at People, which sells a lot more copies than Fortune or Forbes.)

There are just a handful of business people today who can be considered household names: Bill Gates, Ted Turner, Donald Trump, Ross Perot, Jack Welch, and maybe a few more. Then there are business leaders who are superstars of the corporate world though little known by "average Americans": people like Warren Buffett, Lou Gerstner, Carly Fiorina, Phil Knight . . . you get the idea. All told, such business celebrities number a couple of dozen--no more.

If you're not on this elite list, finding a book publisher is apt to be an uphill battle. Of course, it'll help if the book is truly valuable and unique. Which leads to the second question to ask:

What Do You Have to Say?

I've been approached hundreds of times by would-be business authors who say, "I have a great story to tell--my own rags-to-riches tale of personal success." It's usually true--and that's precisely the problem. Millions have lived their own rags-to-riches stories. Without some truly unique twist, it'll be hard to win much of an audience for yet another.

The same rule applies if you hope to write a book of ideas--management secrets, for example. So much has been published about the familiar laws of success--serving the customer, striving for quality, offering a unique benefit, and so on--that only some idea that's truly different, and obviously so, is likely to break through the clutter. This is why management gurus like Tom Peters tend to "raise their voices," going out of their way to concoct titles that are zany or surprising (like THE PURSUIT OF WOW!).

When I was an editor at Times Business, we had success with HOPE IS NOT A METHOD (1996), a management guide by Gordon Sullivan and Michael Harper--neither one a famous name. Why? Sullivan was a four-star general, Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, and the book applied the lessons he'd learned in redesigning the post-Cold War military to corporate reengineering. Fascinating--and unique.

How Frank Do You Want to Be?

In most businesses, tact is essential. It's rarely smart to be blunt in your public assessments of colleagues and competitors. After all, you never know when you may need their help

For the would-be author, tact is no virtue. Too many business books are tactful and therefore bland. The boardroom is a setting for high drama--intrigue, quarrels, deceptions, ultimatums, confrontations. If you're willing to share this reality with the reader, your book will be fascinating; if you sanitize it to avoid hurting people's feelings, much of the interest will drain away.

Thus, many authors write memoirs only at the end of their careers--when burning a few bridges is less costly. Think through how honest you can afford to be before you commit to writing a book.

Even if your book is to be a "how-to" rather than a "tell-all" memoir, it's important to make your book a personal story instead of a merely abstract recital of lessons learned. I helped Congressman Richard Gephardt write his book AN EVEN BETTER PLACE, which is devoted mainly to setting out his political vision for America. What makes the book of more than routine interest are Gephardt's heartfelt accounts of some dramatic episodes from his own life, such as his infant son's harrowing battle against cancer and the insights it provided into the glories and weaknesses of our health care system. The personal connection makes the policy prescriptions feel real and meaningful.

Similarly, when I worked with legendary investor Victor Sperandeo on his business book about the secrets of successful speculation, his stories about learning money management as a professional poker player made the lessons vivid and memorable. (We even played up his wise-guy nickname, "Trader Vic," on the jacket of the book--and it sold well as a result.)

Are You Willing to Play the Media Game?

Nowadays, an author's work is just beginning when the manuscript is complete. Your publisher will want you to play an active role in selling the book, through radio, TV, and print interviews, bookstore appearances, speeches, online chat rooms, and so on.

Most of this is not glamorous. Rather than being whisked to Los Angeles to joke with Jay Leno, you're more likely to be asked to spend an hour on the phone with a radio host who hasn't read your book, or to gamely sign autographs in a bookstore for a lunchtime crowd of twenty. Nonetheless, this grass-roots selling is viewed as crucial by most publishers, and in some cases it does help jump-start book sales. If you can't devote at least a few weeks of your life to book publicity, lower your sales expectations--or forgo publishing altogether.

What You'll Get Out of Publishing Your Book--and What You Won't

You'll Impress Your Peers. Authorship among business people is still rare enough to garner significant respect, especially if the name of a well-known publisher appears on your book's spine. Throw in a blurb by a high-placed friend who owes you a favor ('Far more insightful than any of my books'--Peter Drucker), and you'll sense people recalibrating their opinions of you: "Hmm--I always figured I could have done a better job of reorganizing XYZ Corp than Fred did, but he must have something on the ball to have written that book . . . "

You Will Not Become Famous. Do not, however, expect the general public to hear about you or your book. Most people will remain blissfully unaware, despite your best efforts and those of your publisher.

This reality is borne out not only by harsh experience but by simple statistics. Consider: Most of the books that appear on the New York Times best-seller list will sell fewer than 200,000 copies. This number is less than one tenth of one percent of the US population. It is also a tiny fraction of the number of people who tune in to the least popular sitcom on any of the TV networks. And these are the best-sellers, mind you--a small fraction of the 40,000 new books published in the US each year.

Truth is, Ray Romano is much more famous than Tom Peters. At least, a lot more people have seen his work.

You Will Not Get Rich. Publishing deals vary, but most authors earn between $1.50 and $3.50 for each book sold. Now, most non-fiction books published by major US publishers (Random House, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, and so on) sell between five and fifteen thousand copies. A "minor best seller"--a book that appears for a few weeks on the BUSINESS WEEK best-seller list, for example--might sell thirty to fifty thousand copies. And a "business blockbuster" would include most any title that sells over 100,000 copies. (These are few and far between.)

You can do the math. Most business book authors will earn less than $100,000 for their books . . . often significantly less. You'll have to share this modest sum with the writer and your agent. And if you devote as many hours to writing the book as most authors do . . . well, let's just say that your hourly pay rate is likely to be lowest you've earned since you spent the summer after college loading trucks down at your uncle's lumber yard.

You'll Experience Significant Frustration. By and large, book publishing is not a well-run industry. There are publishing companies that are exceptions, of course. But most editors don't have enough time to work with their authors . . . most publishers don't have enough money to market all their books as well as possible . . . and most books don't achieve the recognition and sales they probably deserve.

However, there are benefits. One of the first business authors I worked with was an investment guru at one of the world's great oil trading firms. His books on sophisticated futures trading methods were expensive and sold in modest numbers--ten to twenty thousand copies each--to a highly selective audience.

I once asked him, "Why do you write these books? Is it the money?" He laughed and said, "The money the books bring me is nothing compared to what I earn trading commodities."

I persisted. "Why, then?" He learned toward me and whispered conspiratorially, "The books made my career." He went on to explain that the prestige he'd gained from his books had vaulted him to the first level in his industry. He was no household name . . . but whenever he walked into a financial firm, he was pointed out as "so-and-so, the famous author." I've heard similar stories from many other authors since then.

You'll Learn More Than You Imagine. Many leaders from business and other fields who turn author often find the process personally engrossing.

Former president Jimmy Carter discovered that he loved writing so much that he's now authored over fifteen books, many of them best-sellers. Even writing the most recent of these has proven to be a voyage of self-discovery. In 1996, I helped him complete LIVING FAITH, a memoir and meditation on his Christian faith that has become Carter's most popular book. We spent a week together in the dining room of his modest home in Plains, Georgia, talking about what it was like to grow up in a dusty peanut-farming community in the deep South during the Great Depression--a profoundly stratified and racially divided society in which young Jimmy's best friends were all African-Americans. The insights into Carter's own life and psyche that we teased out together became the basis for the book's most poignant chapters.

Authorship Is a Team Sport

As a business executive, you are accustomed to (and presumably skilled at) delegating tasks, managing teams, communicating an agenda--in short, accomplishing things with and through other people. But the titles, roles, and tribal customs of the various members of the typical publishing team are probably unfamiliar to you and may strike you as arcane and arbitrary. To get you started on mastering this new game, here's a scorecard listing the key players.

The Author. This is you--the person whose name and picture appears on the jacket. Nowadays, an author may or may not write the book; publishers often use the verb 'to author' to refer to the act of putting one's name on a book, accepting responsibility for it in the media, and receiving royalty checks.

The Agent. The literary agent works on behalf of the author and is responsible primarily for marketing the book to potential publishers. A good agent knows the leading editors at the major publishing houses (and most of the minor ones), and has a talent for both old-fashioned salesmanship and tough-minded negotiating. In return for her efforts, she receives a percentage of the author's income from the book--usually 15% off the top.

There are several ways to find an agent. Networking is probably the best. Ask friends who've authored books: Who was your agent? Were you happy with the service you received? Editors, publishers, and others in the publishing industry will share names of agents they respect. Agents' organizations, most notably the Association of Authors' Representatives, publish directories of their members. And you can always read the acknowledgement pages of books you admire, where the agent is generally mentioned.

Note that not all agents like or understand business books. Be sure to ask a prospective agent whether she has represented business authors, and talk with her enough to feel sure that she can explain you and your book accurately and enthusiastically.

The Writer. Most business books today are written in collaboration with an experienced writer. His role may include any or all of the following:

•Interviewing the author to gather ideas and information for the book
•Researching the story using company archives or published sources
•Writing the book proposal, to be used by the agent in marketing the book to publishers
•Writing a first draft of the book manuscript for the author to review or revise
•Rewriting or 'doctoring' a draft manuscript written by the author himself

A writer who is not only a skillful communicator but who also understands you and with whom you're comfortable working can make the authorship process truly creative and fun. A writer who's wrong for the job--well, let's just say that he can have the opposite effect.

A close friend of mine--I'll call him Charlie--once undertook to ghostwrite a memoir for a famous Wall Street tycoon. An incident early in their relationship should have warned him of trouble ahead. The pair attended a luncheon with General Colin Powell, who'd recently published his own hugly popular memoir, AN AMERICAN JOURNEY. Powell sang the praises of his writer, Joe Persico, saying, "Joe challenged me every step of the way, forcing me to explain and sharpen my ideas." With a sharp glance at his writer, the tycoon interrupted: "Fortunately," he declared, "Charlie isn't like that at all!" The line got a laugh; but perhaps Charlie should have sensed that the team wasn't fated to succeed. Several months later, the tycoon decided he didn't want to write a memoir after all. (He still hasn't.)

The business arrangements between authors and writers vary widely. Most writers receive both a percentage of the author's income from the book (usually between 25 and 50 percent) as well as an up-front payment in advance.

Another consideration is the credit the writer receives. Some are given "coauthorship" status, in a form like this: "How I Clawed My Way to the Top by Howard Bigwig, with Gary Scribbler." (Gary's name will probably be in smaller type.) Others are merely thanked on the acknowledgements page, where their efforts may be variously described: "Thanks to Gary Scribbler, my talented writer," or "editor," or "researcher," or "writing coach and mentor," or what-have-you.

Writers sometimes trade stories about their author clients, much like waiters swapping tales about generous and stingy tippers. A minor tempest erupted in publishing circles when Hillary Clinton completely failed to acknowledge the ghostwriter on her best-seller IT TAKES A VILLAGE (a very bright and talented woman I happen to know). This thoughtless omission hurt the Clintons' reputation among the media elite far more than the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

It's best to discuss in advance what sort of credit your writer will receive when the book is published to avoid misunderstandings--and unpleasant gossip.

The Publisher. This word names both an organization (The Penguin Group, for example) and an individual executive (Ann Godoff). I'll use the term in a hybrid sense, to designate both the company that will publish your book and the individual staffers involved.

Publisher-author relations are a vexed topic because the interests of the two parties are aligned in one sense, opposed in another. They're aligned in that, like you, the publisher of your book wants it to be widely read and extravagantly praised and to sell tens of thousands of copies. They're opposed in that your publisher markets dozens or even hundreds of books every year, while you may write only one book in your entire life.

The resulting conflict is a little like the one between a child's schoolteacher and his parents. No teacher can ever love and appreciate Tommy as much as his Mom and Dad do. Similarly, no matter how conscientious, supportive, and intelligent your publisher is, he can never care about your book quite as much as you do. Thus, it usually appears to the author that the publisher is indifferent or incompetent, especially when it comes to marketing and promoting the book. The fact that this is sometimes true doesn't help matters.

How to avoid the worst clashes between author and publisher? Enlist your agent as a supporter; she speaks the language of publishing and can serve as a useful go-between without alienating either party. Be prepared to spend time, energy, and perhaps money of your own on keeping the marketing and publicity plans on track. Try to treat the publishing staff with courtesy and gratitude, even when you find them slow, inexperienced, or uncaring. And ask for help--persistently, if need be--rather than demanding it. You'll probably find that you'll get at least a good portion of what you request, though not all of it.

The Bottom Line

Who, then, ought to write a book? The person who must--the one who feels so compelled by the importance of his story or the urgency of his message that he will willingly devote the endless hours of hard mental (and sometimes physical) work required to create a manuscript, and then subject himself to the sometimes silly hucksterism involved in modern book marketing. If there's a book in you that must come out, let it!

The truth is that there's a continuing need for good books on business. Every generation needs to learn anew the lessons of creativity, entrepreneurship, management, self-discipline, intelligence, and service . . . and each new era in business demands a new language for these old truths. So if there's a really good business book in you, the chances are excellent that it can be published successfully.

Karl Weber is president of Karl Weber Literary, a book development firm that specializes in general non-fiction, including business, memoirs, current affairs, politics, and self-help. The authors he has worked with include CEOs, financiers, journalists, diplomats, members of Congress, a former U.S. President, and two winners of the Nobel Peace Prize. He may be contacted at kweber@consulting-editors.com.

Advice for

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