Keeping the 'Conversation' Going
Authors grow their question compilation book empire using grassroots hustle
Two Illinois Barnes & Noble stores just depleted much of Ingram's stock on the books of questions by Bret Nicholaus and Paul Lowrie, best known for 1996'sThe Conversation Piece: Creative Questions to Tickle the Mind.
That backlist order begs its own question, of course: Why now?
Turns out the stores wanted books on hand for this young, marketing-savvy duo's latest promotion. From November 2 to 9, Nicholaus and Lowrie conducted research for the upcoming sequel to Conversation Piece live at B&N's Naperville and Wheaton stores. Switching between stores in 9 a.m.-9 p.m. brainstorming sessions, they asked for questions from schoolchildren and other groups during pre-arranged store visits. Nicholaus (who lives in the area) and Lowrie (who, when not on a promo tour, is based in South Dakota) plan to deliver their text (with contributors credited) by the end of the year to Ballantine associate publisher Cathy Repetti. The house will publish The Conversation Piece Too in fall 2000.
"When they approached me with the idea, I jumped on it because we're always looking for unusual events," B&N community relations manager Bill Ezrin told PW.
These B&N stores also have a particular investment in the book series; some of the early signings for the first The Conversation Piece book, then self-published, were conducted in these stores in the early 1990s.
Family-Friendly Questions
Nicholaus and Lowrie met at Christian college Bethel in Minnesota, from which they graduated in 1991 with degrees in -- no surprise -- marketing and public relations/advertising, respectively. They came upon the idea of compiling a book of questions as a way to spark conversation among what they deemed too sluggish, media-passive students. The Book of Questions, a bestseller for Workman, was a model, but they sought to eliminate questions that might be not be family friendly. (Villard's If... series followed Conversation Piece's debut.)
In the early 1990s, literary agent J Durepos, then working in bookselling at Chicago-area bookstore Anderson's, started tracking the $3.95 self-published book, which in his store was selling just under then-blockbuster Oprah chef book In the Kitchen with Rosie.
Durepos offered some advice to the aspiring entrepreneurs and hooked them up with Independent Publishers Group for ISBN registration and distribution, which got the book into the superstores.
Then, when Durepos made the leap to agent in the mid-1990s, he clinched a $45,000-advance, three-book trade deal for the duo with then Ballantine editor Clare Ferraro. (The much-traveled Durepos also was a Ballantine sales rep in the 1980s.)
The Christmas Conversation Piece (1996) and The Mom & Dad Conversation Piece (1997) completed the original deal, and a new deal was made for Think Twice: An Entertaining Collection of Choices (1998).
And this year alone, the duo have done for Ballantine a non-question/ country music compilation called T -Tapping Trivia (tying into the authors' short-lived syndicated country music radio show) as well as Have You Ever: Questions About You, Your Friends, and Your World.
A Bread-and-Butter Seller
Some of the authors' books have fared better than others, but Ballantine's Repetti told PWThe Conversation Piece has become one of the house's bread-and-butter sellers -- with close to 150,000 copies now in print and less than a 10% return rate. "Not only do the books sell steadily, but there's always a spike at gift-giving seasons," she said.
A lot of the book's momentum is thanks to the authors' ongoing hustle. They are constantly working grassroots channels -- for example, getting Barnes & Noble stores to pick the Conversation Piece in its handselling initiatives and providing "Ask Me a Question" buttons that support both program and book. They also just completed a 50-city tour on their own in the last month. "They make the Energizer Bunny look anemic," said Durepos.
And Ballantine is only one partner in the ever-burgeoning Nicholaus/Lowrie publishing empire. There's been a Conversation Piece game, a desk calendar published by Andrews McMeel (which also published the authors' The Talk of the Tee: A Collection for Tigers Hackers and Every Golfer in Between this year). The duo's spiritual roots will now be expressed in books they'll publish through New World Library, which released The Check Book: 200 Ways to Balance Your Life in September.
New World Library also has signed up another book, to be called Give It Some Thought, a combination of inspiring quotes and reflective questions for fall 2000 hardcover publication.
Durepos said the authors, who routinely get mid-five-figure advances and boast, on average, comparable sales for each book, have even more books in the works. Their efforts allow them work exclusively on their publishing pursuits, and Durepos said that's just how they like it. "They're even a bit wary of too big of an advance," he added. "They think it's better to work the back end."
Given their success rate, that's not something to question.
IN THE NEWS
Unabomber Book Blows Up
Don't expect that Unabomber book in the mail.
On November 4, Context Books publisher Beau Friedlander canceled publication of Ted Kaczynski's Truth Versus Lies, the New York City start-up's much-publicized acquisition that at one point was to have been released last June.
As in the case of SMP's recent recall of J.H. Hatfield's George W. Bush bio, Fortunate Son, concerns about the author's credibility prompted Friedlander, who paid no advance for the book, but has spent thousands in legal and production fees, to finally pull the plug.
"Kaczynski's recent letters forced a reevaluation of the book's editorial and legal status, and we decided that the book could no longer be considered a sound project," said Friedlander.
While Kaczynski had first submitted his manuscript to S&S (which passed on it) with the edict that it could not be edited, Friedlander said a legal review had always been part of his deal.
When Context lawyers asked for changes to the text, Kaczynski "was uncooperative and expressed himself in ways that made it impossible for the book to be published by Context or by anyone else," Friedlander said.
Despite a report in the New York Times, the book was not pulled off the press, but has been held up in film proofs since late September. Friedlander had hoped to release the book last month, and had received enough orders to justify a 15,000 first printing. Publication would have coincided with an article about Kaczynski and his brother, David, by Stephen Dubner, which attracted much buzz when it was dropped by Talk (rumored to also have asked for serial rights to Truth Versus Lies) and later picked up by Time magazine.
While author credibility in this case should have been questionable all along, Friedlander told PW that he believed the book could be valuable as "a historical document" that could provide more details to the Kaczynski story. Royalties from the book were to go to the families of Kaczynski's victims.
Context d s have a related title, Michael Mello's The United States of America Versus Theodore John Kaczynski: Ethics, Power and the Invention of the Unabomber. The law professor's argument, released last May, that Kaczynski deserved an appeal has sold some 10,000 copies for Context -- and likely provided context for Kaczynski's own subsequent successful petition for appeal.
Another Kaczynski manifesto may no longer have been in the author's interest, given his ongoing legal proceedings. In a statement about the cancellation, Friedlander acknowledged that Kaczynski had sought to dissolve the relationship first.
But Friedlander told PW the current fracas d sn't frighten him off from small press publishing. (he's exploring an alliance with another house to help expand his current base of titles, which are distributed by PGW). Next up, in February, Friedlander is releasing The Ex-Files: New Stories About Old Flames, with contributions by major literary authors, but not, of course, a certain incendiary ex-house author.
