Over the past few years, Chelsea Green, in White River Junction, Vt., has transformed itself from a laid-back publisher of nature and outdoors titles into a progressive press with a strong backlist. The company's breakthrough title, George Lakoff's Don't Think of an Elephant, has 250,000 copies in print since its release in fall 2004, and Chelsea publisher Margo Baldwin is hoping to catch more political gold with Crashing the Gate: Netroots, Grassroots and the Rise of People-Powered Politics. Written by two blogosphere gurus who masterminded Howard Dean's Web campaign—Jerome Armstrong, creator of MyDD, and Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, of the Daily Kos—Crashing is due out in March.
To beat out larger houses that were offering bigger money, Baldwin gave the authors Chelsea Green's biggest advance ever and sweetened the deal with an unusual partnership. The press and the authors will split the income from an agreement with the activist organization Working Assets to sell a 10,000-copy "progressive" edition, which will be available three weeks before the book lands in stores.
Moulitsas Zuniga is pleased to publish with a progressive press. "The way people consume information has changed," he said. "Hence, the way to market books has to adapt."
For Chelsea Green that means not only having finished books available in late February for a manuscript delivered in mid-December, but coming up with an unusual marketing program. In addition to barraging the more than one million daily visitors to the authors' Web sites with information on the book, Chelsea Green is planning a political campaign, complete with campaign buttons, a national field office and local volunteers. Baldwin hired Glenn Smith, whose credits include serving as campaign manager for Ann Richards's first successful run for Texas governor, to head up the book blitz, which will include seven events a month in April and May, from Austin, Tex., to Washington, D.C. Chelsea Green will also partner to market the book with a range of progressive groups.
Crashing is one of 20 titles due out from Chelsea this year, up from 16 in 2005. The new year will also see Chelsea change its ownership structure. Over the next six months, Baldwin said, Chelsea will move toward becoming employee-owned. The change is aimed at keeping the company independent and to allow it to continue to attract talent.
