This morning, I was struck with a book idea that has me considering the task of putting together a book proposal for whichever company publishes Howard Zinn’s "A People’s History" series of spinoffs from his magnificent and eye-opening A People’s History of the United States.
That publishing company turns out to be The New Press, and here’s The New Press’s first paragraph describing themselves:
Established in 1990 as a major alternative to the large, commercial publishers, The New Press is a not-for-profit publishing house operated editorially in the public interest. It is committed to publishing in innovative ways works of educational, cultural, and community value that, despite their intellectual merits, may be deemed insufficiently profitable by commercial publishers. Like the Public Broadcasting System and National Public Radio as they were originally conceived, The New Press aims to provide ideas and viewpoints under-represented in the mass media.
Check out especially their books on U.S. history.
I’ve just ordered Fighting Words: An Illustrated History of Newspaper Accounts of the Civil War.
Will I in fact pursue a book proposal with them?
Don’t know.
Ideas strike a writer, then fade.
Some persist.
The ones that not only persist but nag are those to pursue to their lair.
They’re the ones that make the project of a book proposal (these can run 70-80 pages if done properly) worth the time and effort.