Regarding freshness, and speaking as the author of a different book about the Milky Way, it seems to me that the freshness of Dr. McTier’s book is also about their extraordinary ability to reach the non-specialist reader—which I think is quite difficult—and about the unique first-person style. Also regarding freshness—do you think a book can make it’s own moment, so to speak? Thinking about David Orr’s book about a poem by Robert Frost’s, a poet with an enduring fan base but who is not really trendy.
Totally agree with you about Dr. McTier's non-specialist approach, Leila! I didn't really get into things like voice and writing ability in this post because my brain was zeroed in on that first moment of creating a book idea -- and at that moment the reading experience of the finished book can't really be wielded as an advantage because it doesn't exist yet.
David Orr's book (The Road Not Taken, for anyone wanting to look it up) is a really intriguing example, thank you for bringing it to my attention! I hadn't come across it in my own reading and day-to-day work, but it's well worth discussing in the context of this week's post. From the little bit of reading I've just done, I think Orr's book does sort of "make its own moment" (love that phrase) by putting a fresh assertion front and center with the packaging of the book. You can literally see the moment the book tackles the freshness hurdle in its subtitle: "Finding America in the Poem Everyone Loves AND ALMOST EVERYONE GETS WRONG". That last bit (the caps are mine, not Orr's :) transforms the book idea from perhaps a perennially stable seller (fandom is on solid ground in Orr's case) to something driven by a fresh argument that can launch the book.
And the media jumped on that hook, with reviews titled "The Most Misread Poem in America" (Paris Review), "What We've Gotten Wrong about This Robert Frost Classic" (PBS), and "You're Probably Misreading Robert Frost's Most Famous Poem" (Lithub).
I'm super curious now to see what the book proposal looked like, and whether that hook was built in from the start. Anyway, terrific questions, Leila -- apologies for an answer nearly as long as the post!
This was very helpful with framing and encouraged me to double check everything!
“ before any author gets to that highlight-reel moment of opening a box full of copies of their finished book”
I feel seen!
Regarding freshness, and speaking as the author of a different book about the Milky Way, it seems to me that the freshness of Dr. McTier’s book is also about their extraordinary ability to reach the non-specialist reader—which I think is quite difficult—and about the unique first-person style. Also regarding freshness—do you think a book can make it’s own moment, so to speak? Thinking about David Orr’s book about a poem by Robert Frost’s, a poet with an enduring fan base but who is not really trendy.
Totally agree with you about Dr. McTier's non-specialist approach, Leila! I didn't really get into things like voice and writing ability in this post because my brain was zeroed in on that first moment of creating a book idea -- and at that moment the reading experience of the finished book can't really be wielded as an advantage because it doesn't exist yet.
David Orr's book (The Road Not Taken, for anyone wanting to look it up) is a really intriguing example, thank you for bringing it to my attention! I hadn't come across it in my own reading and day-to-day work, but it's well worth discussing in the context of this week's post. From the little bit of reading I've just done, I think Orr's book does sort of "make its own moment" (love that phrase) by putting a fresh assertion front and center with the packaging of the book. You can literally see the moment the book tackles the freshness hurdle in its subtitle: "Finding America in the Poem Everyone Loves AND ALMOST EVERYONE GETS WRONG". That last bit (the caps are mine, not Orr's :) transforms the book idea from perhaps a perennially stable seller (fandom is on solid ground in Orr's case) to something driven by a fresh argument that can launch the book.
And the media jumped on that hook, with reviews titled "The Most Misread Poem in America" (Paris Review), "What We've Gotten Wrong about This Robert Frost Classic" (PBS), and "You're Probably Misreading Robert Frost's Most Famous Poem" (Lithub).
I'm super curious now to see what the book proposal looked like, and whether that hook was built in from the start. Anyway, terrific questions, Leila -- apologies for an answer nearly as long as the post!