Bishop Hill Bookselling
With America at Thanksgiving this weekend the Climategate pace has slowed slightly, allowing me to take stock of where I am. Blog traffic has been unbelievable, and it's been fascinating to see the relative power of old-new-media (like Instapundit; my first Instalanche!) and the new-old-media sites like the newspaper blogs. Thanks to everyone for the links.
I've also had some interest from big media. BBC radio is coming to see me next week (gulp) and there is the possibility of some independent radio too. I have precisely zero interest in becoming famous, so this is going to be bit of a trial to me, but I guess it's a cross I will have to bear.
All that traffic did good things for the book, which at one point last weekend was inside the top 1000 on Amazon UK, which I think must be pretty good seeing you can't actually buy it yet. I've finished writing a new chapter on Climategate, which adds a lot of corroborating evidence to the case I build in the rest of the book. It's amazing how little contradiction there was between what I'd written before and what was revealed last week. The new material all went off to the publisher on Friday, so with a bit of luck we can get it finalised and off to the printer next week.
Another upshot of the attention is that I have managed to get a foot in the door at an Australian publisher. It's early doors yet, but it's encouraging just to make contact, as anyone who has ever tried to get a book published knows. I still need to find someone in the US, which is obviously likely to be a big market for me. So if anyone out there knows someone in a US publisher who would like to buy up the rights to a very readable and very topical title on global warming scandals, do please put me in touch. Likewise I'm happy to speak to people about all the other rights - translation rights, TV and so on. Don't be shy.
Reader Comments (25)
Good luck - I've done quite a bit of radio and tv over the years, as an unpaid volunteer/campaigner, but I'm not very good at it - radio is much less scary than tv though! I look better on radio too!
I always thought any book on the Hockey Stick would be big - I'm sure it'll be a best seller.
Radio has some other advantages too. Firstly I don't need to get a haircut and secondly nobody will see what a shambles my house is. The cheque from big oil hasn't arrived yet!
Stuff the tiny cheque from 'big oil - go for a share of the $80 billion spent by big govt. trying to implicate man in global warming.
Congratulations on getting the update for Climategate finished in time and good luck with the wireless!
You have an aptitude for making sense out of disorder, we appreciate it very much.
Don't worry, radio is the fun stuff, I've done about a zillion radio interviews and shows. A few tips, not that you need them.
1) Write down the three points you think are most important to make. Have them in front of you as you speak. Each of them should be one sound-bite, or one sentence.
2) Make sure, if you have call-waiting, that you've turned that off. There is nothing more annoying than getting that "beep" while you're on an interview, and it messes with the recording. Make sure you won't be interrupted in other ways as well.
3) Don't let the reporter lead you astray: if there's something you don't know, just say, "that's not my area of expertise, but as I was saying, (insert one of your three points here)."
4) Don't ever think the reporter is your friend. They'll want you to think that, they'll be all jovial, and happy-happy, but if you're talking about a liberal outlet like the Beeb, or Canada's CBC, assume that they're looking to catch you in a "gotcha" moment. Make sure you speak in self contained sentences that are hard to take out of context.
5) Once you are on the phone, or if you ever do television, are in front of a camera, assume that you're being broadcast globally. Everything you say is fair game once they put that microphone in front of you, clip one to your jacket, or focus a boom-mike on you that's attached to a camera.
Good luck!
Ken
Unfortunately you are thinking too much of hollywood to think anyone in that industry has the guts to make a TV and/or Movie exposing this story to the world. Your best bet would be to find an independent producer, and a director with guts and a taste for documentaries. I'd suggest Michael Moore, but his stock isn't what it used to be, and he probably wouldn't want to poke his liberal friends in the eye so badly.
My real suggestion... homegrown. Youtube and the like. If you find someone who knows what they're doing well enough to keep the production values up, you might even turn a profit.
Can I suggest you change the title of your book to something like:
"CLIMATEGATE
The Corruption of Science"
The book will be first out of the block on this massive scandal that everyone will want to read the background to. If you use a dynamic graphical image of the hockey-stick on the cover - it will be self-evident that it is a major theme of the book without needing to spell it out in the title.
Don't expect an easy ride at Skynews. Read what the weathergirl blog (No I'm not making this up) have had to say on the subject. Link below.
http://blogs.news.sky.com/theweathergirls/Post:35c7a6d4-9e59-4208-9703-34d64bd6d7fd
Dear Editor,
For the sake of self-preservation and open speech, I suggest you might indeed seek to court a bit of media profile, uncomfortable as that may be for you.
I would dare to suggest that one of the many worrying aspects of the 'Climategate' scandal is that the conventional media was either completely out to lunch or nicely onboard with the agenda that the CRU mail and programmes reveal.
Andy Revkin's comments at the NYT indicate that, if a hard copy folder of these documents were dropped on their desks - they would have gone straight into the recycling bin. No Watergate, no Pentagon Papers, no Monica Moment. Fearless and unbiased journalistic commitment - to shredding the evidence.
It was ONLY the bloggosphere - yourself and the other well known sites - that carried this forward into the light of day.
Which suggests to the suspicious mind that a likely topic of discussion at some informal or off-the -record forums at Copenhagen will be 'The Menace of the Unrestricted Bloggosphere and How it Can be Reformed'.
Just watch - proposals for licensing and regulatory control of new media and content. Some inappropriate comments on blogs or fringe posts will be held up as 'hate speech' and abuse of Human Rights - and the next thing you know, there will be a regulator and you won't be posting without prior permission. Right now - you, Anthony Watts, Andrew Bolt and a few others will be sitting very near the top of more than a few hit lists.
For the US - try Glen Beck at Fox - he loves the David v Goliath thing
For the US - you have to get yourself on the radio circuit. Especially Right Wing radio. Those reading this blog can help by emailing Beck, Limbaugh, Hannity, et al. Or even try sending copies of your book to Michelle Malkin, Ace of Spades, Breitbart over at Big Government, etc. Try sending a copy to Fox News. Just some ideas. Good luck! I've been published on a smaller scale. It's hard to get your foot in the door sometimes but it happens!
Great good luck to you. Hope to meet you at a US book signing next year.
On a related topic, a dear friend made the following suggestion, which I am unable to follow up, so pass on to you: "Maybe you should go on up to Copenhagen and post daily for us. Imagine the disconnects you would observe. High sounding empty promises laced with fearmongering about catastrophic global warming in the speeches and resolutions, hate-filled and petty gossip about the catastrophic CRU disclosures in the bars, restaurants and hotel lobbies. I would love to see it all."
Can you get press credentials, or better?
Watch out for an ambush e.g. you against two warmists and a hostile interviewer. This has happened before with others.
Watch out for selective editing. You really need it live. The BBC is notorious for putting in someone else's comments after you and giving you no chance of responding.
Keep us informed.
For Copenhagen what we need is pictures and pictures of them all arriving in their jets, private jets, limos and taxis. Cut to slogan "WE want YOU to cut YOUR emissions!"
Has anyone calculated the carbon footprint of the Copenhagen conference?
Bishop,
"It's amazing how little contradiction there was between what I'd written before and what was revealed last week"
It's not amazing at all, it's much like a rorshach test. When you wear shit colored glasses everything you see is going to look the same shade of brown.
But congratulations on the book anyway - shame about the topic but IMO it's an achievement to write any book.
Out of curiosity did you engage anyone sceptical of your conclusions to review drafts etc? If not I think you should have. It's probably too late now I guess.
Frank
Yes, I sent the book to people who believe in AGW.
Bishop,
Glad to hear it - I look forward to reading it.
Before ClimateGate, I just assumed that "climate change" was some kind of group-think, with scientists struggling to understand the climate, jumping on any theory and thinking it was established fact. Like cargo-cult science - they just needed to re-shape the wooden headphones and extend the bamboo control towers and the planes would start to land.
What scares me is that they knew in fact that the whole thesis was a big crock with no real evidence at all - so they started to manufacture evidence while undermining anyone with different views.
Beware the BBC.
They could put you on against someone who will just shout you down, talk over your answers, try to trip you up over some piffling detail.
Or put you on then follow with someone else who can rubbish you and have the last word.
Vipers, the lot of 'em.
They are interviewing us separately. They are interviewing Rob Wilson after me. I guess it all comes down to how they splice the program together. The presenter, Simon Cox, seems fairly balanced - see
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6295021.stm
Andy Revkin's comments at the NYT indicate that, if a hard copy folder of these documents were dropped on their desks - they would have gone straight into the recycling bin. No Watergate, no Pentagon Papers, no Monica Moment. Fearless and unbiased journalistic commitment - to shredding the evidence.
I guess you saw already that the BBC was sent the stuff some time before it went online.
And
Bishop, good luck with the book. I placed an order last week.
@Kenneth P. Green:
I know it wasn't intended for me, but as it happened I was interviewed on local radio today (about a local issue, nothing to do with climate!) and was very glad I'd read your advice to the BIshop beforehand, especially writing down your 3 main points, and not being diverted by the interviewer (in my case, it was someone phoning in, and I managed to steer it back on course). I don't suppose I will be on radio again any time soon, but I hope I'll remember your valuable lessons!
I'm curious to know, your eminence, did the Australian publisher contact you or vise versa, as I sent a link to your book to a publisher I thought might be interested?