As I await the July 4 release by Post Hill Press of “Untenable: The True Story of White Ethic Flight from America’s Cities,” my 17th published book, I thought it a good time to answer two questions I hear often: How do I write a book? And how do I get it published?
For me, the process began 25 years ago when I was working in advertising. Not at all ready to give up my day job, I decided to set an hour or two apart each morning before work to noodle on a book.
My intent was to write a political novel set in the near future that was more hopeful and less ominous than the dystopian novels I had seen or read.
My original goal was to see if I could actually write a book. I was unexpectedly aided along the way by the emergence of the internet. The internet helped enormously in confirming facts and adding detail.
When finished, I had to ask myself whether I thought the book was good enough to look for a publisher. I surprised myself: It was, or at least I thought so.
The result was “2006: The Chautauqua Rising.” Chautauqua is the real New York county in which my fictional uprising of patriots takes place.
The book was originally titled “2003: The Chautauqua Rising,” but the process took longer than I thought. Memo to self: Avoid words in the title that no one can pronounce.
Finding a publisher was pure fluke. I saw an article in a small town western New York newspaper about a new publishing company interested in regional literature. I submitted the novel, and they accepted.
Thanks in large part to the flood of people inundating book stores in search of “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” and/or “Billy, the Big Mouth Bass,” both also fresh on the market in the summer of 2000, the book sold well regionally. I was off and running.
In 2001, I teamed with investigative reporter James Sanders to make a documentary called “Silenced” about TWA Flight 800, the plane shot down off the coast of Long Island in 1996.
This successful collaboration – and my newly minted track record as a published author – led to my first work of non-fiction, “First Strike,” written with James Sanders and published in 2003.
One trick I learned in advertising is that readers are more interested in people than they are in things. James and Elizabeth Sanders had been arrested and convicted of conspiracy for their role in exposing the real cause of the crash.
In “First Strike,” I made them the heroes of the story. In subsequent books, I looked for heroes to build the story around.
“First Strike’s” success led to 2004’s “Ron Brown’s Body.” Before signing a contract, I asked the publisher to accept in advance the possibility that the crash of Brown’s plane was not an accident.
They agreed. I do not mind being called a “conspiracy theorist” – that’s the contemporary word for “reporter.” But I had no interest in imagining conspiracies that I could not prove.
Thanks to the internet, I had as much reportorial power at my disposal as the New York Times newsroom. But I had something they did not have, namely freedom.
I still have a hard time believing the major stories the media leave on the table for guys like me. Although the Times lost a reporter on Brown’s USAF plane, for instance, they did not bother requesting the official USAF report on the crash. I did. It made all the difference.
As it turned out, I did not have to imagine a conspiracy in the death of Ron Brown. The evidence points overwhelmingly to there being a real one.
About this time, a mutual friend introduced me to Alex Hoyt who remains my agent to this day. I think of him as Broadway Danny Rose to my one-legged tap dancer.
A writer doesn’t necessarily need an agent, but Alex could knock on doors in buildings where I couldn’t get past the doorman. My subsequent contracts with the likes of Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins attest to that.
Critics often assure me I am only in this business for the money. No, if money was my motivator, I would have stayed in advertising. Alex continues to get me gigs, but I have made neither of us rich.
My books have managed to stay just above the publishing world’s equivalent of the “Mendoza line.” Lacking a huge breakout hit, I have had to compensate by making a publisher’s job easier.
This means always making my deadlines, never being a diva, and avoiding lawsuits. The way to avoid lawsuits is to get your facts straight and learn how to footnote.
On July 17, the 27th anniversary of the crash, Regnery is releasing 2016’s “TWA 800: Behind the Cover-Up and Conspiracy,” the paperback version of my second book on the disaster.
Oh, yeah, one more tip for writers not named James Patterson: Never pass up an opportunity to promote your books.
Order your copy of Cashill’s latest book, “Untenable: The True Story of White Ethnic Flight from America’s Cities,” at the WND Superstore.
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