SK B1 Rollout Fdr- Public Affairs Proposal for Publication of Report With Withdrawal Notice 507

PUBLICAFFATRS

November

18,

2003

Mr. Philip D. ZelikowExecutive DirectorNational Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United

States301

7

th

Street

SW,

Suite 5125Washington,

DC

20407Dear

Philip:

PublicAffairs

is pleased to submit a proposal for the publication of the

9-11

Commission's report

in

book

form.

Enclosed with this letter is a formal proposal in which we address each of your

seven

criteria

and questions point by point-

As

you will

see,

some of the answers we provide depend on unknown factors. It is

difficult,

forexample,

for us to

determine

the

exact price

of the final

book

without

knowing

how

long

the

manuscript will be. And so we

present

you with various possible scenarios. We understand that

this

is

an

on-going

process

and

that

our

answers

will

likely change

as the

project develops.Perhaps

the

most important

question

in

determining

the

nature

of our

relationship

is how

mucheditorial involvement

and

support

you

would like

from

us. We can

provide

as

little

or as

much

editorial

input as you

need.

On one extreme, we can serve as a

packager

and distributor for the

/report.

We

would

page,

print,

and

bind

the

report, turning

the manuscript

into

a

finished

/

paperback within

72

hours.

In

this scenario, while

we

would

put all of our

distribution, marketing

and

publicity muscle behind

the

book,

we

would

not

bring added

editorial

value

to the

project.

On

the other

extreme,

we could serve as editorial consultants and advisors to the

project,

helping

you

to

consolidate

the

reports

from

the

eight individual work

teams

and

shape them

into

acomplete,

cohesive,

and compelling single narrative. The goal would be to create anauthoritative—as well as highly readable—account of the attacks of

September

11,

2001 as well

as

analysis

and

recommendations

on how to

prevent such attacks

in the

future.

In

this

scenario,

we would supply

editorial

services as the report is being written, and publish the

book

at themoment

the

report

is

released

to the

public.

There

is

much gray area between these

two

extremes.

The

degree

of our

editorial

involvement

in

theproject will haveto dowith (1) your

desire

for

editorial

help,(2) our

access

to the

information,

and (3)

timing.

It is

imperative

that

thebook—whateverits

shape—be published

simultaneously

with

the report's

public

release.

That

may

prove

to be the

factor

that

most impacts

the

level

of our

editorial involvement.

Why is

PublicAffairs uniquely positioned

to publish the

Commission's report?There are two main reason: (1) confidentiality and (2) experience.

250

West. 57th

Sireer,

Suite

1321

•

New

York.

New

York

10107

tel

212

397

6666

.

fax

212

397

4277

.

e-mail

publicaffairs@perseusbooks.cojn

First, let us

address

the issue of confidentiality.

PublicAffairs

is a

15-person,

independentcompany.

This

is not the norm.

Most

publishers are

part

of a

larger

media

conglomerate.

HarperCollins

isownedbyRupert Murdoch's Newscorp (Fox,

The New

York Post);

Simon&Schuster

is

owned

by Sumner

Redstone's

Viacom (CBS, MTV); Little Brown

and

Warner Booksare owned by

AOL-Time

Warner (CNN, Time); and Henry

Holt's

Times

Books is

affiliated with

the

New

York

Times.

Publishers

that

are not

directly owned

by

media

conglomerates

are

often

pan

of a

larger

international entity, such as Knopf and Random

House,

which are owned by

Bertelsmann.

PublicAffairs does not have any confusinginstitutionalor media

affiliations.

We

are

beholden only

to

ourselves

and to our

authors.

It is

crucial that

the

Commission's

work

not be

perceived

as

having

a

conflict

of

interest

by

association

with

any

foreign

entity,television

network, newspaper,

or

other media outlet.

Independence—and

confidentiality—are

the

key.

Second,

experience.

PublicAffairs

is

small,fast,

and

agile.

There

is no

bureaucracy

to

fight

through

and no red

tape.

You

will have immediate

access

to a

team that will

be

devoted

to

yourproject.

The

publishing experience will

be a

partnership

of

equals rather than

a publisher/client

relationship. Unlike

the

experience

at a

larger company, where your book

may be one of

many,

atPublicAffairs,

your book

will

be a top priority on a small and

select

list.

You will benefit from the

speed

and

attention

of a

focused

team, but you

will also

have

the

vast academic

and

trade sales

network

of the

Perseus

Books Groupaswell

as the

distribution

forceof

HarperCollins.

Our past

experience

speaks foritself.A previous memo to you mentioned three PublicAffairs

titles

that

intersect

with

theCommission's

subject

and

needs.

They

are an

eclectic

bunch:

The

Starr Report,

The

Tiananmen Papers,

and

How Did

This Happen:

Terrorism

and the New

War.

Here

again

is

the relevance

of

those projects:(1)

The Starr

Report,

a public domain

document,

was published on the day of its release in

September

1998.

We

worked

hi

conjunction with

the

Washington Post,

which gave

us a

disc

ofthe

report

and

their

stories about

the

report.

We

produced

and

shipped

a

book

in 72

hours, pricedat $10.

The

Starr Report

was.

as you

doubtless

recall,

a

bestseller

(net

of our

edition:

155,840

copies).

The

point

is

that

despite

the

availability

of the

report

on the Web and in

newspapers,hundreds

of

thousands

of

people

wanted

to own the

book

version.

The

report

of the

9-11

Commission

would

be a

similar phenomenon; people

will

buy it in

book form because

it is a

historical document,

a

memento,

akeepsake—a

necessary

cornerstone

to any

educated person'spersonal library.(2)

The Tiananmen

Papery

is theinside storyof theChinese leadership's decisionto useforceto

quash

student

protests

in Tiananmen Square in June1989-The book was published in hardcover

in

January

2001.

The relevance here is that the project was compiled and published in complete

secrecy.

The

editors,

Andrew Nathan of Harvard and Perry Link of Princeton, worked veryclosely with us to create a narrative

from

thousands of

pages

of documents smuggled out of Chinaby

a

secret,

high-ranking

source

within

the

Chinese government.

As you may

recall, publicationcreated a front-page news sensation and,

after

the predictable questions about veracity, the bookhas become an accepted and

respected

version of events. It was published in paperback in June

2002.

rcs.u

-

ar

@]004/011

(3)

How Did

This

Happen?

was

published immediately

after

September

11,2001.

It

consists

ofessays

commissioned

by us and

Foreign

Affairs.

Published

as a

trade paperback priced

at

$14,

itwas

widely

read

and

discussed

in

part because

we

worked

with

the

Council

on

Foreign Relations

to

create discussion panels across

the

nation, which were filmed

and

broadcast

by

C-SPAN.

The

9-11

Commission report

is

obviously

a

model unto itself,

but

we

would apply elements

of all

these books in our support.Finally,publicity:

The

release

of the

report will

be a

major

event

and you

wJOU

obviously have

many

resources

in

dealing with

the

press.

We can

help.

PubltcAffairs

has

experience

in

handling

such

high-profile projects

and

Peter Osnos,

as a

former reporter

and

editor

at the

Washington

Post

and as a

publisher

for many years, has been involved in

many

subjects on this scale. We have the

media

contacts and publicity finesse to get the book the attention it deserves.

We

speak

for our

colleagues when

we say

that

we are

eager

to

work

with

you and

your

colleagues

on

obtaining

the

clearest possible hearing

for the

Commission

findings.

PublicAffairs

was

created

in

1997 with the mission to publish intelligent works of

nonfiction

that help readers

better

understand the complicated world in which we live. Every year, we devote our energies topublishing only

forty

original hardcover books. We are very careful to select

titles

that fit the

profile

of our

company—serious,

thought-provoking booksonissues that

matter,

written

for a layaudience.The

9-11

Commission's report couldnot fit ourmandate more perfectly.We

look

forward

to

participating

in

this historic project.Sincerely,Peter Osnos Kate

Darnton

Publisher and Chief

Executive

Senior Editor

Category:	Research > History
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Tags:	9/11 9/11 commission 9/11 9/11 commission (fewer)

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