Subject: Re: follow up notes and next steps
From: "Alexander S. Mackler" <[email-masked]>
To: "Annie" <[email-masked]>
Cc: "Eric Schwerin" <[email-masked]>, "Hunter Biden" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 14 Jun 2015 22:18:26 -0400

Here are a few memoirs that may be worth glancing at for some
structural/thematic tips. I haven't read them all, but most are
award-winners and none are purely political:

-Monica Wood, *When We Were Kennedys*
-Joan Didion, *Year of Magical Thinking* (among others)
-Joan Wickersham, *The Suicide Index*
-Nancy Sharp, *Both Sides Now* (much about brain cancer)
-Eggers, *Heartbreaking work of Staggering Genius*
-Obama, *Dreams From My Father*

And, random thought of the evening: one of the many challenges of writing
this kind of book will be writing a memoir that isn't depressing. The
subject matter of many of these lends them to being dark. It'd be an
accomplishment to make it both compelling and positive.

On Fri, Jun 12, 2015 at 5:53 PM, Annie <[email-masked]> wrote:

> Great feedback!
>
> Annie Tomasini
> Director for Intergovernmental Relations
> Harvard University
> 617-939-7976
>
>
> On Jun 12, 2015, at 5:49 PM, Eric Schwerin <[email-masked]>
> wrote:
>
> I spoke with Howard Yoon, the agent I know.  Annie/Alex - Howard is with
> RossYoon here in DC and has a focus on non-fiction.
>
> Here’s some of what he said:
>
> 1) He thinks that the book is a fantastic idea but it has to be done the
> right way.  I won’t go into depth on his ideas but they seem in line with
> what you say you want to do.
> 2) He knows Paul Whitlatch well and says he is a good young editor.
> 3) He said Hachette as its own imprint is relatively new and just
> launched.  He said most new imprints try and do 40-70 books a year in their
> first year in order to make a name for themselves and many times those
> books aren’t well thought out.
> 4) He felt the Gabrielle Giffords book was not the book she should have
> written (too gun control focused and not personal enough) and said it
> didn’t sell well.  She used a ghost writer from the Washingtonian that
> Howard knows well.
> 5) He thought that if you wrote the book Howard believes you can write
> there won’t be a problem getting any publisher to buy it so you shouldn’t
> feel like this will be the only opportunity.
> 6) To be clear, he didn’t dislike Paul - said he’s a good guy and a good
> editor - just under pressure from a business point of view to get titles
> out there in their “start-up” phase.
>
> Howard is around next week and I am going to arrange time for him to come
> by and see you and talk further.
>
>
>
>
> Eric D. Schwerin
> Rosemont Seneca Partners, LLC
> 1010 Wisconsin Ave., NW
> Suite 705
> Washington, DC 20007
> (202) 333-1880
> [email-masked]
> *P* *Consider the environment before printing this email.*
>
>
>
>
> On Jun 12, 2015, at 4:36 PM, Annie Tomasini <[email-masked]>
> wrote:
>
> took some high level notes and captured next steps here.
> <RHB_BookBrainstorm_June 12.docx>
>
>
>

-- 

Alexander Snyder Mackler
(302) 598-867