Altering, not lowering, my sights

Having run the course on trying to find a literary agent to champion INSIDE THE WEATHER CHANNEL to major publishing houses, I’ve turned to contacting smaller, independent publishers directly.

In the judgement of most agents, many of whom liked the concept of INSIDE THE WEATHER CHANNEL, the book fits into more of a niche than it does a category appealing to the general reading public. In other words, there’s a great deal of uncertainty regarding potential sales. As one agent said, “While I know The Weather Channel has a huge following, I’m not sure that translates into huge sales for a book about it.”

I’d like to think otherwise, but I don’t have any evidence to support that notion. Thus, I must defer to the collective judgement of the agents. And I must say, in an economic climate where even big publishing houses and large bookstore chains are struggling for survival, I understand their concerns.

A book is not going to be published by one of the leading houses unless there’s a virtual certainty it’s going to make money. How do publishers know a book is going to make money? There are several ways: 1) it’s written by an author with a proven track record (think John Grisham or Dan Brown); 2) it’s authored by a celebrity (I’ll bet a book about The Weather Channel by Paris Hilton would sell); or 3) the author has a “platform,” preferably a national platform.

Having a “platform” refers to the author having high visibility. For instance, that could mean writing a highly popular blog; appearing on national TV shows such as Oprah or Today; or being a much sought-after speaker.

Unfortunately, my platform is a bit wobbly. While I may be veteran meteorologist with over a decade of experience at The Weather Channel, no one outside the channel, my circle of writer friends and a few people who read my blogs on Weather.com know who I am. Yeah, I’ve written some books in the dim, dark past and won a few awards, but that doesn’t translate into Danielle Steel-type sales. Buzz Bernard? Who’s Buzz Bernard?

Thus, I’ve altered–not lowered, let me make it clear–my sights a bit and am aiming to find a “botique” publisher who believes there could be a significant market for a book about the biggest private weather service in the world.

In the meantime, rather than let the manuscript gather dust, or whatever it gathers on a hard drive, I’ll be publishing some excerpts from it in subsequent blogs.

Look for them soon.