Positive Power of Principled Profit
Volume 5, Number 5—January, 2008

Chelsea Green: Positive Power Spotlight, January 2008

Today, I had a reason to get very angry with a large New York publisher—and it got me thinking about how lucky I was to work with Chelsea Green for my fifth book, Grassroots Marketing: Getting Noticed in a Noisy World.

There are of course many highly ethical publishers, but I’m profiling Chelsea because I have personal experience. Maybe I'll profile others in the future.

Some of what I like:
* Every book they publish tries to make the world a better place. Their line emphasizes environmental sustainability, social change, viability of small agriculture, and eating well
* They're not afraid to take on very controversial topics and aren't intimidated by the political climate of the day
* They are nimble enough to scale up quickly, as they did with George Lakoff's bestselling Don’t Think of an Elephant in 2004
* It's easy for an author to reach senior executives, even the publisher—and that stayed true even when the publisher who’d bought my book stepped down and was replaced
* Contract negotiation was remarkably painless, despite my requests for some very nontraditional clauses—and even the original contract draft (before my changes) was among the most author-friendly I’ve ever seen
* As an author, my input was valued at every step, and the company was very open to suggestions such as awards to enter
* The design and editorial staff worked very collaboratively with each other and with me, and gave me their best work even though I was far from a superstar (something that did not happen with other publishers I’ve dealt with)
* Chelsea keeps the book in print almost eight years after publication and has become my only US publisher to pay me royalties beyond the initial advance
* Every single person I’ve ever met, phoned, or e-mailed, including people staffing a book table at a conference where I wasn’t even speaking, has been gracious, friendly, and helpful

Ah, if only all publishers were like this! If I ever publish the work of others, I’ll use Chelsea as my model.

Another Recommended Book: Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, by Chip Heath and Dan Heath (Random House, 2007)

If I wanted to follow one particular principle in this book, I’d put my last line first–but for this article, I’m following a different one. See if you can guess the one I followed and the one I didn’t. [Quiz answer is below the review, in brackets]

I’ve long been fascinated by the study of influence: what changes an individual’s mind? What changes the direction of a whole society?

This is something I look at in my own organizing and writing, and when a book discusses what makes ideas last–or “stick,” in the authors’ parlance–I want to take a look.

It wouldn’t be the first book I’d recommend on the topic, but there’s some great stuff here, all built around a formula spelled SUCCES (just one s at the end), each with its own extended chapter:
Simplicity
Unexpectedness
Concreteness
Credibility
Emotions
Stories

Oh, and to increase the stickiness of their own messages, the authors end with a sound bite/bullet point recap of the whole book in outline form. I may try that on my next business book.

For me, the two most compelling chapters by far were Unexpectedness (which includes creating insatiable curiosity) and Emotions–and Stories create a path to those other attributes. Some key insights from the former:
* The best “‘aha’ moments” may be preceded by “‘Huh?’ moments”
* When creating a message, don’t think about what you need to convey–instead, think about what questions you want your audience to ask
* Keep things simple–don’t do brain dumps but focus on your key point, and make sure the core message is in front
* Big ideas are audacious–but not insurmountable (Like President Kennedy setting a goal of a man walking the moon within ten years; a manned mission to Mercury would have been too difficult)

And from the Emotions chapter:
* Concepts lose value when they become clichés through overuse–but concepts can also be made fresh–as in the algebra teacher who told his students that algebra was like weight training for the mind–it wasn’t about needing the math skill but about exercising and challenging the brain to keep it in shape
* Talk to people where they can hear you, as the creators of “Don’t Mess With Texas” did: a macho anti-littering campaign designed to appeal to Texas rednecks–but don’t insult them, as did researchers who tried to bribe firefighters into considering a safety program not by appealing to the desire to save lives, but by offering popcorn poppers
* The Abraham Maslow hierarchy of needs isn’t a ladder; we pursue all of them at once–so don’t let your ideas get stuck in the basement–don’t be afraid to tap into human desires for greatness
* Making benefits (or problems) tangible and personal is more successful than making them big
* My favorite of all: *Principles can trump self-interest*

QUIZZ ANSWER: [Did you guess? I buried the lead at the bottom, but I at least hope I created curiosity]