Encounter Books: I Think I'm in Love With You and I'm Available on Saturday Night
Encounter Books sponsors our podcasts, so you might think this is paid product placement, but it's absolutely from the heart.
I admire them not just from an ideological point of view, but from a business point of view. And since I'm pro-business, they're the same thing.
First, they sponsor our podcasts, which is intelligent book marketing: It means they're thinking about where, exactly, to find the people who would buy the books they're publishing. Conservative readers, in other words. They're also thinking about new places to find them--and maybe even create them--not just the same old venues.
Second, I mentioned my interest in Gray Lady Down on the podcast. A copy of it showed up on my doorstep days later. It's an excellent book and I'm pleased to have it--thank you, Encounter!--but of particularly keen interest to me was their serious interest in marketing it. (The press release was written by Revere Advisors; I imagine they also deserve credit.)
Not only is it an interesting book, and I do promise to write more about that, it's a beautiful book. The jacket design, the ornaments and the paper quality all meet with my approval, and I'm not promiscuous with my approval where those things are concerned. Nor have I spotted a single typo so far, and these days that's sadly rare.
My interest deepened to infatuation when a few days ago Encounter announced on its Twitter feed that it was holding a contest to give away free copies of its latest broadside, How Obama Embraces Islam's Sharia Agenda, by Andrew McCarthy. No comment as yet on the book's contents, because I haven't yet read it, and you know me, I'm ethical about that sort of thing. But comment aplenty on the great idea of running a contest on Twitter, and the even greater idea of sending me a copy immediately, by FedEx, even though I'm in Istanbul. Above all, the idea of publishing broadsides like this is fantastic--and I don't just say so because it was actually one of my brother's great ideas. We were talking about this five years ago, trying to figure out what to do about the apparently terminal decline of the publishing industry. I remember the conversation well. But we never put it into practice. It went to the graveyard of Great Berlinski Ideas, along with about a billion others. Encounter had the same idea and did something about it, and more power to them.
ENCOUNTER BROADSIDES: a new series of critical pamphlets from Encounter Books. Uniting an 18th-century sense of political urgency and rhetorical wit (think The Federalist Papers, Common Sense) with 21st-century technology and channels of distribution, Encounter Broadsides offer indispensable ammunition for intelligent debate on the critical issues of our time. Written with passion by some of our most authoritative authors, Encounter Broadsides make the case for liberty and the institutions of democratic capitalism at a time when they are under siege from the resurgence of collectivist sentiment. Read them in a sitting and come away knowing the best we can hope for and the worst we must fear. The best defense is a good Broadside.
The pamphlet they sent me is about the size of a restaurant napkin. The piece itself is magazine length, but it's more tempting to read than an article in a magazine--big print, beautiful paper, and honestly, just easy-looking. It costs $5.99, and I figure it will take me about twenty minutes to read it. People will buy these, I'm sure of it, because people are willing to spend $5.99 for a book they might not like. They just aren't willing to take a chance and spend the $25-odd most hardcover books cost, though, and I don't blame them. Most books aren't worth it--not when the economy is bad and the Internet is free.
This photo--of a broadside by Victor Davis Hanson--doesn't quite do justice to the appeallingness of the thing. Go out and look for one in a bookstore; you'll see what I mean. (They did not put me up to saying that.)
Encounter seems like a publishing company with its act together. So, you can see what I'm thinking, I'm sure. They're going places, and I want to go with them.
I'm not going to chase them. It's unladylike. But I have let them know in my feminine way that I would not say no if they asked me out.
Ricochet members: Is there a book you'd like me to write? Suggest the topic, and if Encounter wants to publish it, I'll write it.
I know it's a little unconventional for a writer to flirt with you like this in public, Encounter, but in this publishing climate, we've all got to be unconventional--while remaining, of course, conservative.
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Jun '10
Re: Encounter Books: I Think I'm in Love With You and I'm Available on Saturday Night
I wish there was a way to order from Encounter using a link on the Ricochet site or other means to ensure that Encounter can properly credit the business that they are getting from their sponsorship of the podcast and presence on Ricochet. (A subscription to the broadsheets at a tidy discount would also be attractive.)
Yes, we do have to come up with a book project for you -- you are so much more prolific on Ricochet when you have an assignment to do something else.
May '10
Re: Encounter Books: I Think I'm in Love With You and I'm Available on Saturday Night
Even more impressive is that they had a copy within days to someone in Turkey who expressed interest. That's an impressive and nimble response, especially in the publishing business. I'm no expert on publishing houses, but these days I have to imagine it's very easy to lose a lot of money in publishing and very difficult to make even a little.
Does anyone see parallels to Fox News? Encounter seems to have identified the audience it wants to target, pumps out content for that audience, and agressively gets the product front and center to that audience. It's like Charles Krauthammer's quip that Fox News' niche is half of Americans. If there's anyone who knows, how does Encounter compare to/differ from other right-leaning publishers (Regnery, for example)?
Edited on December 3, 2010 at 5:36pmMay '10
Re: Encounter Books: I Think I'm in Love With You and I'm Available on Saturday Night
Amazing twitter post. I follow encounter and I missed that contest. I'll get one of these broadsides to try over the holidays.
» EncounterBooks Encounter Books @ClaireBerlinski dinner and a movie??
Aug '10
Re: Encounter Books: I Think I'm in Love With You and I'm Available on Saturday Night
Claire, is this the wrong time to tell you that Encounter Books has this thing about cats?...
Re: Encounter Books: I Think I'm in Love With You and I'm Available on Saturday Night
Uh, what thing?
Aug '10
Re: Encounter Books: I Think I'm in Love With You and I'm Available on Saturday Night
Claire Berlinski, Ed.
Uh, what thing? · Dec 3 at 9:05am
Well, he had a cat once. And they both hated each other.
And ever since, being around cats breaks him out into hives.
It could just be psychosomatic.
May '10
Re: Encounter Books: I Think I'm in Love With You and I'm Available on Saturday Night
Midget Faded Rattlesnake
Claire Berlinski, Ed.
Uh, what thing? · Dec 3 at 9:05am
Well, he had a cat once. And they both hated each other.
And ever since, being around cats breaks him out into hives.
It could just be psychosomatic. · Dec 3 at 9:09am
Shhhhh! Don't let Pseudo know, he might start caterwauling.
Aug '10
Re: Encounter Books: I Think I'm in Love With You and I'm Available on Saturday Night
FeliciaB
Midget Faded Rattlesnake
Well, he had a cat once. And they both hated each other.
And ever since, being around cats breaks him out into hives.
It could just be psychosomatic. · Dec 3 at 9:09am
Shhhhh! Don't let Pseudo know, he might start caterwauling. · Dec 3 at 9:46am
I keep trying to tell Encounter that just because he had the misfortune to end up with the meanest, stupidest cat on the planet doesn't make all cats bad. But Encounter has a hard time accepting this.
He is still traumatized, I guess.
Jun '10
Re: Encounter Books: I Think I'm in Love With You and I'm Available on Saturday Night
Book projects:
- Israel's relations with Turkey -- today
- Turks in Germany, is there any hope?
- Thatcher and the IRA -- lessons for dealing with terrorists
- Iran's influence in Turkey
- Turkey after Iran gets the bomb -- lessons for the disarming West
- Wahhabist influence in Turkey
- A down and dirty guide to NATO's future in Turkey.
- Forcing democracy -- what we might learn in Iraq.
Edited on December 3, 2010 at 7:14pmMay '10
Re: Encounter Books: I Think I'm in Love With You and I'm Available on Saturday Night
The Future of Islam in the West: Defining the Moderate Muslim, The Rise of Sharia Law, Burqua Banning, Turkey as a model/or not...
Nov '10
Re: Encounter Books: I Think I'm in Love With You and I'm Available on Saturday Night
Possible project:
Why the History of Hebrews, Greeks, Romans, and Englishmen Should Matter to Americans Today
Re: Encounter Books: I Think I'm in Love With You and I'm Available on Saturday Night
I'd love to write this, Trace--and any of the books Cas suggested, for that matter, apart from 3 and 8--not 3 because I've probably said all I have to say about Thatcher; and not 8 because I've never set foot in Iraq, which makes me less qualified than a lot of other journalists to write about it. I'm not sure, Cas, whether any of your ideas would sell to a broad reading public: Do you think there's enough interest in those subjects in America?
Re: Encounter Books: I Think I'm in Love With You and I'm Available on Saturday Night
Midget Faded Rattlesnake
FeliciaB
Midget Faded Rattlesnake
Well, he had a cat once. And they both hated each other.
And ever since, being around cats breaks him out into hives.
It could just be psychosomatic. · Dec 3 at 9:09am
Shhhhh! Don't let Pseudo know, he might start caterwauling. · Dec 3 at 9:46am
Midge, you should have warned me about that link. I'm now trying to calm seven hissing, arched-backed, totally freaked-out friends.
May '10
Re: Encounter Books: I Think I'm in Love With You and I'm Available on Saturday Night
Claire Berlinski, Ed.
Midget Faded Rattlesnake
FeliciaB
Midget Faded Rattlesnake
Well, he had a cat once. And they both hated each other.
And ever since, being around cats breaks him out into hives.
It could just be psychosomatic. · Dec 3 at 9:09am
Shhhhh! Don't let Pseudo know, he might start caterwauling. · Dec 3 at 9:46am
Midge, you should have warned me about that link. I'm now trying to calm seven hissing, arched-backed, totally freaked-out friends. · Dec 3 at 11:46am
Oops! Mea culpa. It's been a long time since I was a cat's servant. I've forgotten how impressionable they can be.
I'd read an Encounter book by you on any of the topics Cas & Trace suggested.
Sep '10
Re: Encounter Books: I Think I'm in Love With You and I'm Available on Saturday Night
I go away on travel for one day, just one day, and look what happens to the place!
Jul '10
Re: Encounter Books: I Think I'm in Love With You and I'm Available on Saturday Night
I would modify Cas's number 4: what I would love to read is an assessment of the rivalry -- historic, current, and impending -- between Iran and Turkey for leadership of the Islamic world. Daniel Pipes' recent article whetted my appetite for more information on this. It's a rivalry that may very well define events in that part of the world for most of the coming century.
For what it's worth, I've been ordering and reading the Encounter Broadsides since the first one. I have a complete set on my shelf. Any time I'm struggling to communicate a cogent argument on an area of public policy, all I have to do is reach for a Broadside, hand it to the person I'm talking with, and say "It's all in here; read it."
May '10
Re: Encounter Books: I Think I'm in Love With You and I'm Available on Saturday Night
Well then. Don't wander off!
Jul '10
Re: Encounter Books: I Think I'm in Love With You and I'm Available on Saturday Night
I agree completely.
Aug '10
Re: Encounter Books: I Think I'm in Love With You and I'm Available on Saturday Night
Claire Berlinski, Ed.
Midget Faded Rattlesnake
FeliciaB
Shhhhh! Don't let Pseudo know, he might start caterwauling. · Dec 3 at 9:46am
Midge, you should have warned me about that link. I'm now trying to calm seven hissing, arched-backed, totally freaked-out friends. · Dec 3 at 11:46am
Ah, sorry -- I hadn't checked Felicia's link when I replied. But it does give me an idea...
Most of the non-liberationist takes on humane treatment of animals I've read have also been overtly religious. Which is wonderful in many ways, but doesn't necessarily speak to those for whom religion is hard to relate to (for whatever reason).
Now, there are numerous problems with assigning animals rights -- the fundamental and (until we develop better interspecies communication) insuperable one being that the ones who speak for the animals are always human beings with their own interests, and not the animals themselves.
But humane treatment of animals can be framed as neither an animal-rights-issue nor an overtly religious issue. I'd be interested in reading a broadside that explored this possibility.
Edited on December 4, 2010 at 6:50amOct '10
Re: Encounter Books: I Think I'm in Love With You and I'm Available on Saturday Night
I would vote for Peter’s modification of Cas’ #4, adding what it means for the West. I have read dozens of books on Islam and the Middle East. I think there is a market in the US for books on this topic, witness the success of Andrew McCarthy and others. I enjoyed your book on Margaret Thatcher very much, and think you would bring insights to this topic that few others can. Your column on the burqa was by far the best one of many on that topic.