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Brave Old World: A Book and a Business Proposal
Update: When I told the Yeti that I’d posted this but hadn’t set up a GoFundMe page, he basically said I was an idiot.
“But I haven’t worked out every detail of how this will work yet,” I said.
“Just ask for the money,” he said.
Fair enough. I’ve now set up a GoFundMe page. Please contribute here, at Brave Old World. I don’t know how every detail of this will work, but your support is definitely going to get you some good, old-fashioned journalism.
***
Ladies and Gentlemen of Ricochet, I have a business proposal for you. I’m about to ask you for money, so be prepared. But I think — maybe — this idea could work, and if it does, you’d get a good return on it. So grab yourself a cup of coffee, put on your capitalist-caps, and let me explain.
Ten years ago, I wrote Menace in Europe: Why the Continent’s Crisis is America’s, Too. I’d been living for a while in Europe, and found many Americans’ fantasies about European life delusional. Those who were sure the Continent was on a glide path to peaceful, prosperous, and permanent integration seemed to me suffused with dangerously excessive optimism.
I argued that Europe was haunted by ghosts from the past while confronting entirely new problems it was ill-prepared to face. Americans, I suggested, would be well-advised to pay attention to what was really happening.
When I wrote that book, my views were unusual and considered extreme. Now, obviously, they’re not.
It received excellent reviews in some quarters:
“Serious, well researched—and riveting. More than a piercing alarm over Muslim radicalism in Europe, this thoughtful book takes us on a tour of the continent’s spiritual crisis. Berlinski weaves sociological insight and helpful historical analysis into accounts of everything from the sexual underside of immigration to the dynamics of assassination to Europe’s cities without children to its self-extinguishing tolerance.” —Stanley Kurtz, contributing editor at National Review Online
And of course, it was panned by those who thought me a Cassandra and a hysteric. Still, some of the critics who thought I was seeing ghosts now admit that maybe I had a point. For example, Philip Jenkins, a professor of history and religious studies at Penn State, described me in 2007 as the “author of a highly controversial book on the subject of religion in Europe.” As you can see in this piece, The Age of Permanent Jihad, he’s now more pessimistic than I was a decade ago.
But surprisingly, I’m less sure of my pessimism than I once was.
What changed? I changed, for one. Living for nearly a decade in Turkey changed my perspective on many things. So, perhaps, did growing older. But most importantly, I came back to a continent that had changed, sometimes in ways I didn’t predict. So some of my predictions about Europe’s future proved correct. But others were wrong. Why?
I hated the title Menace in Europe, by the way. I wanted to call it Blackmailed by History. But the sales force thought books with the word “history” in the title didn’t sell. They wanted a title with a terrifying word, one that said to readers, explicitly, why this book mattered to them. I thought it was perfectly obvious that what happens in Europe affects the United States — two World Wars seemed like sufficient evidence of that — but my editor thought that if the sales force hated the title, they wouldn’t try to sell it. So I caved.
I wish I’d stood my ground, because many readers understood my book to be chiefly about Europe’s difficulty integrating its Muslim immigrants. That was an issue that concerned me, but it was only part of a larger story. My other concerns — the rebirth in black-market form of European nationalism, the excessively idealistic foundation upon which the European integration project was built, Russian revanchism — were just as important, and these problems are still overlooked.
There were many things I failed to anticipate. The main thing I didn’t see coming was the crisis of confidence that was soon to befall the United States, one every bit as severe as Europe’s, and more consequential in its implications. Nor did I anticipate the convulsions that were about to take place in the Middle East. But I certainly did see some things coming. I concluded the book this way:
I do not prophesy the imminent demise of European democratic institutions, nor do I predict imminent catastrophe on European soil. But I don’t rule out these possibilities either. Europe’s entitlement economy will collapse. Its demography will change. The European Union may unravel. We have no idea what these events would herald, but it is possible and reasonable to imagine a very ugly outcome. The only people to whom this will come as a surprise are those who have not been paying attention.
Indulge me in a brief moment of personal frustration. Last week I was asked by The New York Times to write an essay about the attack in Brussels and the mood in Europe. I sent what I thought was a serious, grown-up response, but they didn’t run it. Instead, they ran one that began this way:
When I moved to Europe 12 years ago, my biggest concern was whether I’d ever speak decent French. Practically every American I knew came to visit, many saying they dreamed of living here, too. I didn’t worry much about far-right political parties, or the European Union. I certainly didn’t fret about terrorism. …
You can imagine how I felt when I read that. Our newspaper of record, folks.
But on the good-news front, I recently learned that my book has nearly sold out the advance I received for writing it, meaning that from now on, I’ll receive royalty payments. (I’m not expecting to retire on them, alas. But perhaps these checks will one day be sufficient to buy a nice meal every now and again.) It took ten years, but the book is finally making a profit.
Some of you have asked when I’ll be writing a sequel. I agree it’s time to do that, especially in light of the economic and refugee crises and the invasion of Ukraine. I’d like to return to some of the places I wrote about ten years ago to see what I got wrong, what I got right, and why. I’ve watched the changes of the past decade up close, in Turkey and France. I’d like now to report from other places: The Balkan route of the migrant trail, Greece, Germany, Belgium, Britain as it debates its future in Europe, Eastern Europe as it decides whether liberal democracy is truly an idea for which it has much use.
But since I wrote that book, another thing happened that I didn’t expect: The traditional models for book publishing and journalism collapsed. As I’ve noted many times here, the old model for selling journalism, particularly journalism from abroad, is kaput. I’ve written a lot about the consequences of this, particularly here. I wrote a longer piece about the phenomenon here:
… at least eighteen American newspapers and two chains have closed every last one of their overseas bureaus since 1998. Other papers and chains have dramatically reduced their overseas presence. Television networks, meanwhile, have slashed the time they devote to foreign news. They concentrate almost exclusively on war coverage—and then, only on wars where US troops are fighting. That leaves the big four national newspapers—the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times—with independent foreign news coverage. But they too have closed foreign bureaus in recent years. In 2003, the Los Angeles Times shut down 43 percent of its foreign bureaus. …
Lately, my feeling that I wish I could go back to doing that kind of reporting, and my belief that it’s important to do that kind of reporting, have grown. At the same time, my enthusiasm for following the day-to-day minutiae of the American presidential campaign has dwindled. Like many of you, I’ve been so dismayed by the Trump campaign and by what it’s revealed about the real state of the conservative movement that frankly, I’m happier not hearing about it. I’m not enjoying being in the fray of our debates about Trump. I have a terrible feeling about where this campaign is going. I’m not sure I want to invest more emotional and intellectual capital in trying to figure it out. I’m not sure I could, even if I wanted to.
So I’ve been wishing I could go back to old-fashioned journalism — by which I mean, looking at things, asking questions, listening to the answers, reporting what I hear and see. I want to write essays and books again.
But how, in this new publishing world?
The other day, seeing the success of Ricochet’s good-natured campaign to bring Titus Techera to America, I had an idea. It’s not to ask Ricochet to donate money to a book-writing and journalism project. It’s to ask whether members of Ricochet would invest in such a project, in the realistic hope of a return on the investment — although I don’t know what the return would be.
Before I explain the details of this, though, let me ask: Would you be interested in reading, listening, and watching reporting about the transformations in Europe? My idea is to spend, perhaps, a year doing this kind of reporting, with the ultimate goal of writing a book for a larger audience. In the interim, I’d report what I’m doing and learning both on Ricochet and a dedicated site, in a multimedia format: articles, video, audio, podcasts. I’d ask Ricochet members to shape the journalism: to suggest what I should investigate, where I should go, and why; to submit questions for the people I interview, perhaps even to speak to them yourselves on Skype; to guide the project as I go along by helping me better to understand what my audience wants to know. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone try to do journalism this way. It could be an interesting and maybe a useful new approach: interactive, investigative journalism for a specific audience of reader-investors who can help me connect their questions and curiosity better to the stories I discover.
The end product would be a number of things. It would be a multimedia website in which I document the project, post articles, photographs, and video interviews — a bit like the way as I did when I explored the Mavi Marmara fiasco in Turkey. (Here’s a sample of one of my interviews.) It would also be a book, which I’d self-publish through Amazon (as I did my interviews with Margaret Thatcher’s intimates).
What would your role in this be? Well, you’d pay for it. You’d replace Random House or Crown Forum or another conventional publisher as the source of the advance on the book. And then, if I make this into a commercial success — I don’t know yet if I can, but I’d sure try — you’d receive a return on your investment proportional to what you invested. Any earnings beyond my advance and a percentage of the royalties would be returned to you, the investors. And you’d replace The New York Times as the news gatekeeper: Your judgment about what’s important and interesting would guide my reporting agenda. (Bonus: for those of you tired of hearing my views about Trump, this is a guaranteed way to distract me from him.)
Ricochet’s Powers that Be loved this idea. They encouraged me to ask you. And — excitingly — we already have one member-investor who’s willing to get the ball rolling by putting up the first 25 percent of the funds, provided I can raise the other 75 percent from you.
I haven’t yet worked out the budget: I wanted to get your reaction, first. But I suspect the project, including travel expenses, technical expenses (for example, hosting the website, editing the material) and covering my living costs would probably be — rough guess — about $60,000. If you like the idea and think I should pursue it, I’ll work out the details.
What do you think? Would it work? Would you be willing to invest? Do you have any thoughts about how to make an idea like this work?
Help me think this through. I know there’s a story to tell here. It’s obviously important to Americans. It’s a complicated story, and I don’t know, in advance, what I’ll discover. But new media technology shouldn’t be contracting our horizons — it should be making it possible to approach journalism is ways it’s never been approached before. It should be broadening the ways Americans can learn about the world, not shrinking it.
Could it work?
Published in General
As I am sure others with spouses have to deal with : “You’re spending too much time on that Ricochet site – turn it off!” And…”Are you reading that Clara Binski again??” I’m really gonna be in trouble now……:-)
PS……NYT step aside……Ricochet will take it from here….
R, please mail me at my no-kidding email address, and pick a number, which I’ll confirm here.
Your comment did not show up in my little “bell” icon – ? A cat owner is a must – and a Ricochet member even better – I know you’ll find just the right person – and it’s not neurotic – it’s like having 7 children – I feel the same with one!
Tom – are the blue highlighted choices at the bottom (flag, quote, edit etc.) new? Before they were just in black – making sure it isn’t a glitch on my side. My alert button is not working.
Worked for me!
I’ll invest.
I suggest looking at some of the new equity crowdfunding services that are popping up.
Changes in securities law since 2014 have relaxed the regulations regarding offering and selling equity to both Qualified and Non-qualified investors. These services structure “Kickstarter” type projects that offer real equity to investors and not just swag. A friend of one of the Ricochet powers that be invested in ine of these new “equity crowdfunding” platforms as a business itself. PM me for names etc.
I understand that you are just testing the waters of Ricochet for interest – which is smart – but when you do formulate your media product(s) and financial offering, I would suggest engaging some pro-Bono, but professional help in pricing and syndication strategies for maximizing revenue etc and handling the distribution of profits for potential but unanticipated future income. Some of the same folks at Ricochet HQ can help you there as well.
Yes, I would probably invest. (I had actually been contemplating making a similar crowd-funding sort of suggestion to you, only the book I had in mind would have been a sequel focused on the degree to which the United States was or was not following the European path you wrote about in ‘Menace.’ Given that you live in Europe, though, a sequel focused there probably really makes more sense)
One thing to think about and get some advice on: What would be the legal structure of the business deal? You definitely don’t want any trouble with the SEC or its European equivalents, nor do you want participation to be limited to ‘Accredited Investors.’
Great idea. I am in.
I know people invest and then “own” a fighter, but a journalist?
I’m in for at least enough to feed the cats for a month, that should take some pressure off.
My contribution would be just that, I think the investor model would be too much friction unless a few $5000 plus individuals or are partnered.
Just let me know the threshold to be on the acknowledgement page as a “Contributor” but not quite a “Patron”
I do want details, but perhaps you could explain them here? That might help everyone else think about how to do this, too.
Your article reminded me that one of the things I used to like about the WSJ was its foreign news section. But that and the reporters who did it are long gone. They still have Mary Anastasia O’Grady with her column about the Americas, but it’s not enough, even for the western hemisphere.
I’d very much like to hear on the ground reporting from Eastern Europe, from the Baltics through the Balkans, though it’s not clear how much coverage you’d give to those countries.
As for investing, I’d be glad to pay to subscribe to a Ricochet-style site that is more narrowly focused on your reporting on European issues. I don’t know if that’s enough to finance what you want to do, though.
Legal structures might be a problem. Consider “presold” copies, autographed “My Dear Friend” for a $200.
Count me in.
I added some info to my comment above regarding equity crowdfunding.
Changes in securities law since 2014 have relaxed the regulations regarding offering and selling equity to both Qualified and Non-qualified investors. Some new services structure “Kickstarter” type projects that offer real equity to investors and not just swag.
I think that a friend of one of the Ricochet powers that be invested in one of these new “equity crowdfunding” platforms as a business itself. PM me for names etc.
I understand that you are just testing the waters of Ricochet for interest – which is smart – but when you do formulate your media product(s) and financial offering, I would suggest engaging some pro-Bono, but professional help in pricing and syndication strategies for maximizing revenue etc and handling the distribution of profits for potential but unanticipated future income. Some of the same folks at Ricochet HQ can help you there as well.
Doesn’t printing actual hard copies run into money? I’d happily pay $250 or more for a kindle version of Claire’s next book. There needs to be a way to support people doing this work. A year or so ago a small farm family financed the building of a new farm building with freezers by selling in advance $1100 of meat for $1000. Not that I’m comparing Claire’s writing to hamburger, but a subscription service where people band together to support a writer, getting advance copies of columns and then an electronic book would work for,me.
tim
Sure. Before I saw this comment, I posted some info in answer to someone else’s comment above here
Check out circleup.com as an example of an equity kickstarter service. It focuses on consumer products like specialty foods and gadgets as opposed to social networks or other heavy IP investments. This is smart because investors can test out the products (taste them even) as part of evaluating an investment.
I have kicked around some ideas with some VCs about doing the same for the marketing (not production) of filmed entertainment (TV and movies) , but haven’t taken it much further than that. Media – written or recorded or filmed – is different than consumer products, but investors can indeed evaluate media while in production, so it might work.
I think this is brilliant. And from an investment strategy, it’s counter-cyclical, right? As the rest of my portfolio tanks, demand for Claire’s reporting should be booming.
I’d happily put down the cost of, say, a domestic long-weekend getaway.
Sure. Before I saw this comment, I posted some info in answer to someone else’s comment above.
Check out circleup.com as an example of an equity kickstarter service. It focuses on consumer products like specialty foods and gadgets as opposed to social networks or other heavy IP investments. This is smart because investors can test out the products (taste them even) as part of evaluating an investment.
I have kicked around some ideas with some VCs about doing the same for the marketing (not production) of filmed entertainment (TV and movies) , but haven’t taken it much further than that. Media – written or recorded or filmed – is different than consumer products, but investors can indeed evaluate media while in production, so it might work.
Now you will be able to reply with…. “Shush honey, i’m making us money”
Good thinking, Claire.
What about Encounter Books’ Broadsides collection? Because you are new to this business model, you might get your feet wet by starting with smaller projects. You could seek investment in shorter, more precise reports which could eventually be combined into book form; chapter-by-chapter investment. Such proof-of-concept might help you to attract investors.
Plus, that way you could break up your research into depressing European disintegration with a report on “Feline Festivals” or “Cats of Catalonia”.
I’m going to suggest that, rather than try to work everything out, get it blessed by the white shoe law firms, file all the SEC paperwork etc. up front, you stay as flexible as possible.
This is a startup.
It’s not even a startup. It’s product development.
You – and we – just don’t know what’s really going to kick off as the main source(s) of income. It could be the YouTube ad dollars from the hit series of “Turks React to New York Times editorials” videos. Or the “Cats of the World” t-shirts. Or the American Chamber of Commerce [your city here] speaking tour on how to integrate disinformation campaigns into corporate strategy formation. Or…
So I’d stick with as many monthly-contribution streams of ‘investment’ as I could, because the expectations of your investors are going to drift apart – and drift apart from the unknowable future – as time goes on.
For investors, would there be “chachkies” like coffee mugs and keychains? (Sometimes the excitement of funding something bold and beautiful just isn’t enough.)
In addition to cat updates? Now you’re just getting greedy. :)
$1,000 investors get 1 cat
$500 investors get 2 cats
$250 investors get 3 cats
(sorry, I’m a dog person)
You’re kidding, I suspect, but I’ve done a sideline in animal rescue for quite some time. I’ve flown a number of cats and dogs who otherwise wouldn’t have had a chance to new adoptive homes in America. If I could somehow persuade investors that they’ve earned a “cat bonus” — and that they should be thrilled about this — I reckon I’d have the feeling you get when somehow, mysteriously, your whole life works out just the way it was always supposed to.
Ditto on funding.
Maybe one of the perks you can offer for crowdfunding are dinner or an evening with the author, or the chance to watch her cats…
Update: When I told the Yeti that I’d posted this, and everyone said they were really interested, and I was so happy about that, he asked me if I’d set up a GoFundMe page. I said I hadn’t yet, and he basically said I was an idiot.
“But I haven’t worked out every detail of how this will work yet,” I said.
“Just ask for the money,” he said.
Fair enough. I’ve now set up a GoFundMe page. Please contribute here, at Brave Old World. I don’t know how every detail of this will work, but your support is definitely going to get you some good, old-fashioned journalism.
I’m so thrilled by the positive response from so many people here. Thank you so much for the support: Next let’s figure out how to make this into a great book.
Enlist member Titus Techera to report from Eastern Europe where he lives. Approach the American Enterprise Institute about becoming a visiting scholar or reporter.
I can’t understand how you would ever trust Pravda on the Hudson for anything.
I chipped in for Totten’s Kickstarters and would probably be able to do so for this project.
One question I have is whether European demographic trends have stabilized. I’m actually in France on vacation at the moment and it seems like there are more kids around than in some US cities like Seattle.