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Thomas P.M. Barnett Weblog: Review 2004
Once upon a time.. ... ..
At the end of winter, March 2004, these words were written:
I have
a book coming out that may well
change my life dramatically.
My father is suffering a very dangerous health
challenge. Vonne and I are in the process of
adopting a baby girl
from China this year. In short, I am experiencing some classic
"sandwich generation" times: big changes in
my career, big changes
with my kids, and big challenges with
my parents. I don't want to
lose track of any of this, because it all has such meaning for me,
and so I hope to get much of it down in this blog—just as I did with
Emily's cancer fight.
Thus,
a
blog was born: Thomas P.M. Barnett Weblog
First I want to describe the long strange process of building the
brief and how it evolved—briefing by briefing—as
I spread the message throughout the defense community.
I also want to tell the story of my
interaction with
Esquire and how that led to the article that changed my life.
Then I'd like to describe the process of getting my book sold, because that is a fascinating tale in itself. For example, Tom Clancy and I now have the same editor! I mean, just writing those nine words is a kick! I've already asked Neil Nyren, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of G.P. Putnam's Sons for permission to post
the book proposal (30 or so pages) that won me the contract with his company. As he recently wrote me, Heck, it got me to buy the book!" But it did more than that, it really got me to write the book, which is the tale of my conversion from essay writer to book author at the hands of my agent, Jennifer Gates of Zachary Shuster Harmsworth of Manhattan.
Next I want to describe the process of writing the book, and the special role played by Mark Warren, who signed on to become my personal editor. This has proven to be a match made in heaven for me, as Mark turns out to be my missing twin somehow born and raised (by wolves, he claims) in Texas.
Finally I want to spend a lot of time describing the process since Mark and I finished the first draft (which is out to several hundred readers right now in what I call the "butt-ugly" bound manuscript, or advance copy version), or basically all the
edits and the interactions that have ensued with Putnam as we prepare collectively to launch this book on 26 April.
The first three I hope to get done in short order, whereas the last item will be where I begin blogging in real time for real—meaning I start posting on a daily basis about stuff happening on a daily basis. As I do that, I and my webmaster, Critt Jarvis, will begin posting
material from the book. Not the text, mind you, because that I sold to Putnam fair and square, but material that I wrote that did not make it into the book for reasons of pacing, etc. (although Mark may have different explanations). I also hope, with Putnam's permission, to post all the
endnotes from the book.
Critt and I have a number of other plans for the site, hoping the book's release will turn a lot of readers onto the
ideas and challenges presented within. So we hope to create a certain amount of space on the site to capture feedback, encourage some discussion, and get the ball rolling in terms of a web-based debate about—what I like to call—a future worth creating.
I am very excited by this challenge. I love to write on a daily basis, and hopefully this venue will work for both me and you—the reader. I am looking for
interaction and feedback, because such give-and-take with the audience—via those several hundred PowerPoint presentations over the years—is basically how I gathered or generated all the material that became the book. I have been a verbal blogger all my life, but now I hope to expand that conversation pool a whole lot.
And, as winter begins anew, December 2004, these words are written:
This is what I take from 2004: people want a hopeful vision and
a guide to what they might do to help bring it about. PNM ends the
year # 78 on Amazon (78! Tell me that one back in April when it came
out and I would have shouted "Shut up!"). All the finger-pointing
books have come and gone. All the backward-looking books have come
and gone. Eight months later, PNM remains. And the reason why is
that it's not a grand strategy for the summer of 2004, it's a grand
strategy for what lies ahead: for the Long War that spreads the Long
Peace--which has long defined the Core--into the still tumultuous
Gap. That future worth creating has been years in the understanding
for me, and it will be years in the making for this planet. But 2005
is as good a year to start as any, and I look forward to it
immensely.
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March
March 21, 2004 - March 27, 2004
March 28, 2004 - April 03, 2004
April
April 04, 2004 - April 10, 2004
April 11, 2004 - April 17, 2004
April 18, 2004 - April 24, 2004
April 25, 2004 - May 01, 2004
May
May 02, 2004 - May 08, 2004
May 09, 2004 - May 15, 2004
May 16, 2004 - May 22, 2004
May 23, 2004 - May 29, 2004
May 30, 2004 - June 05, 2004
June
June 06, 2004 - June 12, 2004
June 13, 2004 - June 19, 2004
June 20, 2004 - June 26, 2004
June 27, 2004 - July 03, 2004
July
July 04, 2004 - July 10, 2004
July 11, 2004 - July 17, 2004
July 18, 2004 - July 24, 2004
July 25, 2004 - July 31, 2004
August
August 01, 2004 - August 07, 2004
August 08, 2004 - August 14, 2004
August 15, 2004 - August 21, 2004
August 22, 2004 - August 28, 2004
August 29, 2004 - September 04, 2004
September
September 05, 2004 - September 11, 2004
September 12, 2004 - September 18, 2004
September 19, 2004 - September 25, 2004
September 26, 2004 - October 02, 2004
October
October 03, 2004 - October 09, 2004
October 10, 2004 - October 16, 2004
October 17, 2004 - October 23, 2004
October 24, 2004 - October 30, 2004
October 31, 2004 - November 06, 2004
November
November 07, 2004 - November 13, 2004
November 14, 2004 - November 20, 2004
November 21, 2004 - November 27, 2004
November 28, 2004 - December 04, 2004
December
December 05, 2004 - December 11, 2004
December 12, 2004 - December 18, 2004
December 19, 2004 - December 25, 2004
December 26, 2004 - December 31, 2004 |