Hi Dan,

I just spoke with Stephen but I thought I should drop you a line as well. We’re unfortunately going to have to bow out of our meeting on Monday. Enough readers here had negative reactions to the proposal that the vote for approving an offer isn’t going to go my way. People appreciated the wildness of the proposal and its importance, but people worried that the story was moving too quickly to be pinned down in a book. There was also some concern about competition (cf. Cole Stryker, whose book hasn’t worked particularly well for Overlook). We’ve also got something under contract that covers some of the stories here. Lastly, and forgive our conservatism, we were a little afraid of Anonymous. We’re a big company, but not that big. DDOS attacks on us would do a lot more damage to us than it might to a larger publisher. With those kinds of objections arrayed against me, I was never going to get this through. I’m very sorry, as ever, to disappoint.

Good luck with this one.

Cheers,

Tom  

Dear Tom,

Here, as discussed, is the proposal for an absolutely fascinating behind-the-curtain glimpse at the notorious—and apparently fearless—‘hacktivist’ collective known as Anonymous.  The targets for Anonymous’s particular brand of outlaw activism—all part of their global campaign against injustices and abuses in the realm of freedom of speech and freedom of information—have included (so far) foreign governments (Egypt, Libya, Tunisia), major corporations (Sony, Visa, MasterCard), sanctimonious ‘religious’ organizations (the Church of Scientology, the Westboro Baptist Church) and powerful governmental agencies (FBI, CIA, NATO).  Nobody, apparently, is off-limits.

As Kevin Mitnick’s current New York Times bestseller Ghost in the Wires has demonstrated, there is a real fascination out there with the culture of hacking and the internet.  Gregg Housh and Barrett Brown, the authors of ANONYMOUS: Tales from Inside the Accidental Cyberwar—and the two most visible public figures known to be associated with Anonymous (both of whom have provided invaluable access & insight regarding the modus operandi of Anonymous to reporters hungry to make sense of it)—take Mitnick one step further, showing how that culture can be harnessed as an engine for social change.  Even when (as is often the case for Anons) the “engine for social change” rhetoric is really just a terrific excuse to indulge in some weaponized chaos…

And therein lies the magnificent contradiction of this culture.  Patriotic vigilantism?  Animal House pranksterism?  Both?  Whatever the alchemic mix is, it’s a wild and fascinating ride, laid bare here for the first time.

Call me when you’ve read this, OK?

—Dan

Literary Agent

Writers House

(212) 696-3825