| Subject: RE: Housh/Brown ANONYMOUS outline |
| From: Daniel Conaway <dconaway@WritersHouse.com> |
| Date: 1/9/12, 17:25 |
| To: 'Barrett Brown' <barriticus@gmail.com>, Gregg Housh <greggatghc@gmail.com> |
Barrett: I was just about to bash Katie’s head about this—but actually, this outline she’s referring to is the REVISED outline that you sent Julia before Christmas,
which you said you’d revised to represent the new organization of the book. Right?
From: Barrett Brown [mailto:barriticus@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, January 09, 2012 3:30 PM
To: Gregg Housh; Daniel Conaway
Subject: Re: Housh/Brown ANONYMOUS outline
That outline was written before we signed with Amazon and it was formally decided that Gregg's story should be the thing; I thought I'd noted that the latter chapters would indeed include Gregg and that his
narrative would tie everything together, but I'll explain it to her on Wednesday. Will reply to her to the effect in a minute.
On Mon, Jan 9, 2012 at 2:27 PM, Gregg Housh <greggatghc@gmail.com> wrote:
Didnt see you cc'd on the email Dan, figured you would want to see this. I havent responded yet.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Salisbury, Katie <katiesal@amazon.com>
Date: Mon, Jan 9, 2012 at 3:22 PM
Subject: RE: Housh/Brown ANONYMOUS outline
To: Gregg Housh <greggatghc@gmail.com>
Cc: "barriticus@gmail.com" <barriticus@gmail.com>, "Cheiffetz, Julia" <juliac@amazon.com>
Hi Greg and Barrett,
I’m not sure if we’ve had the chance to meet yet, so I’ll go ahead and introduce myself: I’m an Associate Editor here at Amazon publishing and I work
closely with Julia. We will be editing your book in tandem and I wanted to share my thoughts on the initial outline you sent last week (my comments in blue).
You do a great job of explaining the major events and laying down the facts. At the end of the day, though, books are about storytelling. What is the
larger story you want to tell about Anonymous, about Gregg, about challenging authority? Ultimately, Gregg’s narrative needs to be the constant thread throughout the book that weaves the various Anonymous raids together.
Are you both free on Wednesday afternoon or late Friday morning for a call to discuss further?
Best,
Katie
___________
Katie Salisbury
Associate Editor
Amazon Publishing
follow me:
@ksalisbury
From: barri2009 [mailto:barriticus@gmail.com]
Sent: Friday, December 23, 2011 9:34 PM
To: Cheiffetz, Julia; Gregg Housh
Cc: Daniel Conaway; Salisbury, Katie
Subject: Re: Housh/Brown ANONYMOUS outline
I'll take a look at these comments when I get home. If you're referring to the section on the scientology affair, this was done over the course of a dinner I had with gregg in nyc
a few weeks ago, and the text it was based on was written with the intention of appearing later in the book, rather than the first chapter, which is where it's now slated to appear, so it doesn't yet have all the background and spelled-out implications that
we'll be putting into the final product. Additionally, I hadn't yet gotten all the details from him that would be needed to truly bring it alive. Regarding that, I'll need gregg to go through his e-mails from that era and pick out any text that might be useful
for me to draw upon, and now that we're approaching crunch time, I'll need him to also start jotting down notes in the notebook I suggested he get so that things that occur to him/are remembered throughout the day will also be available. As for getting you
a chapter, I've been working on the second one this week, which consists of his own personal story from childhood til his arrest, and the two of us are scheduled to talk again this weekend so that I can get further info from him on his warez days, as currently
I only have an overview. Altogether, I'll need more info from gregg on some of these topics if we're to have a chapter and a half on them from birth to release from info. One thing that occurs to me: you might write up a short list of questions that strike
you as especially interesting about what you know of his life thus far and send them to both of us so he can start thinking about them. In the meantime I've gotten a lot done on the other chapters but still plan on finishing chapter two first if I'm able to
get the necessary details from gregg in the next few days.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
From:
"Cheiffetz, Julia" <juliac@amazon.com>
Date:
Fri, 23 Dec 2011 06:37:20 -0800
To:
Barrett Brown<barriticus@gmail.com>; Gregg Housh<greggatghc@gmail.com>
Cc:
Daniel Conaway<dconaway@WritersHouse.com>; Salisbury, Katie<katiesal@amazon.com>
Subject:
FW: Housh/Brown ANONYMOUS outline
Hi Barrett, Hi Gregg,
See my comments attached. The book should be colorful narrative that is fun to read. You dive into the weeds too quickly without explaining what is at
stake, or how Anonymous is an emerging form of civil disobedience. With each chapter you should ask yourself, why does this matter? What is at stake? Why should the reader care? And what is the central theme of this chapter.
When can you get first chapter to me?
Happy to talk next week.
Best,
Julia
From: Daniel Conaway
[mailto:dconaway@WritersHouse.com]
Sent: Thursday, December 15, 2011 1:50 PM
To: Cheiffetz, Julia
Cc: 'Barrett Brown';
greggatghc@gmail.com; Stephen Barr
Subject: Housh/Brown ANONYMOUS outline
Julia—
Just got off the phone w/ Barrett; here’s his revised outline. Barrett continues to draw Gregg out in terms of personal stories, so there’ll be a LOT more than what you saw in
the proposal. But he and Gregg don’t feel that there’s quite enough material to toggle back-and-forth (a chapter to Gregg, a chapt to Anonymous, and so on)—or, to put it another way, getting enough MORE out of Gregg to make it work as a (roughly) 50-50 split
would take months longer than we’ve got. Nonetheless, they understand well that there needs to be a lot more Gregg woven throughout.
Re the outline: Basically Barrett’s changed it “so that the second chapter includes the bulk of Gregg's story from birth to his arrest. The third chapter begins and continues
with his incarceration, release, and introduction to the nascent Anonymous culture. Subsequent chapters will expand on events mentioned in chapter two while sometimes including new ones, with such things being integrated in at those points where they may
be relevant to the Anonymous narrative.”
Meanwhile, FYI, there’s a TON of interest in Hollywood—Gregg speaks with producers and directors two-three times a week; several he’s had multiple conversations with; there’s interest
for feature, there’s interest at HBO… Two producers flew Gregg out to LA Sunday night for a face-to-face meeting, and last night they made an option offer for feature. It’s not yet what we’re looking for, but I feel confident that we’ll have something to
brag about in the months ahead.
I’m sorry for holding this material as I did—these growing pains have been fraught, as I’m sure you’re sick of hearing, but anyway here’s the outline, and of course we’re ready
to talk whenever you are.
Best,
Dan
Dan Conaway
Literary Agent
Writers House
--
Regards,
Barrett Brown
512-560-2302