Winning in the Zero-Growth Decade Ahead

This week marked a milestone for me and my relatively new publishing business: I signed on to ghost write my first major book project. The book—a much anticipated watershed book that is the brainchild of one of Wall Street’s most sagacious former money managers—will be published by McGraw-Hill, the same great publisher that employed me for more than a decade. Although in months past I had been offered the chance to work on other books as a ghost writer and/or book doctor, none of them felt quite right until this one. But I am getting ahead of myself. Let me back up a bit. 

bull-and-bearA few years back I contacted Gary Kaminsky, one of the managing partners of  ”Team Kaminsky” at Neuberger Berman to see if he might like to write an investing book. Gary—a money manager with nearly two decades of hands-on experience—was both cordial and professional when he told me that he simply couldn’t. His day job of helping to manage more than $13 billion in assets consumed all of his time and taking on a book project then was simply out of the question. However, I knew Gary’s record as a money manager—he was simply one of the best around, routinely outperforming both the averages and the returns of most other money managers. He also made scores of appearances on CNBC, and his presence and platform was only building. Given his track record and rising star, I was not about to give up.  I kept Gary’s cell phone number on speed dial in the hopes that one day he might be able to do the book.

That hope became a reality in late 2009. Gary had left Neuberger Berman—which had been acquired by Lehman Brothers—four months before Lehman crumbled. Gary, a visionary in the markets, also had the vision to recognize that Lehman was headed down an inescapable road of ruin and wanted no part of it. He was now free to pursue a book project and I was determined to be his guide and partner into the world of business book publishing. Luckily, Gary and I hit it off from the start. After only a few conversations and a meeting at The Ritz Carlton in Chicago, I interviewed Gary for a full day in his suite at the Ritz. Unlike most first time authors, Gary was focused like a laser on his message. He knew exactly what kind of investing book he wanted to write—a book that would make a bold prediction about the future while peeling back the murky layers so that retail investors would learn Wall Street’s dirtiest secrets. We called the book WINNING IN THE ZERO-GROWTH DECADE AHEAD:  HOW TO MAKE MONEY WHEN MARKETS GO NOWHERE  and we spent the next ten weeks collaborating and refining the book proposal. We were then ready to meet with publishers.

Every one of those meetings went well. Every publisher we met with was enthusiastic and brought something special to the table. However, it was clear from the start that McGraw-Hill felt that this was a book they had to have. They brought a talented team to the meeting with us (represented by editorial, marketing and publicity), and then described how this book would be their tent pole for their fall 2010 list.  Another upside in selecting McGraw-Hill was that I would have the chance to work with people I truly loved when I worked there.

Now comes both the hard part, and the fun part. Gary and I have to write the book. But if the proposal process was any indication of what it will be like to work together, we should have little problem putting together one great book. After all, neither of us are strangers to hard work, and we both share Gary’s vision for the book. If all goes as planned, look for the book on store shelves by year’s end.

January 25, 2010 · Filed Under Book News, Business Books, Inside Publishing, Productivity, Publishing History, Site News, The Economy

Comments

One Response to “Winning in the Zero-Growth Decade Ahead”

  1. Frank D'Ambrosio on January 27th, 2010 4:07 pm

    Congrats as it should be a truly rewarding creation between the two of you. Gary is a talented individual, as well as a very good friend of mine. I know the end result will wow quite a few people.

    Good luck,

    Frank

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