Answering the bellópersonally and professionally

Dateline: above the garage in Portsmouth RI, 1 August 2004

Yesterday was a day to celebrate all things Vonne in our family, and as such it was a loving day full of fun stuff, after all the usual errands were run.

First we had a long, leisurely lunch at our favorite Japanese steakhouse in Swansea MA, getting the same chef we had for Fatherís Day. Our waitress, from Hong Kong originally, chatted us up big time about our upcoming trip to China and our adoption, saying our family was looking at some amazing changes in the months ahead as we realized what it was to become a Chinese-American in everyoneís eyes all of a sudden. Good point.

After lunch I took Jerry (our four-year-old) to ìSpiderman 2î again (he is a Spidey fanatic), while Vonne took Emily and Kevin to ìThe Village,î which was so good that Emily said she had to watch the entire movie from between her knees. Then home to a huge cake from Mad Hatter bakery of Newportóthe best cake on the planet (I had more for a nighttime snack last night and started back in for breakfast this morning). We ended with a baby shower of ten gifts for Vonne and our Vonne Mei. When you adopt after already having three kids, no one really treats it like a new baby, so you have to treat it that way on your ownóa core definition of family I guess.

Today is more preparation for the great China trip, but we are feeling a bit less nervous now. We have a house sitter for our time away, a local Navy doc whose family has already shipped out even though he is stuck here for a while longer. We also have a host for our extra two days in BeijingóProf. Yu Keping of Beijing University. Iíll lecture and conduct meetings there at a center for reform where apparently my book has caused quite a stir, enough so that Beijing U Press jumped at the chance to publish it (actually offering a modest advance!). The center is kind enough to provide us with a guide for our sightseeing, plus arrange any local transportation, so weíre feeling pretty set for our trip, since once the official adoption junket starts, our every move will be plotted out to the last detail. It will be an amazing sort of vacation: first time for Vonne abroad, first time for both of us in Asia, first time for both of us in the homeland of our fourth child, meeting our fourth child, adopting her, coming home as a Chinese-American family by choice.

My mother has always said I married Vonne because I love a challenge, and she was right. Vonneís vision on this whole adoption has been what has driven the process: she somehow knew where we needed to go next as a family and pushed us all to make it happen. As its unfolding nears, I can only thank her for her strategic vision. This all makes perfect sense to me. Like America, we need to open up to the great integration process that is Asia joining the worldóespecially China. Our ìfamilyîóthis Coreóneeds to grow, with all that is demanded from us in that tumultuous process. I know for certain I will rue the day we adopted Vonne Meiómore times than I can count. But I also know this process will make me better as a father, husband, person, and analyst. It is a challenge worth accepting, a future worth creating, a family worth supporting.

Am I fired up? You bet. I always have to do this just before I do Quicken for the week, because itís then I have to confront just what an enormous sink hole this year has been: everything is an ìinvestment in the futureî and nothing is a revenue-generator in the near term. Everyone assumes I rake it in on the book, but that tidal wave/branding/whatever is naturally a very slow build for someone as unknown as me (donít even get me started on ìearning outî my advance!). The impact of PNM inside the Pentagon so far is exceeding my wildest dreams, but that is all about serving others and living within your government salary. Fair enough, thatís what service is all about. But all the external stuff I do outside of my government job is an investment in something larger I hope to build, and all that takes money and time that I would otherwise spend doing contract work that pays the bills. So the bills stack up as I ride this alleged branding train that is PNM and my assumption is: big payoffs await.

Of course, if I had any real business sense Iíd be cranking Son of PNM right now, but here again I force myself to think long-term about who I want to be as a writer, so The Emily Updates stands in the on-deck circle because I know that if Mark Warren and I can make that material work, then my horizons as a writer will be far broader than just national securityóagain an investment against a perceived higher payoff pathway. Plus you simply have to go with what excites you most as a writeróa very good rule.

Blah! Blah! Blah! This is the natural lull that occurs in my extracurricular pursuits every year. The problem is, the government wants its taxes regular-like, even if your income tends to come in one giant chunk in the period stretching from the late fall until the early spring. Maybe PNM smoothes that all out by branding me and mine in a way that allows me to market material far more evenly year-round, or maybe Iíll just have to satisfy myself with my inside-the-military revolution I currently work to foment and live the classic American life of always killing yourself to make ends meet. As Vonne talks openly now that Vonne Mei should have someone else in our family who looks like her and reminds me weíd need to put in for Chinese daughter No. 2 almost immediately upon adopting No. 1 (lest we bump up against the age limit of combined parental ages = 90 years), I guess I can bet on that mad scramble not ending anytime soon.

But there is hope on the horizon. Iím not just answering the bell inside the Pentagonóboth with the Bushies and Kerry people. The book continues to sell well. I donít get a whole lot of info from Putnam, and wonít until they come out of the August deep-sleep that afflicts the publishing world every year. But evidence crops up here and there. I get a lot of emails from professors around the country saying theyíre going to assign the book. Hell, the Industrial College of the Armed Forces alone is going to buy close to 500 for all its students and facultyóthatís 1/200th of the run right there. Then Friday, while nosing around on Google I came upon this little ditty: PNM came in at #37 in a regional bestseller list for early July (New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association), right under Gore Vidal and right above Dr. Phil. Gotta like selling well at the independents.

Finally, thereís Putnamís first-half of 2004 business report that highlighted PNMís status as a bestseller:

Press Release Source: Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

Penguin Group Reports 2004 First Half Operating Results

Monday July 26, 9:25 am ET

NEW YORK, July 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Penguin Group, part of Pearson (FTSE: PSON; NYSE: PSO), the international media company, today reported its operating results for the first half of 2004.

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Penguin Group Overview

Penguin Group's sales for the first half of this year were level with last year but profits were down. Penguin generates the majority of its revenues in dollars but reports its results in sterling. The weakness of the dollar is the principal reason for the decline in reported profits at the half-year stage. The success of our publishing program, particularly in the U.S., mitigated the effect of increased investment in new channel initiatives and start up problems at a new warehouse in the UK.

Penguin U.S. Market Overview

In the U.S., Penguin Group's largest market, first half sales and profits were up significantly at the half-year stage. This strong growth was driven by a number of key elements, most importantly: the company's ongoing successful new imprint strategy, another Oprah Book Club selection, the release of one of the Group's strongest nonfiction lists ever, a record number of homegrown bestsellers, brand-name bestsellers and a New York Times bestseller performance that is well ahead of last year's pace.

During the first half of 2004, Penguin Group (USA) had a total of 75 titles on The New York Times bestseller list (adult hardcover, adult paperback and children's), a 27 percent increase above 2003's mid-year total of 59. The Group was ahead in every category (40 hardcovers, 10 above last year; 27 paperbacks, four above last year; eight Young Readers titles, two above last year). Penguin Group (USA) also benefited from contributions from its new imprints, including The Penguin Press, Portfolio and Gotham Books. (Ö)

An Unprecedented Nonfiction List

In the first half of this year, Penguin Group (USA) released one of its strongest nonfiction lists ever. To date, the Group has had 27 nonfiction books on The New York Times bestseller list (17 hardcover and 10 paperback titles). This represents a 41 percent increase over the first half of 2003, when we placed 16 books on the Times nonfiction bestseller list (nine hardcover and seven paperback titles). Among the many weeks that the company's nonfiction titles appeared on the Times hardcover nonfiction bestseller list, Penguin Group owned that list for the week of May 2nd with an unprecedented seven nonfiction titles, giving the house more than 40 percent of the nonfiction list that week. This was an astounding achievement that far exceeded any competitor and established a new landmark for the house.

Homegrown Successes Land on The New York Times Bestseller List

The U.S. Group set a new record for "homegrown bestsellers" in the first half of 2004, creating 19 New York Times bestsellers. Among these titles were: The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler (one of the most talked about and best-reviewed books of 2004, with more than 175,000 copies in print to date); I Am Jesse James by Jesse James, Eric Hameister, Dave McClain and Curtis Cummings; Blue Blood by Edward Conlon; The Faith of George W. Bush by Stephen Mansfield; Tampa Burns by Randy Wayne White; Shadowmancer by G.P. Taylor; and The Pentagon's New Map by Thomas P.M. Barnett. (Ö)

Thatís gotta make me feel good right? ìHomegrownî must mean youíre someone theyíve ìdiscovered.î

Beyond the book sales, thereís the first speaking gig Iíve ever landed through an agency: The Washington Speakers Bureau. Itíll be a banking conference in Baltimore in late September. Only one speech, but just getting on WSBís radar is a big deal, because they only market real names. I know how to get socko presentations; the trick is getting the gigs.

I could go on and on, rambling about my big plans for the future and how Iím sure enough of them will pan out to make sure I donít go personally bankrupt in the process of becoming a world-class visionary, but enough bucking me up. Time to confront Quicken.

Hereís the catch from today and yesterdayís Times:

How this election hinges on the Midwest

ìBush Planning August Attack Against Kerry: Both Roll Out Guns in Usually Quiet Month,î by Adam Nagourney and Robin Toner, New York Times, 1 Aug, p. A1.

ìBush Faces New Obstacles In Keeping Alliesí Support,î by Christopher Marquis, NYT, 31 July, p. A6.

ìAll Things to All People,î by David Brooks, NYT, 31 July, p. A27.

Roundup: The Good

ìMaking the Wheels of Justice Turn in a Chaotic Iraq,î by Jeffrey Gettelman, NYT, 1 August, p. A1.

ìBrazil Is Leading a Largely South American Mission to Haiti,î by Larry Rohter, NYT, 1 Aug, p. A4.

ìThe Triumph of the Quiet Tycoon,î by Peter Maass, The New York Times Magazine, 1 Aug, p. 24.

ìTrade Group to Cut Farm Subsidies for Rich Nations: Victory is seen for developing and wealthy countries,î by Elizabeth Becker, NYT, 1 Aug, p. A8.

ìAsian Nations To Cooperate On Avian Flu,î by Lawrence K. Altman, NYT, 31 July, p. A5.

Roundup: The Bad

ìTaliban Fighters Increase Attacks: Troubling Toll on Civilians as Well as U.S. Soldiers,î by Eric Schmitt and David Rohde, NYT, 1 Aug, p. A1.

ìDespite U.S. Penalties, Burmese Junta Refuses to Budge,î by Jane Perlez, NYT, 1 Aug, p. A3.

ìIran Says It Will Not Give Up Uranium Enrichment Program: Tehran insists that its nuclear projects are peaceful,î by AP, NYT, 1 Aug, p. A4.

ìAmid Chinaís Boom, No Helping Hand for Young Qingming,î by Joseph Kahn and Jim Yardley, NYT, 1 August, p. A1.

Roundup: And the Ugly

ìKidnappings, Beheadings And Defining Whatís News,î by Jacques Steinberg, NYT, 1 Aug, p. WK1.

ìLooking Out for the Many, in Saving the One: A Filipinoís ordeal in Iraq shows the risk of relying on migrants to fuel an economy,î by Seth Mydans, NYT, 1 Aug, p. A1.

A reminder on how important it is to let history unfold

ìShutting the Cold War Down (Review of ìReagan and Gorbachev: How the Cold War Ended,î by Jack F. Matlock, Jr.) by Strobe Talbott, The New York Times Book Review, 1 Aug, p. 7.