So, in the wake of my agent's email, I got very depressed. █████ had been telling me for a month and a half, and continued to tell me, that she thought world events only made the public's need for my book more acute. So I decided to poll my readers, the kind folks who had been reading my book chapter by chapter, some of them for two years, for their thoughts on the issues raised by my agent. Here is what I said:

Well, of course my feeling is that the book just cannot exist without the bomb threat, and that they're both wrong about the market right now. I know some of you have expressed opinions that now is exactly the right time for a book like this. I'm just curious to know what you all think—whether you as book buyers would be turned off or turned on by a book about a Mormon bomb threat right now, and why? What can I tell my agent that will convince her—and maybe a skittish editor too—that the problem is not a problem? Or am I wrong? Is it?

And here are some of the replies I got back:

Brian in Virginia:

Unbuyable? Hrm. I don't know about that. I know I'd buy it—but I can see how some may consider it bad taste. (Five minutes has passed—I've been thinking about it.)

Actually, I think now is as good a time as any. I mean, if not now, when? A year? Surely people won't forget 9/11 in a year? How long do you have to wait? Two years? Bush says that the war will last at least that long. Terrorism will still be around. Five years? Where do you draw the line and say, "Ah, now America is over it." Cuz, the truth is, we probably won't ever be over it.

Dasha in New York:

I think it's exactly what thinking book consumers need right now, but I see the point. However, right now is a relative thing. It takes a whole for a book to make it all the way to publication and publicity, and we, as a reading public, may be in a better position to digest Missionary Man in a few months or a year down the road when the book would actually hit the market. People are in a daze right now, but need insight and answers to questions like "Why?", and Missionary Man can be part of that national conversation when we can absorb what it has to say. Timing is everything.

Cory in California:

I think you're 100% correct, that this is a timely story, well-told, and it should do wonderfully in the market. How to convince an editor and/or an agent of that, well...

Kevin in New Mexico:

To me, there's a huge difference between a confused, young Mormon missionary calling in a false bomb threat to try to keep a fellow missionary from leaving, on one hand, and, on the other, a bunch of organized thugs who made no threat but flew commercial airliners into buildings with the express intent of killing as many people as possible. Any resemblance between the two is purely superficial; as far as I can tell, it wasn't even religious fervor, per se, that motivated you, but rather fear of punishment for not using all available means to prevent Finn from leaving. In any case, your book is clearly anti-organized religion with a "Don't let this happen to you" message, and as such it would appear to be appealing to multiple elements of the intellectual set—those who are willing to give it a close look, anyway.

█████ in Pennsylvania:

Here's a thought: I agree that the book wouldn't make sense without the bomb threat, but why does it have to be the publicity hook? Missionary Man is essentially a coming-of-age book, and plenty of those have been published sans bomb threats. For instance, that annoying Staggering Genius book didn't contain anything as interesting, yet it became a best seller. And it's no where near as well written or well thought out as Missionary Man.

Why can't it be published as an incredibly well-written, funny chronicle of a young man confronting his religion, his family, and his life, and making huge changes to become the person he is today? It's not that the bomb threat is only incidental, but I think it's a small part of a big work. There's a lot more going on in Missionary Man.

And, by the way, there's a HUGE difference between a frightened Mormon boy who DOESN'T HAVE A BOMB, and a crazed Muslim (frightened or not) who is using a jet as a bomb—but you already knew that.

Scott in Maryland:

If you ask me, I'd say, "Now more than ever." Interest in such a book will be higher than ever, so I don't think this has anything to do with an economic issue. Rather, it's publishing folks being overly sensitive.

Which doesn't give you much help, because that's not the sort of thing you can tell someone and have it work. It's like accusing someone of being a coward. That doesn't usually lead to someone acting more bravely.

Sorry.

Bob in New York:

Boy, tough question. Nobody really knows how the book will do with good support from the publisher, but they're obviously not willing to gamble their money nor their reputation on this.

I'm going to try and avoid being gassy here, but I think whether the book would succeed is unknowable until the wave function collapses, so to speak. I don't mean that you won't know the buying public's take on the book until they see it; I mean the buying public is in a suspended state about this particular topic, and your book might well precipitate it one way or another.

It's also very likely that I'm all wet, and the editors know EXACTLY what they're doing.

Karen in New York:

I personally wouldn't find a bomb threat theme in a book a turn-off right now. If anything, I'm much more inclined to look for material relating to terrorism and "religious fervor" at this time.

If I had to turn that fact into a zippy argument to convince a publishing professional I'd say that frantic information seeking is becoming almost a new form of escapism. All of us overmediated types seek comfort by trying to "get all the dope"—facts, opinions, spurious urban legends, whatever—in a touching (and false) attempt to control situations by at least supposedly understanding them. This is a very internetty phenomenon, of course, but I wouldn't rule out the possibility that your book would now generate more interest...

I'd say you have more to worry about in terms of people taking up the book
for those reasons, and finding out that what they've got on their hands is
actually an irreverent coming-of-age story. And with the supposed "act of
terrorism" a pretty satisfying laugh.

I loved your book. I learned a huge amount about Mormonism from it (though
little about religious fervor, because Joseph Smith's remains a mystery and "yours" is boiled off through the process of rigorous self-examination.) I certainly hope to see it on shelf somewhere soon.

Scott in Utah:

They are probably correct in assuming it wouldn't sell if they also assume that there is only one angle to push. But I never believe that. To me, the best angle is the Mormon angle, and I think that the public is ready for Mormonism to start popping up more regularly now in modern culture. All it takes is for someone to have the balls enough to go out on a marketing limb and give it a try. If this book could be sold as a missionary memoir with the terrorism angle coming as a surprise—I mean, think about it ... when that moment comes in the book, you don't want the readers to already know what's going to happen, you want them thinking, "NO, NO, NO! Don't do it!" If those events unfold without prior knowledge it will be a helluva lot more fun for the reader, and they probably won't even think of the WTC attack. The circumstances are WAY too different.

There really is no point in trying to change the mind of an editor who has already made up his mind, but I think there is a point in trying to change the mind of a agent who might be wavering on the fence. These letters bolstered my resolve to do that.

I've passed my thoughts on the subject along to my agent now, and she sounds like she's more resolved now. We'll see in the next few months what that translates to in terms of action. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.