When the daughters of movie star Paul Newman discovered a trove of personal interviews the actor had intended to use for a memoir, they did not celebrate. Stacks of cardboard boxes containing thousands of printed pages felt like a burden, not an opportunity.

Since Newman had died in 2008, and most of the stars in the archive had also passed away, no follow-up questions would be possible. Not even Stewart Stern, the Emmy-Award-winning writer who had conducted more than one hundred interviews, was alive.

If they hoped for a publishing contract, the Newman family would need to assess the content and hope Paul would come alive, so to speak. Only then could they determine if it could be a book.

Through an improbable sequence of events, I was hired for the assignment. My biggest concern was the sheer volume of pages.

“I didn’t have a lot of time. Some interviews were long and meandered. Others were quite short. How would it all fit together?”

I began a process of triage, separating the most urgent and startling material that might interest publishers—essential to a book proposal—from pages that would be helpful, later, if the project sold.

Four months later, the Paul Newman book proposal I created began a publishing bidding war. Knopf won.

The process was a reminder that celebrity alone is not enough to win a publishing contract. We knew Paul Newman was a beloved movie star, but was there any interest in his life? An authorized biography had never happened. If the trove of interviews could be a book, it had to have a keen focus and a fresh angle.

One angle: Paul was very candid about himself. He had been known to be mostly silent in public. Now he was speaking loud and clear.

Was there scandal? No. Not really. But the things he talked about were very personal, and he had never shared his truth with the public. Also, the rhythm of his speech was unique. And, of course, as I read the interviews, I had a strong memory of the icon Paul Newman.

Do You Have a Book?

I'm convinced that more excellent books may be lurking in the content created by entertainment professionals who are in front of the camera and microphone or behind the scenes. Think radio and television personalities, directors, and producers, as well as artists and entrepreneurs whose professional resumes and personal diaries are rife with incident and surprise.

A powerful example is Greenlights by actor Matthew McConaughey, published by Crown, 2020. The best-selling book evolved from the star’s jottings through the years.

Another archive-to-book project is Patricia Highsmith: Her Diaries and Notebooks: 1941-1995, edited with great care by Anna von Planta and published by Liveright, 2021.

Thinking about writing a book proposal? Consider these tips:

Define the audience.
Choose themes from your archive that will attract and enrich that audience.
Let your personality shine through. McConaughey’s unique voice is evident in his book. The same is true of Highsmith.
Get help from a ghostwriter to create a solid book proposal.

It is natural to feel overwhelmed with an archive. Consultations will speed the book proposal process, or conclude that a book cannot be made from the material.

Some book projects may require a ghostwriter with a specific background. Yet the writer who is able to conceive a powerful concept is ideal.

I believe the Newman family chose me because I'm a former journalist who knows how to dig for details and meet deadlines. But I also write fiction, received playwriting grants from state arts councils, and I'm a graduate of the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre, where Newman’s wife Joanne Woodward learned the craft.

My time at the playhouse steeped me in the theater and film traditions that shaped Paul and Joanne. But it was my narrative creativity and conceptual skills that shaped the proposal.

My consultations and creative strategies begin with interviews that define objectives, emotional connections, and a frank assessment of the publishing arena.

Wishing you every success.

Douglas Glenn Clark is a ghostwriter based in the Greater New York City. To schedule a consultation, visit www.DouglasGlennClark.com or Twitter @authorWclasses

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