Lisa Baril—The Age of Melt: What Glaciers, Ice Mummies, and Ancient Artifacts Teach Us about Climate, Culture, and a Future Without Ice

THE AGE OF MELT:
WHAT GLACIERS, ICE MUMMIES,
AND ANCIENT ARTIFACTS TEACH US
ABOUT CLIMATE, CULTURE, AND A FUTURE WITHOUT ICE
Lisa Baril
Timber Press, September 17, 2024
Hardcover, $30.00, eBook $14.99, Audio Book, $45.95
Hardcover ISBN-13: 978-1643261515, eBook ASIN: B0CTZJGXBW
Audio Book ASIN: B0D9C946TG

Baril reports:

I read about an ancient artifact that had melted out of an ice patch in the Absaroka Mountains of Wyoming, near where I live. The artifact was the foreshaft of a 10,300-year-old hunting weapon called an atlatl. When I learned that the foreshaft was one of thousands of artifacts melting out of alpine ice patches around the world, I was hooked.

I have a dog-eared copy of How to Write a Book Proposal: The Insider's Step-by-Step Guide to Proposals that Get You Published by Jody Rein and Michael Larsen. Using that guide, I wrote a proposal and then hired an expert to review it. She provided excellent feedback that helped the proposal go from good to great.

I met my agent through another writer who thought we’d be a good fit. Once my agent and I finalized the proposal, she began shopping it around. We had two offers, one of which was from Timber Press. Timber Press advanced me $10,000.

Soon after signing the contract, I left my job to work full-time on the book, which I could never have done without the support of my partner. I interviewed around 100 archaeologists, anthropologists, and climate scientists. I read hundreds of journal articles and books about the cryosphere and archaeology. I also traveled to many of the places I wrote about, including Norway, the Alps, and the Andes.

And then I wrote, rewrote, and rewrote until my editor insisted it was time to send it to her. There was a lot I didn’t know about writing a book, but I don’t think knowing what I didn’t know would have changed anything. I needed to struggle through writing my first book to understand and develop my own process.

Next time I’ll treat writing a book more like a traditional job. If I had given myself more breaks I might have struggled a bit less, and it may have taken me less time to finish.

Stay organized. Make a plan, refine it as needed, but stick to it. Set smaller goals and schedule those out to help you work toward your larger goal.

Contact info:

• Lisa Baril: barillisa@gmail.com, https://www.lisabaril.com/
• Book: The Age of Melt: What Glaciers, Ice Mummies, and Ancient Artifacts Teach Us about Climate, Culture, and a Future Without Ice
• Publicist: Katlynn Nicolls, 971-277-2196, katlynn.nicolls@hgb.usa.com
• Agent: Jessica Papin, 212 627-9100 (extension 709), jpapin@dystel.com

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Banner image adapted from original photo by Lisa Baril.

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