Rod Pyle: Mars: Making Contact

MARS: MAKING CONTACT
Rod Pyle
Carlton Books, September 8, 2016, $21
ISBN-10: 0233004920; ISBN-13: 978-0233004921

Pyle reports:

Mars: Making Contact is an illustrated account of humanity’s exploration of the red planet from the first telescopic observations through NASA’s latest robotic missions, and plans for human visits to Mars.

My goal was to provide a complete narrative history of all Mars exploration efforts, with ample photographs, period-relevant documents, memos and other background material to draw the reader into the adventure. Carlton, my publisher, had vast experience with photo and “experience” books, making for an ideal partnership.

My previous books on space exploration history, technology and innovation, include two on Mars: Destination Mars: New Explorations of the Red Planet (2012) and Curiosity: An Inside Look at the Mars Rover Mission (2014), both published by Prometheus Books. Destination Mars grew an increasing audience over time, and I wanted to follow up with a fully illustrated title about Mars.

This book was in the making for about four years, and involved a trio of increasingly targeted book proposals. Carlton accepted the third in 2016, and we got to work. We immediately worked up a set of graphic book spreads for book shows and presale presentations. Once Carlton and I reached a working agreement, my agent negotiated a contract with an author’s advance and royalty structure.

A table of contents was agreed upon, and I built a research and images/graphic elements database prior to writing. I conducted interviews with engineers and planetary scientists from NASA and various Mars programs from the 1960s onward. I also consulted oral histories from the NASA and JPL archives. Many participants from these programs opened their files for inspection and reproduction.

The only changes I would make to the process would be to extend the editorial deadlines. Retrieving archival materials in the current federal budget climate can take many months (I am still waiting for some items — perhaps for a second edition!), so for a pictorially-based book, extra lead time to find relevant and properly reproducible materials would be helpful. Fortunately, much of what I needed was available from alternate resources.

Contact info:

• Rod Pyle, 626.399.4440, rodpyle@yahoo.com, http://www.pylebooks.com
• Agent: John Willig, 609-698-7162, wlitagent@msn.com
• Publicist: Carol Farley, [UK] 020-7612 0422, cfarley@carltonbooks.com
• Book website: http://www.prionbooks.co.uk/books/products/mars-the-next-frontier-out-08-slash-09-slash-2016
• Book blog: http://www.pylebooks.com/blog

---

NASW members: will your book be published soon? Take advantage of this opportunity for shameless self-promotion. Submit your report for Advance Copy.

Tell your fellow NASW members how you came up with the idea for your book, developed a proposal, found an agent and publisher, funded and conducted research, and put the book together. Include what you wish you had known before you began working on your book, or had done differently.

See https://www.nasw.org/advance-copy-submission-guidelines.

Thinking of writing a book? If you are a NASW member, you may access a list of more than 150 books and online resources to help you craft your book proposal, find an agent and funding sources, negotiate your contract, learn about self-publishing, publicize and market your book, and more at https://www.nasw.org/article/write-book.

Send book info and questions about book publishing to Lynne Lamberg, NASW book editor, llamberg@nasw.org.