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THE
NUTSHELL NOTES STORY
Genesis of Nutshell
Notes:
As a busy
student of history and a news junkie, Amanda
Roraback yearned for a product that would provide
“everything one needed to know” about timely
international issues in quick and easy study guides.
At the time, only heavy tomes provided background
information (and, at best, months after events had
occurred) and magazines and newspapers only provided
brief explanations of the latest incident.
Academically
qualified and armed with journalistic writing skills
that she had inherited from her father, Amanda
decided to design her own booklets (similar to
Cliffs Notes © ) in time for a trip she had planned
to Cuba.
In preparation for
her voyage, Amanda designed a set of “cheat notes”
by compiling information about the island’s history,
politics and international relations in short
easy-to-read outlines. The notes simply and
concisely explained why Cuban cigars were illegal in
the US, why Castro was considered an American
pariah, why Cuban boat people fled to Florida and
other issues.
As a public service,
Amanda posted her outline on a website she named
“Nutshell Notes” (www.nutshellnotes.com).
Initially, only a dozen or so wayward web-surfers
hit on the site. The number increased when it was
included in Yahoos! Cuba news page. But the real
popularity of “Cuba in a Nutshell” came when a
little boy swept up on the shores of Florida. Once
the image of Elian Gonzales permeated the U.S.
media, the site began attracting 1000s of visitors a
day.
The interest
encouraged Amanda to add more countries to the site
compelling her to begin doing research on Russia,
China, Afghanistan and other places. At the same
time, she explored ways to make the non-profitable
site into a potentially profitable series of books.
Publishing
From
conception to creation, the production of a book of
any size generally takes months or years through a
traditional publisher. The timeline didn’t suit
Roraback. Nor did it fit with her concept of a
primer book series that explained the most current
news.
Instead, Roraback
chose to take the more laborious route of publishing
her own books. By owning the publishing company that
would produce her books, Amanda would be able to
print and distribute books days after the text was
completed. With ownership, furthermore, Roraback
could ensure that the design and objectives of the
ongoing series were maintained and could guarantee
that the books would not be discontinued the minute
interest waned.
Relying on guidance
from self-help books on self-publishing and advice
from counselors at the Small Business
Administration, Roraback legally established
Nutshell Notes, LLC (with her mother as the
obligatory partner), acquired ISBN numbers and
developed an extensive business plan – despite the
fact that the project was far beyond her financial
means.
The Investor
In 2000,
Roraback got her first of many serendipitous breaks
when she met Avo Tavitian, an Armenian
gastroenterologist, amateur photographer and
generous patron of the arts. Together, they planned
to develop a book on immigrants in Los Angeles with
Amanda producing the text and Avo Tavitian taking
photographs of ethnic communities in the area. Their
plan was to publish the book through Amanda’s still
dormant publishing company. If successful, they
reasoned, they could one day publish Roraback’s
ambitious “Nutshell Notes” booklet series.
In the meantime,
Amanda maintained her Nutshell Notes website while
helping Tavitian organize his real estate ventures.
Afghanistan
One
afternoon, not far from Tavitian’s West Hollywood
apartment (where “the company” was based) Amanda
came across a rally at the Director’s Guild of
America. Outside the auditorium, a string of
celebrities were parading in front of cameras on
their way to a presentation on Afghan women hosted
by Mavis Leno (wife of Jay Leno).
What struck Amanda
the most was the crowd on the other side of the red
carpet ropes -- Afghan men and women who were
picketing the event.
After conducting
spontaneous interviews, Roraback learned that while
the demonstrators agreed that Ms. Leno had good
intentions by bringing the oppressive treatment of
women under the Taliban to the attention of the
world, they felt that she had missed the larger
picture. Afghan women, they said, were less
concerned about their education and burqas
(considered by women in some parts of Afghanistan as
a cultural, religious symbol rather than a tool for
oppression) than they were about the country’s
violence, rampant starvation, minefields and other
more dire issues.
Soon after the
experience, Roraback did extensive research and
conducted many more interviews eventually adding
“Afghanistan in a Nutshell” to her slowly growing
web site.
BOOKS
9/11
After the
shock and horror of the terrorist attack in New York
City had set in and the President announced that the
United States would be going to war against Osama
bin Laden and his Taliban hosts, Roraback recognized
that information on Afghanistan, a country that
Americans knew little about, was desperately
needed. That night, she phoned Tavitian to urge him
to underwrite the Nutshell Notes book project –
although he didn’t need much coaxing.
With Tavitian’s
approval to “do whatever was necessary,” Amanda
employed everyone she knew in order to undertake the
Herculean task of editing, designing and selling her
first book in the shortest amount of time. She
quickly transferred the text about Afghanistan from
her website onto paper while her neighbor designed a
book cover. One of her friends began speaking to
local bookstores, another (a childhood pal who was
teaching geography at a California State University)
designed maps while her mother and brother helped
with editing and fact-checking. Within a week the
booklet was ready to be printed and 10 days after
that, “Afghanistan in a Nutshell” was set up on
front counter displays at LA’s biggest independent
bookstores, Vromans in Pasadena, Midnight Special
bookstore, Duttons, UCLA bookstore among others.
In a surreal turn of
events, the little 25-page booklet landed on the
Los Angeles Times bestseller list, not once, but
three weeks in a row compelling Roraback and her
partner to develop a second book (“Pakistan in a
Nutshell”) and a third (“Islam in a Nutshell”) and
the next year, a fourth (“Iraq in a Nutshell”) --
which also was listed as an LA Times bestseller. In
2004, Roraback finally endeavored to explain the
Middle East crisis (at the heart of most issues
affecting the Muslim world) by writing a flip-book
presenting the situation from two opposing
perspectives.
Israel-Palestine in
a Nutshell
After
three years touting the fledgling series at book
festivals and independent venues, the books were
slowly starting to take off. Orders trickled in
from across the country (the result of
letter-writing campaigns, a story in the Los Angeles
Times and a short feature on KTLA morning news) and
the books were included in a teacher’s catalogue.
But it was the introduction of “Israel-Palestine in
a Nutshell” -- the first of all the books to be
constructed with a spine -- that pushed the books to
the next level – big-chain distribution.
In mid-2004, a
selective distributor of independently published
books, Midpoint Trade Books, decided to represent
Enisen Publishing and introduced the 160-page
“Israel-Palestine in a Nutshell” to buyers from
Barnes and Noble, Borders and other large chains.
By the end of the year, the single title was
generating more than $1000 in sales each month.
To help publicize
the book and other titles, Roraback toured Los
Angeles giving talks on the Middle East crisis to
any audience who would listen: public libraries,
Lions club members, Rotarians, schools etc. While
Roraback expected only to hone her speaking skills
while objectively presenting both the Palestinian
and Israeli sides of the Middle East crisis, she
didn’t anticipate the response she got. Audiences
with clear agendas (either pro-Israeli or
pro-Palestinian) began attending her lectures in
order to prevent her from “spreading propaganda.”
Frequently the discussions became heated leaving
Roraback to defend one group or another against
attacks from the participants. The controversy
taught Amanda that no issue can be explained in a
purely intellectual and objective manner and, at the
same time, that every issue must be explained
intellectually and objectively – whether or not her
audiences were receptive.
International
distribution
Another
feather in Enisen Publishing’s cap was the request
by marketers from Britain to represent the series in
the U.K.
About the same time
the books were being distributed throughout the U.S.
(Barnes and Noble and Borders that is), they were
being put on the shelves of bookstore chains in the
United Kingdom (including the famous Blackwell’s
book store in Oxford)
By the end of 2004,
the first four books in the series were updated,
redesigned and expanded and work began on the sixth
title “Iran in a Nutshell” (to be published in
August 2005).
Iran in a Nutshell
Family
members and friends still contribute to the
production and distribution of the Nutshell Notes
books, although Enisen Publishing also employs
professional editors, fact-checkers and publicists.
Roraback’s “team”
helped put together the latest in the series, “Iran
in a Nutshell” in 2006.
Schools
In the
last couple of years, Amanda Roraback has been
working closely with local social studies teachers
to help them develop lesson plans related to the
Middle East and other topics. Along with conducting
seminars and teachers’ workshops, Roraback has
joined the Southern Californian Social Sciences
Association, History Day LA, NACIS and other social
studies-based organizations.
Future Books
Roraback
is currently working with photographer, Avo Tavitian
on their book: “LA International: A pictorial look
at immigration in the City of Angels.” She also
plans to complete “Korea in a Nutshell” and “China
in a Nutshell” by 2007. |
