One Year of 'The Front Runner'

Blue Moon raging, 4:45 a.m. PST; books by Matthew Wolfe, George Saunders, Jennifer Keishin Armstrong, and Chris Bennett, and the return of the CNFin' Happy Half Hour

Author

Brendan O'Meara
May 31, 2026

Putting the NEWS in Newsletter

June

I’ll be speaking at the Chuckanut Writers Conference in Bellingham, WA, June 25-27. I’ll be delivering a talk to the entire conference about platform building in a post-social media world titled … wait for it … Rage Against the Algorithm. And I’ll also be heading up a breakout session of sorts about the art of the interview.

July

Thursday, July 2, 6 p.m., I’ll be interviewing author Matthew Wolfe about his new book Fires in the Night: The Earth Liberation Front, the FBI, and a Secret History of Eco-Sabotage at Hodgepodge Books in Eugene. It’ll be a live taping of the Creative Nonfiction Podcast as well.

I’ll be speaking at the Arlington Club in Portland, July 14, 9 a.m., to talk about The Front Runner and my failure to secure a follow up, lol.

August

I’ll be giving a lecture on unauthorized biography at the Eugene Public Library, Saturday, August. 1, 3 p.m. Free and open to the pub.

September

A Beyond steak dinner with your mom.

July 2025. We were just kids!

One year.

Seems like just yesterday I was suffering the ubiquity of panic that comes with book publication, especially when you get an email like this from the daughter of a key source writing on behalf of said key source the day after the book published:

Hi there,

I am inquiring for Neta Prefontaine about your book. [H]er son, just got a book he purchased.

She would like to speak with you regarding some errors she feels very strongly about.

Will you please call as soon as possible. We understand you have a book signing tonight.

Sincerely,

Neta Prefontaine

This was, as you might imagine, a near-vomit-inducing note to receive — and I repeat — the day after the book published and I was set to have my “launch” event in a few hours.

I literally sat with head on my desk for about three hours. [Sidebar: This email was written by Neta’s daughter, who would also show up to one of my book talks during the fall and ask during the Q&A, “Did you write about Neta Prefontaine in your book?” I was on the stage and I was like, “You’re her daughter.” And also, you know I wrote about your mother, so what exactly were you trying to prove? We sat beside each other at TrackTown Pizza on Jan. 25, 2025 as I thanked your mother for being part of the book. It was weird. It was weird.]

It’s not like you can issue a correction in a book the way you can in a newspaper and try your best to move on. It’s a book.

I called a friend and she said to just reinforce that any errors weren’t made in malice and to just listen.

Ring, ring, ring …

I finally got Neta on the phone and she … sounded cheery? This is a good sign.

“I understand you have some errors of concern. I’m all ears, what are they?”

One, I used her married name of Fleming from a scene in 1975. She was married then. She said she goes by Prefontaine now. This was not an error, but I said in the paperback, maybe we can add a parenthetical (this is happening as we speak). Two, the audiobook reader mispronounced her name. I didn’t read the audiobook (which would have solved myriad pronunciation issues), so I said I’d have the publisher look at it. Three, I describe the abuse Steve and Neta experienced as children as “corporal punishment,” which is what physical abuse is, right? She said she would have worded it differently. She thought that description was overwrought.

That was it.

But until I had the clarity, let me tell ya, I was a MESS.

And I think this underscores something I want to employ going forward. It’s expensive, and maybe there are grants that can help offset the costs, but I’ll never — NEVER!!! — write another book without a formal fact check. Some of you might know, some might not, but it’s on the author to have the book fact checked. Gone are the days of an in-house fact checker taking care of that for you as part of your deal. This can range anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 (maybe more). How much is your reputation worth? The author Michael Finkel hired two fact checkers for The Art Thief, and I think it ran him $8,000. Wudan Yan has her own fact checking agency. The Atavist Magazine lists its fact checker for every story in the credits.

Seek one out.

What else?

A book is just a piece. It’s a business card, a very expensive, labor-intensive, was-it-all-worth-it? business card. A few really cool opportunities came my this past year. I’m speaking at the Chuckanut Writers Conference at the end of June. I was invited to speak at a couple historical societies. I was asked to speak to journalism students and MFA programs. I received a handful of emails from random readers who appreciated the book (not many, but some. A dozen, maybe.).

A book is a key that can open doors. A book is part of a writing career that involves teaching, workshops, speaking, and so forth. A book is just a piece, a slice. A book builds your platform and allows you to platform others.

What else?

Bro, you better be building your platform, and I don’t just mean social media. That’s a mirage. Because, make no mistake, selling the book is on YOU. I don’t care if you are published by a big house or a little house or no house. I’m not kidding when I say it’s 99% you and 1% them. You will have nice, competent, well meaning people trying to help you, but they are helping 6,341 other writers besides you. Imprint this in your brain and you won’t be bitter and resentful.

Accept it.

Proceed.

You think you want to ramp up the marketing machine when you hand your book in? Too late. Try five years before your book comes out. I’m serious. Start now. Start yesterday.

What else?

As much as you feel like you’re selling your current book, you’re also selling your next one. You’re building an audience and a readership. It’s not a one-off.

What else?

Don’t spread yourself too thin with in-person book events. Unless you’re a titanic bestselling author (and I hope you get there!), these are often a waste of gas and a waste of time. Sidebar, bookstore events are, in my opinion, overrated and not particularly well attended … your book to them is just another brick in the wall. That said, some really show out for you. Love them. Hug them. Go the extra mile for them ( J. Michael’s, Hodgepodge Books and Taps, Old Speak). They have a business to run and it doesn’t revolve around you, but it can involve you.

Don’t schedule multiple book events in the same week in one city. You’ll cannibalize the audiences.

What else?

Write hand-written thank you notes.

What else?

Don’t read reviews. I’m still happy to announce I haven’t looked at a single Amazon or Goodreads review. While looking up a book on Amazon I caught The Front Runner as a “you might also like” title and I saw the ratings and just about hurled.

I never want to know.

Ever.

Some (Kim, Cassidy, Ruby, your mom) say I’m crazy. I’ll tell you what makes me crazy: seeing the ratings and reviews. I know myself well enough not to go there.

That said, please rate and review! I won’t read them, but I need them.

What else?

In the grand scheme, none of this matters and we’re all gonna die anyway.

What else?

Um, wut????

In newspaper parlance, we call this burying the lede. That’s right: I re-inverted the pyramid.

The Books

The Other Stuff

  1. It’s been a year, and you still haven’t bought a copy of The Front Runner? Don’t worry! I’m giving ten away. Find out how. It involves subscribing to Pitch Club.

  2. Yet another video on how to quit social media!

  3. Yet another video on how to have a better relationship with your phone!

  4. Tom Junod has some tricks up his sleeve. [Don’t forget about his memorable CNF Pod appearance.]

  5. The loneliness epidemic inspired Derek Sarno (my favorite internet hang) to cook.

  6. Lessons from sourdough discard.

  7. You’ve heard of those played out “unboxing videos.” Watch the latest fad: reboxing.

For one year of The Front Runner, I’m featuring my book proposal overview with my own audio annotations. And I’m raffling off ten signed copies of The Front Runner to people who reply to the June 1 issue of Pitch Club. It also marks one full year of Pitch Club, so that’s kinda crazy, right?

Platform is currency, so if you’re interested in how to sell stories, please sign up.

CNFin’ Happy Half-y Hour Returns!

Let’s take it slow. The return of the impossibly popular CNFin’ Happy Half Hour returns. Theme? Let’s hit it on the nose: new beginnings.

Meeting ID: 813 6253 9682
Passcode: 850179

Denouement (Oh, we speak French now?)

I hope you dug this Blue Moon issue of RATA. To support what it is I do, you can:

  • Buy copies of The Front Runner wherever.

  • Subscribe to Pitch Club,

  • Leave kind reviews for the podcast on Apple Podcast and/or leave kind reviews for The Front Runner on Amazon and Goodreads. THESE ARE HUGE!

As my pal Kim says, buying a book or leaving a review is a vote for the next book; it makes us just a tad more attractive to publishers. And, boy, these days, I’m busted, man.

If you have a few bucks burning a hole in your pocket, you may check out Patreon.com/cnfpod.

Otherwise, stay wild, nose to the wind,

b.r.o.