Problem-Solvers and Pleasure-Givers

Notes on nonfiction genres, publishing strategies, and my next book.

Recently, a reader—okay, okay, it was my sister—asked me how I decide what to write next. In January I gave final approval on the “proofs” for a book that will be released in June, so it has been a question on my mind recently, too. 

Typically I just follow my energy—whatever I find myself most motivated to write becomes my next project. This time around I know what motivates me: I want to write about my sixteen years as an adjunct ethics professor. The problem is, I’m not sure how to write this one. I’m unsure about this book’s structure and purpose. 

Over the past few months I’ve been tearing through books about the craft of nonfiction looking for wisdom to get me on the right track. I’ll put a list of what I’m reading at the end of this post, but for today I want to highlight something that I’ve found helpful across a couple of those books. 

In Hungry Authors, Liz Morrow and Ariel Curry distinguish between “prescriptive nonfiction” and “creative nonfiction.” Prescriptive nonfiction “aims to guide the reader through a very specific transformation.” Think of James Clear’s Atomic Habits, Cal Newport’s Deep Work, and pretty much every business book ever written. Creative nonfiction, on the other hand, relies “on a central narrative (story) to convey a sense of transformation,” according to Morrow and Curry. These are the kinds of nonfiction books I teach in my history and ethics classes: Matthew Desmond’s Poverty, By America and Kate Manne’s Unshrinking, to name two.

Combining the titles yields “Hungry Authors Write Useful Books.” That sounds about right.

A similar distinction appears in Rob Fitzpatrick’s Write Useful Books. “Pleasure-giver” nonfiction books, according to Fitzpatrick, are interesting, fascinating, and beautiful, while “problem-solver” nonfiction books are useful, actionable, and clarifying. He adds: “To become a big hit, pleasure-givers typically rely on either PR momentum or a famous, well-platformed author. … Problem-solvers behave differently. This category of books can be reliably designed, tested, and proven to be valuable to your readers, even prior to publication.” 

Here’s why this resonated with me: two summers ago I sent a proposal to a dozen or so literary agents for a book called Teaching and Being Taught: An Adjunct Ethics Professor’s Guide to Life. All of the agents passed on the project, and a few wrote back to say that they liked my writing, but I didn’t have enough of a platform to sell a book like this. (It’s typical to query hundreds of agents before landing representation, so I decided that instead of pushing forward with this particular project I’d give it more time to mature. In the meantime, I launched this newsletter!)  

Hungry Authors and Write Useful Books helped me see that I pitched Teaching and Being Taught in between the “pleasure-giver” and “problem-solver” genres. “Teaching and Being Taught”—that sounds like literary, creative nonfiction. “Guide to Life”—that sounds like prescriptive nonfiction. Without an obvious problem-solving angle to hook readers, literary agents likely fell back on an assessment of my platform. I don’t have a big platform. 

When I write academic research, the purpose of the writing is to present the reader with new information and, ideally, influence their research decisions going forward. For example, the first line of the summary of my next book is: “In Stratification Economics and Disability Justice, Adam Hollowell and Keisha Bentley-Edwards explore how the work of Black disabled activists can and should inform economic analysis of inequality in the United States.” The prescriptive purpose of the book is right there in the words “can and should.” 

Interestingly, my book with Jamie McGhee on James Baldwin split the difference between “pleasure-giver” and “problem-solver.” Each section contained an opening narrative that aimed to inspire readers with the beauty and magnetism of Baldwin’s art. Each section also contained a closing section prompting readers to take action in the world. We put the “problem-solver” elements of the book into boxes labeled “Act,” and the summary included these words: “Drawing from Baldwin's fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and interviews, You Mean It or You Don't will spur today's progressives from conviction to action.” That’s prescriptive.

Breakout section from You Mean It or You Don’t: James Baldwin’s Radical Challenge (Broadleaf Books, 2022)

I launched From the Ethics Desk because I wanted to build my capacities as a creative writer. I’m an ethicist, so I can’t help but end my posts with a question or prompt for the reader, but for the most part I am writing to achieve the creative goals described in Write Useful Books (interesting, fascinating, beautiful) rather than the prescriptive goals (useful, actionable, clarifying). 

The question is, if I write a book about sixteen years as an adjunct ethics professor, should it be creative or prescriptive? Should I aim to write a “pleasure-giver” or a “problem-solver”? 

For right now, I’m not sure. In the meantime, I’ll just keep writing and see where my energy takes me. 

Special thanks to my sister—and to all of my generous readers—for joining me on the ride. 

Extra Credit: What I’ve Been Reading (Nonfiction Craft Edition)

*For simplicity’s sake I’m using Amazon links here, but support your local bookstore! 

• Vivian Gornick, The Situation and the Story: The Art of Personal Narrative

• Kavita Das, Craft and Conscience: How to Write about Social Issues

• Dinty W. Moore, Field Guide to Writing Flash Nonfiction 

• Kevin Larimer and Mary Gannon, The Poets & Writers Complete Guide to Being a Writer 

• Liz Morrow and Ariel Curry, Hungry Authors: The Indispensable Guide to Planning, Writing, and Publishing a Nonfiction Book

• Rob Fitzpatrick, Write Useful Books

• Janisse Ray, Craft and Current: A Manual for Magical Writing

• Tracy Kidder and Richard Todd, Good Prose: The Art of Nonfiction

• Sue William Silverman, Acetylene Torch Songs: Writing True Stories to Ignite the Soul