Thanks for the idea! I've been slightly aware of the story, as much as any casual reader of the business pages, I guess. Why not try writing it yourself, or with a co-author who's experienced in the business-thriller genre? (There are lots of such books. I've reviewed about five of them for the New York Journal of Books.) It sounds like it would be very marketable.

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Thank you.

I'm not an expert on the inner workings of the publishing industry, sorry. But as a former business writer, I'd guess (based on my knowledge of how businesses in general operate) that politics with a capital P -- Democratic, Republican, Libertarian etc -- is irrelevant to book publishing, placement and marketing. What matters, as always, is potential sales: Is the author famous? Is it a hot topic? Is the book backed by a major publisher?

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If you want to make a living through writing, you've chosen a great specialty. I spent most of my journalism career covering business and finance, and I think that's an area that will never cease being of interest to a wide range of readers -- from corporate leaders, to hedge fund and pension managers, to individuals who like to track the markets and make their own investment decisions. Your combination of an MA and published writing experience should really help. But as with most careers, you'll probably have to start small. Luckily, there are a slew of small newsletters, newspapers, magazines, blogs, etc that focus on different aspects of finance. (Yes, they pay, though not Manhattan-rent-level wages.)

As for your political question: I feel like I have to be an activist-optimist, even if that means having a lot of patience, suffering a lot of hits, and taking the long view sometimes. Otherwise, I'm ceding the battle to the optimists who disagree with me politically. Does that make sense?

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It's a true cliche that publishing is a business of personal contacts: An editor will simply pay more attention to the recommendations of an agent she/he knows. And I suspect that it's rare for an agent who's been specializing in, say, business books for 10 years to have good contacts as well among children's book editors. That was definitely true in my case: My (happily successful!) nonfiction agent had no experience in fiction, when I switched genres.

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Wow... The best (and most difficult) is to get a literary agent and then get published by one of the big houses. Okay, but what's the most feasible and also respectable for us mortals? There are 100s of traditional small presses that don't require agents and also don't ask you to pay for the privilege; many have niche focuses, while many others are generalists. The NYTimes today has an Opinion piece about the importance and growth of university presses, in particular. (Of course I'm a big fan of university presses, since a university press has published both of my novels!)

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Some people are so well-disciplined that they're able to avoid checking email, etc. for a pre-determined period of time while they write. Other people use exterior, physical means to stay focused; they'll rent a cubicle somewhere outside their home, with no WiFi, no TV, no one to talk to...I'm somewhere in-between. Most days, I interrupt my work too much to check email, Instagram etc (on the theory that that's work, too, LOL). But honestly, if I'm really going on a scene, I don't get up for anything. I just wish that happened more often.

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I think the important question is: Do you like to write? Even if you're good at something, you may not like to do it. (For instance, I was good at math in HS but I had zero interest in taking advanced math classes.) Then, if you do like to write, think about why you like it -- what is about writing that you enjoy?

I hope this helps. Thanks for asking me.