'For Dummies ...' publishes book by strategist in Reno

Shortly after Erica Olsen signed a contract with John Wiley & Sons Inc. to write "Strategic Planning for Dummies," the publishing house sent her a useful reference of its own: "Dummies for Dummies."

Olsen, a founder of the Reno-based strategic firm M3 Planning, had plenty of reason to turn to the publisher's guidebook as she marched in double time from signing a contract in January to signing off on a completed manuscript in June.

The 384-page book, part of the popular yellow-clad series of "For Dummies" books published by Wiley, hit booksellers' shelves early this month.

Wiley has high hopes for the book. The initial press run of 10,000, based on early information from its sales staff, is double the typical size of a business-related title.

"Selling 10,000 copies would be a big deal a very big deal," said Olsen.

The author she's also a columnist for Northern Nevada Business Weekly and a founding investor in the newspaper got the book contract as the result of an off-hand conversation last winter with a woman who also was writing a "For Dummies ..." volume.

She encouraged Olsen to pitch the idea of a strategic-planning volume to the publisher. Wiley executives, in turn, were looking for someone to write a book on strategic planning.

"It was a matter of being in the right place at the right time," said Olsen, whose six-year-old M3 Planning markets a Web-based strategic planning system, MyStrategicPlan.com. The company also acts as a facilitator for strategic-planning sessions, reviews strategic plans from businesses and nonprofits and helps companies conduct market research.

Wiley didn't give Olsen much time to bask in the pleasure of the book contract. The publication schedule demanded delivery of five chapters a month each of them 14 to 24 pages long for four months.

When the chapters strayed from the "For Dummies ... " template, editors fired them back for fast rewrites.

Chapter titles, for instance, all are in the same format: "Laying the foundation ..." "Looking backward ..." "Sizing up ...."

"While they help you, they're pretty rigorous," Olsen said. "But it's also liberating because it helps you write the book faster."

Even though the initial press run is larger than most business books, there's small likelihood that Olsen will get wealthy from the new title.

She signed up for a $10,000 advance and a royalty of 12 percent of sales the book retails for $21.99 or $2 a copy. Wiley reported sales of about 100 books in the first days after the title was released.

"It doesn't add up very quickly," Olsen said.

Still, she thinks the book will help drive business to her strategic-plan consulting firm. It may be particularly helpful, she said, in reaching potential clients elsewhere in the United States.