The writing of 'Sunday in Hell: Pearl Harbor Minute by Minute"

From: West Point 1955
Date: Mon, Dec 17, 2012 at 1:11 AM
Subject: usma1955: 55-forum The writing of 'Sunday in Hell: Pearl Harbor Minute by Minute"
To: '[55 Forum]'
Cc: Bill McWilliams

The writing of 'Sunday in Hell: Pearl Harbor Minute by Minute"

Bill McWilliams' book, 'Sunday in Hell: Pearl Harbor Minute by Minute', on sale on a shelf at The World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument Visitors' Center Gift Shop in Pearl Harbor, (formerly the Arizona Visitors' Center Gift Shop):




The picture was taken and forwarded to Bill by iPhone on 7 December 2012 by Ms. Raye Jean Plehn, the daughter of a late Pearl Harbor survivor Bill interviewed in March 2008 for his book, approximately eighteen months before Raymond J. Turpin died. He was a 20 year-old Marine private on board the battleship USS Oklahoma when it capsized that terrible morning. The inspiring story of Ray Turpin can be found beginning page 297 in Chapter 5 of Sunday in Hell.

Bill's book was a massive, long, complex and difficult 7 1/2-year undertaking requiring in depth research and knowledge in subject areas he had not previously encountered - such as Navy life, traditions and training in the era of the attack; fleet air defense in port and at sea; naval surface, submarine, anti-submarine, aviation and carrier warfare; and the status and evolving realities of radar, SONAR and on-board defensive systems in that era. The extensive subject matter also included Japanese submarine activity in support of the Japanese strike fleet, civilian and military preparedness and defense of the island of Oahu before and after the attack, seaborne evacuation, and numerous other related subjects such as rescue and medical responses by both military and civilian authorities. And to compound the obstacles, he determined early he needed to place the book on the shelves in the Pearl Harbor Gift Shop to give it creditability and at the same time introduce it to visiting foreign audiences.

The writing of non-fiction history, done well and accurately, requires far more work than the great majority of readers are aware. But the introduction of the book at Pearl Harbor proved to be an even more difficult added workload than Bill knew. Research on the narrative, except for photographs, lasted four years, though in the interest of full disclosure, the period was prolonged by three other projects Bill was working in parallel with this one.

In 2006 he established contact with Daniel Martinez, PhD, the Chief Historian and Park Ranger at Pearl Harbor, telling him of the work in progress and seeking support in obtaining photographs. He was most helpful and encouraging, but the real stumbling block was to occur far later, just prior to the contracted delivery of the entire manuscript to the publisher.

Unfortunately in mid-2008, just as he was ready to begin an intense search for a publisher, Bill was facing into two massive upheavals in the publishing industry. One was caused by the onrushing recession, the other by the sharp, accelerating shift toward e-book publishing - where, after 16 prior rejections by traditional publishers, he landed a verbal agreement to publish Sunday in Hell. E-Reads, the New York City-based publisher agreed to take on, what was for them, also a first-time, original, major (non-fiction) history. The success came with the help of a Los Angeles agent Bill and his wife, Ronnie, met personally in November 2005 at the Hollywood premiere of the ESPN made-for-television movie 'Code Breakers."

Publishing a 1,014-page book in e-book and print-on-demand formats, drawn from 416 sources with 760 source notes; 121 photographs, maps and diagrams; and requiring 42 permissions - not including photograph permissions to avoid potential copyright issues, was for Bill, a new, far more demanding experience than publishing by a traditional hardback or paperback production company.

E-book companies normally specialize in re-publishing out-of-print books devoid of potential copyright issues. They operate without the extensive overhead costs of traditional publishers: no editing, marketing, or paper production staffs, just to name a few. The author picks up all those responsibilities, plus he helps finance the publication. In this instance the contracted manuscript delivery date was 31 May 2011. As Bill neared the scheduled delivery date, his confidence was growing that the manuscript would be at the publisher's on time.

He had previously inquired of Daniel Martinez what steps were necessary to gain approval to place the book on the shelves at the Visitors' Center gift shop. The process required sending two copies of the print version of the book, which would be reviewed by the Chief Historian and a three-man committee of people selected by him, all experts on the events of December 7,1941. Sanction of the book's placement on the shelves would come from their collective review.

The first week in May he called the Chief Historian to tell him the date of the manuscript delivery. In the course of the brief conversation, he asked Bill one question. 'Have you had a technical review of the manuscript?' Bill had to answer 'No,' but in his mind, except for one nagging unanswered question pertaining to the frequent use of Japanese names in the book, was quite confident his work was technically strong and would pass the review of the Chief Historian's three-person committee. Dr. Martinez replied, 'I strongly recommend you get a technical review,' and then offered to connect Bill to a reviewer. Bill knew immediately a serious concern now had to be addressed and time was growing short for the planned delivery of the manuscript. Dr. Martinez gave Bill contact information, and without mentioning it to Bill, after the conversation, immediately called a marvelously, well qualified - and fully occupied military historian, leaving a voicemail explaining and asking Mr. Michael Wenger to conduct a technical review.

On 16 May 2011, Bill e-mailed copies of three key chapters from Sunday in Hell. Thirty-six hours later Michael Wenger returned two carefully reviewed chapters, from which Bill was able to develop a checklist for a comprehensive technical review of the entire manuscript. As matters turned out Mr. Wenger was not only a talented military historian of impeccable reputation, he is an expert on the subject of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and is also deeply knowledgeable of the Japanese culture. He not only helped Bill correct and standardize the presentation of Japanese names, but also directly assisted Bill by phone and e-mail in obtaining from a data base he had developed the first names of American Navy, Marine and Army officers mentioned in the manuscript, work that would have taken Bill months to accomplish.

In the end, Bill had to obtain the publisher's approval to extend manuscript delivery two months. Michael Wenger's kind, patient, gracious review of Sunday in Hell, in the face of his own heavy workload was absolutely essential. Though the review added two months of detailed, line by line work to find and correct technical errors, had it not occurred, the errors he found would have destroyed the book's creditability and made it unacceptable for placement in the gift shop.