Jossey-Boss's lead title for fall, Undercover Boss, is exactly the kind of book the John Wiley imprint is known for--one about business and leadership. That it's also based on a popular reality TV series, though, is something new for the publisher.
The book, which was published on November 4 and went to press for an announced first printing of 50,000, was the brain child of marketing manager Erin Moy. Moy pitched the idea to senior editor Karen Murphy, discussing something that tapped into the lessons of the show--in each episode of the CBS series a CEO of a major company goes "undercover" in his own operation and works alongside his employees.
Murphy, noting there were a number of fans of the show on staff, said the one thing they all loved about it was its earnestness. "A lot of networks might've wanted a more salacious vehicle, but we loved the earnest intentions [of the show]. Leaders do want to know what's going on [in their companies]. And employees do want to be engaged. You'll see that when things go wrong [in a company] it's often the leadership doing something wrong."
Murphy and J-B wound up being one of a number of editorsand publishers who approached the show's creators about a book, with Murphy's proposal winning out. The ensuing title, which carries the subhead Inside the TV Phenomenon That is Changing Bosses and Employees Everywhere, features a chapter on nine of the bosses and employees who appeared in season one, and was crashed to drop just as the second season of the show was getting underway. Murphy estimated that the title went from contract to book in roughly five months.
Written by the show's creators, Stephen Lambert and Eli Holzman, with business writer Mark Levine, the title is, as Murphy explained, "not strictly a business book." With behind-the-scenes information in each chapter, the book has significant appeal for fans of the show. It also reveals how the show came together, while delving deeper into the leadership insights touched on in each episode That the book is a business title and a TV tie-in is unique but, as Murphy noted, it hopefully does what every good business does: "appeal to a mass consciousness."
