PUBLICAFFATRS

November 18, 2003

Mr. Philip D. Zelikow

Executive Director
National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States
301 7th Street SW, Suite 5125
Washington, DC 20407

Dear Philip:

PublicAffairs is pleased to submit a proposal for the publication of the 9-11 Commission's report
in book form. Enclosed with this letter is a formal proposal in which we address each of your
seven criteria and questions point by point-

As you will see, some of the answers we provide depend on unknown factors. It is difficult, for
example, for us to determine the exact price of the final book without knowing how long the
manuscript will be. And so we present you with various possible scenarios. We understand that
this is an on-going process and that our answers will likely change as the project develops.

Perhaps the most important question in determining the nature of our relationship is how much
editorial involvement and support you would like from us. We can provide as little or as much
editorial input as you need. On one extreme, we can serve as a packager and distributor for the
/report. We would page, print, and bind the report, turning the manuscript into a finished
/ paperback within 72 hours. In this scenario, while we would put all of our distribution, marketing
and publicity muscle behind the book, we would not bring added editorial value to the project.

On the other extreme, we could serve as editorial consultants and advisors to the project, helping
you to consolidate the reports from the eight individual work teams and shape them into a
complete, cohesive, and compelling single narrative. The goal would be to create an
authoritative—as well as highly readable—account of the attacks of September 11, 2001 as well
as analysis and recommendations on how to prevent such attacks in the future. In this scenario,
we would supply editorial services as the report is being written, and publish the book at the
moment the report is released to the public.

There is much gray area between these two extremes. The degree of our editorial involvement in
the project will have to do with (1) your desire for editorial help, (2) our access to the
information, and (3) timing. It is imperative that the book—whatever its shape—be published
simultaneously with the report's public release. That may prove to be the factor that most impacts
the level of our editorial involvement.

Why is PublicAffairs uniquely positioned to publish the Commission's report?

There are two main reason: (1) confidentiality and (2) experience.

250 West. 57th Sireer, Suite 1321 • New York. New York 10107
tel 212 397 6666 . fax 212 397 4277 . e-mail publicaffairs@perseusbooks.cojn
 ] 003/011

First, let us address the issue of confidentiality. PublicAffairs is a 15-person, independent

company. This is not the norm. Most publishers are part of a larger media conglomerate.
HarperCollins is owned by Rupert Murdoch's Newscorp (Fox, The New York Post); Simon &
Schuster is owned by Sumner Redstone's Viacom (CBS, MTV); Little Brown and Warner Books
are owned by AOL-Time Warner (CNN, Time); and Henry Holt's Times Books is affiliated with
the New York Times. Publishers that are not directly owned by media conglomerates are often pan
of a larger international entity, such as Knopf and Random House, which are owned by
Bertelsmann. PublicAffairs does not have any confusing institutional or media affiliations. We
are beholden only to ourselves and to our authors. It is crucial that the Commission's work not be
perceived as having a conflict of interest by association with any foreign entity, television
network, newspaper, or other media outlet. Independence—and confidentiality—are the key.

Second, experience. PublicAffairs is small, fast, and agile. There is no bureaucracy to fight
through and no red tape. You will have immediate access to a team that will be devoted to your
project. The publishing experience will be a partnership of equals rather than a publisher/client
relationship. Unlike the experience at a larger company, where your book may be one of many, at
PublicAffairs, your book will be a top priority on a small and select list. You will benefit from the
speed and attention of a focused team, but you will also have the vast academic and trade sales
network of the Perseus Books Group as well as the distribution force of HarperCollins.

Our past experience speaks for itself. A previous memo to you mentioned three PublicAffairs
titles that intersect with the Commission's subject and needs. They are an eclectic bunch: The
Starr Report, The Tiananmen Papers, and How Did This Happen: Terrorism and the New War.
Here again is the relevance of those projects:

(1) The Starr Report, a public domain document, was published on the day of its release in
September 1998. We worked hi conjunction with the Washington Post, which gave us a disc of
the report and their stories about the report. We produced and shipped a book in 72 hours, priced
at $10. The Starr Report was. as you doubtless recall, a bestseller (net of our edition: 155,840
copies). The point is that despite the availability of the report on the Web and in newspapers,
hundreds of thousands of people wanted to own the book version. The report of the 9-11
Commission would be a similar phenomenon; people will buy it in book form because it is a
historical document, a memento, a keepsake—a necessary cornerstone to any educated person's
personal library.

(2) The Tiananmen Papery is the inside story of the Chinese leadership's decision to use force to
quash student protests in Tiananmen Square in June 1989- The book was published in hardcover
in January 2001. The relevance here is that the project was compiled and published in complete
secrecy. The editors, Andrew Nathan of Harvard and Perry Link of Princeton, worked very
closely with us to create a narrative from thousands of pages of documents smuggled out of China
by a secret, high-ranking source within the Chinese government. As you may recall, publication
created a front-page news sensation and, after the predictable questions about veracity, the book
has become an accepted and respected version of events. It was published in paperback in June
2002.
 rcs.ui i-flA £\£ 'jar @]004/011

(3) How Did This Happen? was published immediately after September 11,2001. It consists of
essays commissioned by us and Foreign Affairs. Published as a trade paperback priced at $14, it
was widely read and discussed in part because we worked with the Council on Foreign Relations
to create discussion panels across the nation, which were filmed and broadcast by C-SPAN.

The 9-11 Commission report is obviously a model unto itself, but we would apply elements of all
these books in our support.

Finally, publicity: The release of the report will be a major event and you wJOU obviously have
many resources in dealing with the press. We can help. PubltcAffairs has experience in handling
such high-profile projects and Peter Osnos, as a former reporter and editor at the Washington Post
and as a publisher for many years, has been involved in many subjects on this scale. We have the
media contacts and publicity finesse to get the book the attention it deserves.

We speak for our colleagues when we say that we are eager to work with you and your colleagues
on obtaining the clearest possible hearing for the Commission findings. PublicAffairs was created
in 1997 with the mission to publish intelligent works of nonfiction that help readers better
understand the complicated world in which we live. Every year, we devote our energies to
publishing only forty original hardcover books. We are very careful to select titles that fit the
profile of our company—serious, thought-provoking books on issues that matter, written for a lay
audience. The 9-11 Commission's report could not fit our mandate more perfectly. We look
forward to participating in this historic project.

Sincerely,

Peter Osnos Kate Darnton

Publisher and Chief Executive Senior Editor
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