Essay Practice
Use the Essential Strategy to construct a response to the following essay
topic. Give yourself 35 minutes to evaluate, outline, write, and proofread. Make
sure to avoid the common traps just discussed. Then review the sample response and
analysis that follows.
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Acadia Stevens, an environmental activist, is weighing her
publishing options for her first book, EcoBalance:
Sustainability in the 21st Century. She has received a
publishing offer from a medium-size publisher, Second City Press,
but is considering publishing the book herself as an e-book
distributed via Internet downloads. Write an essay in which you
argue for one option over the other, keeping in mind the following
two criteria:
- Acadia wants EcoBalance to have an impact on the
environmental movement.
- Acadia wants EcoBalance to generate sufficient profits to
subsidize her research and conservation activities.
Second City Press, located in Chicago, publishes mainly poetry
and short fiction stories but has published nonfiction books as
well. Its “How-To” series on gardening and home improvement has sold
upward of 45,000 copies in the last year and ranks among the most
popular of its kind. Second City’s readership is based mainly in the
Midwestern United States. Acadia’s friend Laurel, who is the
sister-in-law of Second City’s editor in chief, introduced
EcoBalance to Second City. Second City
publishes the works of ten to fifteen new authors each year and
sponsors extensive book tours for its most popular writers. For
exclusive rights to the book, Second City has offered Acadia a
$10,000 flat fee plus royalties amounting to 5 percent of retail
sales. Second City plans to sell the book for $19.95 in bookstores
and does not offer books for sale online.
Acadia is an active and well-known participant in many
environmental websites, including a site called OnePlanet.net, to
which she contributes a weekly column on conservation efforts
worldwide. OnePlanet receives roughly 25,000 page views per week and
is linked to over 20 other websites devoted to social issues. Acadia
lectures widely on conservation issues in the United States and
abroad and is a frequent guest on public access television and radio
programs. An e-commerce research company indicates successful
e-books selling in the $30 to $40 price range in popular subjects
such as investing and financial management, but insignificant sales
for fiction e-books even at a price point as low as $2.50. There are
no financially successful environmental e-books currently offered on
the Internet. Acadia would offer her e-book at a price point of
$5.99.
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Sample Response
Here is one possible response to the Writing Sample prompt. Peruse (good
LSAT essay word, by the by) the outline and essay and then check out the
analysis that follows.
Sample Outline
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par 1 – intro
- e-book better
- her audience already online
par 2 – self-pub
- disadvantage: no track record,
data not so good, BUT: 1) she could be first, and already
well placed in market; 2) good platform to promote from —
web, speaking, etc.
- global cause, global audience
- her audience not scared by Net
par 3 – 2nd city
- limited reach
- advance IS nice, but future
money??
- support from company?? no
guarantee: many other writers; possibly only offered b/c of
personal / family connection
- “how-to” $ sounds good, BUT
translate for Acadia?? gardening (popular) vs. environment
(niche)
- recap: e-book better
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Sample Essay
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Acadia is best off independently
publishing an e-book on the Internet. She has worked hard to
build an online audience that is specifically interested in
the subject of her book and could sell the book directly to
this niche audience using the very mechanism through which
they’ve come to know her and her cause. Her potential buyers
are not limited to those who read her column but also
include readers of websites linked to OnePlanet as well as
users of the other online communities she frequents.
The fact that there is no
proven track record for an environmental e-book is a
double-edged sword: Some authors would be scared away, while
an established authority like Acadia might rightfully
consider it a golden opportunity to pioneer a new
distribution model. While the e-commerce data look daunting,
Acadia is well-positioned to blaze a new trail since her web
presence and speaking and media engagements already provide
a solid international platform from which to promote her
product. Her global cause deserves a global audience, which
is why the Internet provides the best forum to maximize the
impact of her work. Online viral marketing techniques have
generated explosive results for other small-scale endeavors
and could work wonders for a motivated and passionate person
like Acadia. The resultant financial success of the book can
help her continue her environmental pursuits, as desired.
Finally, while some might argue that the public isn’t ready
for books in digital form, those interested in societal
reform are generally forward-thinking people who visualize
change as a matter of course and are therefore not likely to
be put off by a digital format.
Second City, with its
regional readership and lack of online sales capabilities,
would limit the reach of Acadia’s message and the money she
can earn from the book in the long run. The $10,000 advance
is nice, but there may not be much in royalties after that.
Although the $19.95 price point is higher than the e-book’s
price, Acadia will only see 5% of that money, or less than a
dollar per copy. Second City would need to sell a very large
number of books for Acadia to achieve her financial goals,
and there’s no guarantee that the company will be as
motivated to promote the book as she would be herself. To be
sure, the 45,000 “How-To” copies sold sounds like a lot, but
that’s for a whole series of books on a subject presumably
more popular than environmental sustainability. Second City
promotes its popular titles, but who’s to say what it will
do with a niche book possibly taken on only as a favor to a
relative? Add to the equation 10 or more other new writers
to deal with, and the prospect of Second City really getting
behind “EcoBalance” seems even more risky. Acadia thus has a
better chance of success if she remains loyal to her
constituency and pursues online the identifiable, captive
niche market that she has already worked to
develop.
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Sample Response Analysis
Overall, this writer does a fairly good job of arguing his position; his
essay would make a fine addition to his law school application. Note that an
effective essay need not be as long or as comprehensive as this sample response,
which is intended to highlight the kinds of points you might wish to include and
an acceptable way to state them. Also remember that you needn’t have chosen the
e-book alternative—either option is defensible. Here are a few positive aspects
of the response that you should try to emulate in your essay.
Content
The essay begins with a clear, no-nonsense statement of choice and
ends with a powerful reaffirmation of the desirability of the chosen
alternative. The writer interprets the facts in light of the criteria
motivating Acadia rather than simply restating the information in the
prompt. Notice especially the consideration and subsequent dismissal in the
second paragraph of two potential drawbacks to the alternative the writer
selects. The writer acknowledges that there’s no proven track record for an
environmental e-book and that some people may not be ready for digital
books, but he goes on to provide credible reasons why these potential
drawbacks are in fact not serious objections to the e-book plan. In the same
way, the writer mentions and dismisses a couple of seeming benefits of the
Second City option amid an overall rejection of that alternative.
All of these examples suggest a nuanced approach to the problem and
demonstrate that the writer is considering the problem on numerous levels.
Sure, the writer may to some extent assume the financial success of the
e-book to demonstrate the prospect of satisfying the second criterion, but
the admissions officers reading these things have no doubt seen more
egregious blunders. Overall, the reasoning employed in the essay is pretty
solid.
Style, Grammar, and Word Choice
Stylistically, the writing is capable, and the author doesn’t attempt
to dazzle the reader with language beyond his capability. He uses
appropriate signal words and phrases to transition between ideas, such as
while, finally, although, to be sure, and
thus. The essay is well organized and coherent. Of course
it’s not perfect, but perfection really isn’t attainable in 35 minutes. Your
goal is simply to fashion a response that will help and not hinder your
chances of being accepted to law school. If you follow the Essential
Strategy and avoid the common essay traps, you should do just
fine.
