When I started this blog last year, as a way of holding myself accountable for living our Suddenly Frugal lifestyle in our new house, I quickly learned that adding green to the frugal mix made for a successful combination. Then a book agent read my blog, loved what I was doing, and suggested I write a proposal for The Lean Green Family Routine (thus the new name for this blog).

This agent, who has cheerleaded for me in a way no agent before ever had, shopped the heck out of the proposal. At least a dozen big New York City publishing house saw my Lean Green book proposal–and then they rejected it for one of two reasons.

They all said they loved me, loved my personality, loved my writing. But I didn’t have a big enough “platform” (that’s publishing-speak for a ready-made audience that would buy my book, like a Rachael Ray or Sara Snow would have, thanks to their TV shows), and my green advice wasn’t fresh enough (you know, fresh like fresh organic produce). Oh, and there was this whole notion about having missed the green boat all together, because coming in 2008 and through 2009, there would be a ton of green books flooding the market. (Here are two Publisher’s Weekly articles on new green books coming out in 2008, including green books geared towards kids. Hey, I see that there is a Green Living for Dummies book. Maybe I should pitch myself for a Complete Idiot’s Guide or another Everything book–I did one on etiquette?)

So unless I could come up with something new and interesting, such as a TV show or a syndicated newspaper or magazine column to promote the book, or content that people would want to buy, I would never be publishing my green book.

Now here’s what I don’t get. Consistently, the feedback I’ve received from the readers of and linkers to this blog is that I’m offering approachable advice and doable tips for the everyday person. Isn’t that really what you want in a self-help book that you’re interested in buying?

I’m sure it would be entertaining to read about how Ed Begley, Jr. lives green in Hollywood (or is entertaining to watch his TV show) or how a single, young person in Canada attempted to go “green as a thistle” for a year during her urban existence. But really, much of it is relevant to the majority of people interested in green living? Aren’t most of you more like me, bringing green into your lives whenever you can but also wanting usable ideas that have you spending less money not more? And don’t most of you live in suburban places where you can walk from time to time, like I do, but mass transit just isn’t a feasible option?

I believe that green is here to stay and, in the magazine world (from which I hail), April issues will forever be about green living to tie into Earth Day just as August/September issues will focus on back to school, October issues will be about breast cancer awareness and February issues will promote women’s heart health. That’s why I also believe that there will continue to be room on the bookstore shelves for green books, so that even if I’ve missed the first wave of green books debuting, there will be another wave right after that one that I can hang-ten on.

Now, here’s where you come in. First, if I am completely wrong about how I’ve been serving you, dear reader, and my advice is completely off topic, set me straight. What would you like me to be addressing so that I can help your needs? I know that many of you had asked for easy ways to add green habits to your lives, and that’s why I started Green Boot Camp. But if there is more that I can be doing for you here on The Lean Green Family, let me know.

Second, book publishers want blogs with big traffic numbers. Right now about 4,000 people visit this blog monthly–a not-too-shabby number but not a number that make publishers sit up and take notice. They want to know that 12,000+ people are reading a blog each month, at a minimum. So if you can spread the word about my blog and help draw more readers to it, I will be forever grateful.

In the meantime I’ll continue to brainstorm ways to make The Lean Green Family as valuable as possible for you, and I’ll continue to share my thoughts, ideas and advice, unless I hear otherwise. I think I’ve got something good going on here. I hope you all agree.