My Blog

The Men With No Name

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Author Terrill Lee Lankford ruminates on the publishing biz over at Ed Gorman’s blog…and, as usual, he has lots of interesting things to say. Among them:

A LOT of mid-listers are going the name-change route because of the weird practice in many bookstores of ordering the same amount of an author’s next book as they SOLD of said author’s LAST book: not ordered, but actually sold. Since there are almost always returns – especially in a business that rewards you for NOT selling the merchandise – this is a law of diminishing results where the end number would almost always be zero if allowed to play out to the end. I know of many writers who are having to assume secret identities to hide from these old numbers. This is no longer a growth business for a certain kind of writer – mostly the new ones who have not had the time to establish themselves. I can easily see a time, in the not-too-distant future, where a writer’s career will have to consist of a string of two-book deals, all under different names to avoid the dreaded computer numbers.

I know a few of those authors, too, and it’s a strange predicament to be in.  In fact, a friend of mine was told by his editor that they’d be glad to publish another book in his mid-list series of detective novels, but not under his name… his name was dead. I thought that was a bizarre thing to say until yesterday, when I picked up James Reasoner’s blog post about an author who, back in the early 60s, wrote about the same detective, Mark Wonder, under two different names. But I doubt it was the for the same reasons my friend’s publisher wanted him to do it.

Of course, no discussion of the publishing business would be complete without mentioning Ben Affleck’s scrotum. Lankford has the latest reports from the field:

And Applegate is not the first Hollywood star to witness his racy humor, director Kevin Smith had to endure Affleck’s favorite prank – resting his scrotum on the back of the movie maker’s neck during breaks on the set of movie flop Jersey Girl.

Ben’s scrotum has a two-book deal with Bantam.

The Mystery of Mark Wonder

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Psycho I love this kind of stuff. James Reasoner stumbles onto an obscure private eye series , featuring the adventures of Mark Wonder, written by one writer but under two different names. Negative20of20a20nude

Author Warren Murphy sort of did the opposite… he wrote two book series featuring the same insurance investigator and his Asian girlfriend but gave the characters different names. One series was called DIGGER, the other was called TRACE, and they both became the basis for the TV series MURPHY’S LAW,  starring George Segal, which was my first staff job.

UPDATE (7-18-2005) James Reasoner’sliterary investigation into private eye Mark Wonder continues with another twist. This time the author is the same (Eric Thomas again) only now it’s the PI whose name changes. In STRIP FOR MURDER, Mark Wonder becomes Christopher Sly. Stripformurder

Dumb Career Moves

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Sharona I’ve been absorbed in all things MONK today… writing book #2, reading scripts for season #4, watching last night’s season #4 premiere, and catching up on some of the supplementary materials in the DVD boxed set of season 3.

And I’ve come to this c0nclusion. Bitty Schram leaving MONK is going to go Toma0down in history as one of the great dumb career moves, right up there with Tony Musante leaving TOMA, McLean Stevenson leaving MASH, Shelly Long leaving CHEERS, Valerie Harper leaving VALERIE, Wil Wheaton leaving STAR TREK, David Caruso leaving NYPD BLUE, Erica Eleniak leaving BAYWATCH, Herve Villachaize leaving FANTASY ISLAND, Redd Foxx leaving SANFORD AND SON, and George Lazenby walking away from James Bond, to name a few.

Self-Annointed Blog Royalty

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Screenwriter Paul Guyot, who recently launched his own blog, talks about the dangers of becoming, or getting too close to, the self-annointed blog royalty in the mystery community.

There are some people out there who have become such a dominant part of the blogosphere, especially within the mystery community, that they are literally defined by their blogs. Their blog presence is who they are. Without their blog they would be just another nameless, faceless part of the horde. And this kills them.  Because deep down, nobody wants to be just a blogger.  So, to compensate for this secret frustration, they immerse themselves in their blogs – becoming as well-known and prominent as they can be. And for the ones that attain this recognition they begin to believe they actually are special.

The mystery all those bloggers will be blogging about this week is which bloggers he’s talking about…

Animal House

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There were two stories in the LA Times today about sexual misconduct involving cops in the San Fernando Valley’s Devonshire division. In one case, two cops were nailed for getting blowjobs from strippers while on-duty and, in another,  a veteran officer was arrested for molesting boys in a youth program. 

In the first case, the wife of one of the cops wrangled a notorized confession from him that she later turned in to authorities after her husband beat her up.

"This case is unusual on multiple levels," said Deputy Chief Michael Berkow, head of the Professional Standards Bureau, which includes Internal Affairs. "It is unusual for officers to commit on-duty sexual misconduct. But even more unusual when a wife has her husband confess to sexual misconduct, has it notarized, keeps it an extensive time and then turns it over to us."

Tod on Rains on Rainbow Party

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My brother Tod reviews the controversial book RAINBOW PARTY in this month’s issue of Las Vegas City Life. 

The problem, however, is that Rainbow Party isn’t actually scandalous or graphic…In another time, Rainbow Party might have been a "very special" episode of "The Facts Of Life," replete with a nice moralizing sermon by Mrs. Garrett. It’s harmless in a disappointing way — there’s no sense of the very real pressures young people face regarding sexuality — but it is the controversy generated by the parents that is truly troubling, especially when one considers the ultimate message of the book: Practice abstinence. Of course, those cloistered and closed-minded enough to demand the book be banned have already spoken to this.

Breaking Rocks

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When writing is going well, the words spill out of me faster than I can type. I feel like I am in a losing race to keep up with the scenes playing out in my head.

When writing is going badly, as it has been the last couple of days, I feel like I am trying to chisel granite.

I have an outline, so it’s not like I don’t know where I’m going… I just don’t know how to get there. Every word, every sentence is a struggle, and even when I get them down on paper, it hardly seems worth it, since every single word sucks.  The writing is flat, the dialogue rings false, and the humor is non-existent. But I keep pounding away, waiting for that moment when I will write the line that sings, that unlocks everything, and then suddenly I will be on a roll again. Writing will be easy, the characters alive, and the world they live in filled with color and details. Not only will I go back and fix all the crap I wrote before, but I will steamroll ahead  without a moment’s doubt or uncertainty…

Until I hit that granite again.

The Desperate and the Gullible

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Sometimes it seems like there’s nobody more gullible than an unpublished author. Blinded by their desperate desire for publication, they will ignore even the most obvious signs of a scam. Peter Winkler clued me into this article from the Times Union about yet another publishing con…one so obvious and blatant, it’s astonishing that any sensible person could fall for it.

On June 3, Martha Ivery — also known as Kelly O’Donnell — was charged with mail fraud, bankruptcy fraud and fraud in connection with an access device, all felonies. The 56-year-old woman faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted.

According to the indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Albany, Ivery defrauded prospective authors from May 1997 to September 2002. The indictment claims she presented two different personas: herself, as publisher of Press-TIGE Publishing Co. Inc., and Kelly O’Donnell Literary Agency Inc.

After hooking authors by advertising in Writer’s Digest magazine and on the Internet, O’Donnell would pretend to act as the author’s agent, according to the indictment. She then would tell an author how Ivery’s company would publish the book. And the requests for fees would keep coming: for publishing, editing, illustrations and extra copies, the indictment claims.

Ivery/O’Donnell promised book signings, international book fairs, complementary cruise vacations and appearances on television shows, according to the indictment. But books were rarely published and money was never returned.

When complaints grew, Ivery’s company filed for liquidation in 2002 under Chapter 7 of the bankruptcy code. She later started a new company, New Millennium Publishing House Inc.

Organizers of the Web site, http://www.sfwa.org/beware, estimate more than 300 authors have lost a total of $500,000 through Ivery.

…"These people are cruel," said A.C. Crispin, a science fiction writer who has worked with the Web site Writer Beware. "They don’t just steal money. They steal people’s dreams."

That’s true. But it seems like the authors are equally culpable. They let their desperation over-ride their common sense. And some just never learn:

For Geniesse, the retired journalist, dealing with Ivery tied up his book for years. "Cuc: Flower of the Delta," about a young Vietnamese family’s experiences in Asia and America, was finally printed in 2004 by a print-on-demand publisher, a vanity-type press to which the author pays only for the number of books he wants published.

"I was so gullible I couldn’t believe it," he said. Now, "I’m OK. The book’s out."

Unbelievable, isn’t it?  Here are two simple rules for aspiring authors that will help you avoid getting ripped off:

1) NEVER pay a publisher for editorial services, publicity, publishing, warehousing or distribution. The publisher is supposed to PAY YOU. They make their money from the sales of your book and give you a percentage of their income.

2) NEVER pay an agent a "reading  fee" or any other kind of fee. They make money when YOU DO by commissioning a percentage of your advances and royalties. 

UPDATE (7-8-05):  The Chicago Tribune also covered the story. One of the lawyers representing the ripped-off authors described the shocking gullibility of his clients like this:

"This is a vulnerable population that is vulnerable to hearing what they want to hear," Petit said. "And what they want to hear is `Yes, I’ll publish your book.’"

It turns out the Ivery is an author, too. What was the title of her self-published book?  "Make Millions From Your Kitchen Table."

MWA’s Listed of Accepted Publishers

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I got his email today:

My mystery novel XYZ is being published by Publish America. Can I become an active member of the Mystery Writers of America?

I’m afraid not. Publish America is not recognized as a legitimate publisher by the MWA.  You can visit the MWA site for more info. In the meantime, here is the current list of publishers accepted, and not accepted, by the MWA for Active Membership.

(You’ll find the list on the jump)

Read more

That New Book Smell

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Dm5_1 My ten author copies of DIAGNOSIS MURDER: THE PAST TENSE  arrived today (coincidentally, my brother Tod got his author copies of SIMPLIFY today, too). This is my fifth book in the DM series, and maybe the 20th book I’ve written, but the thrill of opening that box of author copies hasn’t worn off. I still get excited holding the book for the first time, flipping through the pages, picking out paragraphs at random to read. I even like the smell. It’s like I need to confirm to myself that it’s real…because  I’m still insecure enough to be surprised that I’m getting published at all.

On the other hand, I don’t get a charge out of seeing my name on screen any more.  It took me four of five episodes before I noticed my "Creative Consultant" credit was missing from MISSING (it had been dropped due to Canadian content requirements). The studio pulled it and didn’t tell us. They assumed we wouldn’t notice. Shockingly, they were right.   I wish that wasn’t true…I miss the thrill I used to get from seeing my screen credit.Mwiob_lg

I also got my cover for THE MAN WITH THE IRON-ON BADGE over the holiday weekend. Seeing a bookcover for the first time is almost as exciting for me as getting that box of books, but in an entirely different way. Here’s why: by the time the books come, I’ve already seen the cover and the typeset manuscript, but not all of it together as a genuine book. I know what’s going to be in the box when I open it. But when the bookcover arrives, it’s a complete unknown… I have no idea what it will look like (or if I will hate it). I usually can’t wait to get my hands on the book-jacket and that hasn’t changed, even with the DM books (which look more-or-less the same every time but change elements within the established template).

I’m glad the thrill hasn’t waned for me yet…and I hope it never does.

(Click on the pictures for larger images. Thanks to Keith Snyder for transfering the PDF for me!)

UPDATE  (7-8-05): Author Alison Kent discovered that sometimes there’s a darkside to getting your authors copies…

You know, I love author copies. It is so much fun to actually get your hands on a book in print. And then you turn it over. And you read the back cover copy. And they mention your heroine Erin Thatcher by calling her ERIN FLETCHER!!! What the heck are these people smoking???