My Blog

Self-Publishing

by

In a comment to a previous post, someone mentioned they had a good experience self-publishing their non-fiction work.

Let me make it clear, I’m not knocking self-publishing, except for people who think it’s
going to get them into "brick and mortar" bookstores, reviewed in tne
New York Times, and onto the bestseller lists… or that it makes them "published authors." (That’s a seperate rant for another post).Mygunpbk

When my book UNSOLD
TELEVISION PILOTS went out-of-print after ten years, I reprinted it for
free through the Authors Guild’s "Back in Print" iUniverse program (in
a cheaper, two-volume set) and have been very happy with the results. I
get a few hundred dollars in royalties every year… it doesn’t sound
like much, but it’s more than I’d get if the book remained
out-of-print.

I also reprinted for free MY GUN HAS BULLETS, through the now-aborted Mystery Writers of America/iUniverse program, and I’m happier with the way it turned out than I was with the original, hardcover, St. Martin’s release… and I’m getting some royalties every now and then.

My experience with iUniverse has been terrific. I have no
complaints at all about the service, the quality of the books, or the
timely payment of royalties. Then again, iUniverse doesn’t pretend to
be anything it isn’t.

Translation please?

by

I got this email tonight.

In fact , It’s a great pleasure to me to send this letter especially for you
because I admired with your fantastic series which one of them like (( Martial law )) — please : contact with mbc tv and tell them to show your series (( martial law )) , call for me on number : XXXXXXXXXXXX  in kuwait country – or send me on this e-email XXXXXX@hotmail.com as soon as possible          thank you

I wonder if it’s too late to call Kuwait?

Wasserman Remaindered?

by

Publisher’s Weekly is reporting that LA Times Book Review editor Steve Wasserman may be on the way out,  seeking job opportunities elsewhere. Let’s hope so. 

Wasserman came to the LAT eight years
ago after a career at Times Books and NY publishing, bringing a flash of
intellectualism to the paper. But he has also reportedly had a number of
run-ins with supervisors who saw the section he ran as being overly
highbrow.

Not to mention exceedingly dull, irrelevant and out-of-date. But mostly dull.

It’s not unusual for the Book Review to finally get around to reviewing some major hardcover mysteries  around the time they are about to come out in paperback  (not that you’d call what mystery critic  Eugen Weber  writes  "reviews," more like senseless ramblings).

I had lunch with Wasserman when I was president of the SoCal chapter of the Mystery Writers of America. I came armed with months worth of local and national bestseller lists. I wanted to convince him that they should run more reviews of mysteries and thrillers  because those were the books his readers were actually reading. But he told me that he felt the mission of the Book Review was to educate people about what they should be reading…  which wasn’t mysteries and thrillers.

His smug superiority might have been easier to take if he didn’t spend most of our lunch drooling over the fact that Brian Grazer was at the next table.

Whether they review more mysteries or not, it sure would be nice if the LA Times Book Review  was interesting and entertaining to read again…

UPDATE:  My wise and witty brother Tod, who recently talked about shooting his life force out his ass, now offers his view of the Wasserman era.  He, too, has reasons to be encouraged by the prospect for change at the Book Review.

Another Publishing Scam…they just keep coming, don’t they?

by

First there was the PublishAmerica scam, now comes another vanity press masquerading as a publisher. I got this email from a reader here:

Hi All, I was just ready to submit my novel (which took about 8
years to write) to PA. Boy, glad I did some reasearch first, Whew!

Any ideas/comments about www.american-book.com before I submit?

So I checked the site out. The company is called American Book Publishing. They proudly proclaim:

We don’t abide by today’s conventional book publishers’ wisdom. We don’t conduct
business as usual, at least not in book publishing.

They certainly don’t.  In their author submission guidelines, they say:

We provide our authors all the professional services of editors, book designers, and book publicists to ensure their success.

In other words, you ARE A CUSTOMER.

We may issue publishing contracts with offers of financial advances to authors who have been published and have already established their popularity.

Conventional publishers don’t work that way. When they say "we may issue publishing contracts with offers of financial advances," it means that their standard practice is that  they don’t. But they will kindly make an exception if they can trade on your  good name.  How thoughtful of them.

We may issue publishing contracts to professional writers who have become accomplished in their writing career and the contract may neither offer an advance or request a deposit.

A deposit??? This should be your big, fat tip-off that this is a vanity press eager to take advantage of your desperation to be published.  But just in case you missed that subtle clue, they go on to say…

We may issue publishing contracts to talented writers who have not been published before or become accomplished in their writing career, and this contract may request a one-time deposit of $780 that is returned to the author the first quarter after the book has been formally released.

Publishers pay you, you don’t pay them. Don’t let your desperation to be published blind you into throwing your money away on a vanity press trying to  pass itself off as something else. Open your eyes!

If you want to be self-published, at least go to a company like iUniverse that doesn’t pretend to be something it isn’t.

Written With Both Hands Behind My Back

by

WakingnightmarehalfMy new DIAGNOSIS MURDER novel, "The Waking Nightmare," comes out on Feb. 1.  Rarely has a title been more appropriate for a book… at least for the writer.  I wasn’t even half-way through writing it when I had an accident and broke both of my arms. In order to meet my deadline, I ended up having to "write" the rest of the book using dictation software. I later cleaned up the prose by hand when I got the cast off my left arm and was able to hunt-and-peck on the keyboard again.  Even so, my friends and family tell me it’s better than the three DIAGNOSIS MURDER novels that preceded it… so go figure.

Here are some of the nice things other authors had to say about the book  in their cover blurbs…

"Can books be better than television? You bet they can — when Lee Goldberg’s writing them. Get aboard now for a thrill ride!" LEE CHILD

"Even if you never watched the TV show, read these mysteries!  Sly humor, endearing characters, tricky plots–Lee Goldberg’s smart writing is what akes these terrific Diagnosis Murder books something to tell all your friends about," JERRILYN FARMER

"The Diagnosis Murder novels are great reads. Intricate plots and engaging characters combined with Lee
Goldberg’s trademark humor make for page-turning entertainment." BARBARA SERANELLA

"A fast-paced, tightly constructed mystery that’s even better than the TV show.  You’ll read this in a great big, gulp!" GREGG HURWITZ

I hope you enjoy the book!

Bad Agents

by

A friend of mine told me an agent horror story today. A few years ago, his publisher accidentally sent him, instead of his agent, royalty statements on his book. The royalties showed that he’d earned $350,000… but his agent had sent him a false statement that said he’d earned only $11,000. My friend sued his agent, the case dragged on for years, and (for reasons I don’t understand) the parties involved ended up settling for about ten percent of what he was owed.

This story reminded me of a couple of other recent agent scandals. This one was covered by the Sacramento Business-Journal:

Celebrated local chef Biba Caggiano writes cookbooks, yet her
relationship with her literary agent has turned into the stuff of
detective novels.Caggiano is seeking more than $400,000 and alleges that Los
Angeles-based Maureen Lasher Agency kept two advances that were
supposed to go to her.  The suit says the agent
even attempted to pass off an incomplete Italian recipe book, written
by someone else, as Caggiano’s work.

Caggiano — who owns Biba restaurant
in midtown Sacramento and once had a cooking show on cable’s The
Learning Channel — learned of the advances only when her publisher
contacted her in July about two books for which it had paid advances of
$106,250 and $143,750, the suit says. It was, Caggiano alleges, the
first she heard about the advances or the negotiations for two new
cookbooks.

Advances and book royalties go to the agent and are then disbursed,
along with financial records, to the author. Caggiano says she hasn’t
received any checks or any accounting from her agent. The suit says the
amount owed Caggiano exceeds $400,000.

A spokeswoman for publishing house Harper Collins said that the
company couldn’t comment about the issue and that it is a matter
between Caggiano and her literary agent. In addition to Caggiano, New
York-based Harper Collins has a stable of best-selling cookbook
authors, including Julia Child, Emeril Lagasse and Marcella Hazan.

In October of 2000, unbeknown to Caggiano, Harper Collins delivered
$106,250 as an advance for a cookbook; Caggiano was not paid any part
of the advance nor was she made aware of its existence, according to
the suit. A second advance of $143,750 was paid by the publishing house
for a second book, and again, Caggiano says, she was not paid any of
the advance or made aware of it.

Then, the suit states, Lasher "attempted to deliver to Harper
Collins an incomplete and unauthorized manuscript" without Caggiano’s
knowledge or consent.

The agent hasn’t responded to calls or letters about the incidents,
the suit states. The suit seeks an accounting of Lasher’s books,
records, receipts and disbursements.

This was no fly-by-night agent, either.
Lasher’s clients included Barry Manilow.  Another well-known case of agent fraud involved Marcie Wright who, at one time, represented DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES creator Marc Cherry as well as many other top screenwriters and writer/producers.

According to Variety, she told screenwriter Robert Kuhn that Castle Rock never paid him for a rewrite he did on a script, and that DreamWorks wasn’t going to pay him for a  "quick  polish" on another screenplay he’d written.  The truth was that Castle Rock paid him $150,000  for the rewrite and DreamWorks  kicked in $87,000 for the polish.

Kuhn wasn’t the only client she was robbing. Her client Marc Cherry made a $100,000 pilot script deal with Paramount Network Television in 2001 that was later tabled.

Wright allegedly went to studio and said Cherry wanted to
settle out of the deal and walk away rather than pick it up at a later
date. The studio agreed and cut a check for $25,000, made out to "Marc
Cherry, c/o the Wright Concept," that never made it to Cherry.

Wright was arrested on grand theft and fraud charges and  ultimately pled no contest to embezzlement,  agreed to pay some $270,000 in restitution to her clients,
and serve 12 months in county jail.  The amount ballooned to nearly $500,000 with interest and legal fees. She paid the restitution and was released in September after serving 160 days in prison. She is on three years probation. According to media reports, Wright  is forbidden
from holding a personal checking account,  may not act in any fiduciary
capacity, and is currently  "undergoing psychological treatment."

A Big Thumbs Up

by

Sarah Weinman is asking writers over on her excellent blog to share how they felt after getting their first bad review.  Here’s the story I shared:

Maybe it’s because I come from TV…so I’m used to getting unwanted "notes" (ie criticsm) on my writing from everyone (actors, agents, managers, directors, psychic colorists, craft services etc.) and everywhere (studio, network, talent agency, viewers, the press, my pool man, my mother, etc.). I don’t ever take it personally. When it comes to reviews, I read them with a smile, whether they like my book or not. Everyone is allowed their opinion…I’m certainly not shy about expressing mine.

My favorite review ever was from Rolling Stone, calling an episode of BAYWATCH that I wrote the worst hour of television in the history of the medium. And they were being gentle. I loved the review… probably because they were right.

But reviewers…well, at least the publications they work for… can be truly schizo. For instance, Publishers Weekly gave MY GUN HAS BULLETS a bad review… and then, a year later, praised that same book as "riotously funny" in the midst of a rave review for the sequel, BEYOND THE BEYOND. Go figure.

In TV, you develop a very thick skin. I had a star tell me a script Bill Rabkin & I wrote was a "complete piece of shit." I just smiled and said cheerfully, "Gee, I guess you didn’t like it much. What troubled you?" Turns out what troubled him was a great scene one of his co-stars had  that The Star wasn’t in. His idea of fixing the script was a) deleting the scene or b) deleting all the fun and character from the scene or c) making the scene all about his character and what his character might be doing, thinking and feeling.

I had another executive tell me another one of our scripts would be  a hell of a lot better with a teen suicide in it.  And she wasn’t joking.  She just felt a teen suicide somewhere in the story would add drama.

Another exec once told me his only note on a script we wrote was that he’d like me to swap Act One with Act Three.  He wasn’t joking, either.

Now these aren’t exactly reviews, per se, but they are still comments on my writing. Severe, ulcer-inducing comments. 

What I’ve learned the hard way is that you can’t take these notes, or reviews of any kind, personally or you won’t survive in this business… whether you’re toiling in TV or publishing… or, as in my case, both.

I’ve found some negative reviews, especially of our TV shows, helpful in refining the franchise or spotting weaknesses in our story-telling.

But it also cuts both ways…if you start believing all your positive reviews, you are just as screwed as if you take all the negative ones to heart.   The good reviews feel better, but they can be just as destructive if you start believing your writing is perfect and you’re God’s gift to TV or literature…

The Wild West

by

If you think Spongebob Squarepants promotes a gay agenda, James Wolcott reports you’ll be positively terrified by the old western series on the GoodLife TV Network.

Bronco, starring Ty Hardin. Bronco. Ty. You tell me those aren’t gay-sounding names. Then there’s Sugarfoot,
starring Will Hutchins. Sugarfoot–another name that sounds awfully fey
to me. In the title song, he’s described as "easy lopin’" (the
sagebrush version of crusing), and joggin’ along "with a heart full of
song." Show tunes, no doubt. Cheyenne,
starring Clint Walker, whose title tune asks the haunting musical
question, "Cheyenne, Cheyenne where will you be camping tonight?"
Camping, indeed! The song has him dreaming "of a girl you may never
love," and I think I know why he may never love her, and why he needs
to go "camping."

TV Stars Nab Oscars Noms

by

Who could  ever have imagined that Thomas Haden Church would be nominated for an Academy Award… a man whose last major film role was in "George of the Jungle II?"

In his LA Times interview, Church says:

Though he definitely considers "Sideways" a career comeback [Note: That’s an understatement], Church is getting a
little tired of the mythology that seems to have grown up around his casting —
that he was as big a has-been as his character [Note:  He was].

"I’m very flattered by
all the attention," he says, "but there is this tone among some journalists that
Alexander had to pry the lid from my coffin. It wasn’t quite like that. I hadn’t
done anything high-profile in a few years, but … I had 11 years starring in
television."

Church came to the public’s attention in 1990 as oblivious
Lowell Mather during the five-year run of "Wings." Then he starred for two years
with Debra Messing in "Ned and Stacey." His switch to film could be described as
"challenging." He worked steadily — starring as Jane’s sleazy fiancé in "George
of the Jungle" and its sequel — but often in films that never found a
distributor.

Crystal Bernard should start shopping for an Oscar dress… it could be her turn in a few years. Joking and astonishment aside,  Church was truly wonderful in "Sideways" and I’m glad to see him getting the nomination…

Actually, the entire Best Supporting Actor category was filled with TV Actors … Alan Alda (M*A*S*H), Jamie Foxx ("Roc," "The Jamie Foxx Show," etc.), Clive Owen ("Second Sight," "Sharman,"  "Chancer") and Morgan Freeman ("The Electric Company").

Granted, Morgan Freeman is stretching it… he has been a movie star for many years now but still, it’s pretty incredible how many of those actors spent years in the series television grind. 

This Oscar nom could do for Church what it did for James Cromwell and Martin Landau, two other actors who were slogging around in TV before their surprise nominations. Cromwell’s immediate credits before  "Babe" included guest-shots on "Matlock" and "Diagnosis Murder" and a short run as a regular on "The Last Precinct." Martin Landau joined "Tucker" after his Emmy-ignored performances in "Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island" and "Return of the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman." After that, Cromwell and Landau because movie stars… it would have been inconceivable to imagine Landau starring in a Woody Allen film before "Tucker" revived his career.

On a different topic, I was disappointed by the Best Original Score nominations… do we really need to nominate John Williams again…and for the third rehash of a score (Harry Potter) that he’s been nominated for (and perhaps won, I can’t recall) before? I would like to have seen Edward Shearmur’s wonderful "Sky Captain" score nominated… along with Michael Giacchino’s wildly inventive and invigorating "Incredibles" score (which may have been snubbed because it emulated so many of John Barry’s Bond cues).

Ed Gorman’s Blog…

by

…has moved to a new address. He kicks things off with his take on all the Robert B. Parker bashing in the blogosphere lately.

The consensus judgment seems to be that he wrote brilliantly early on,
that in fact he rescued the entire private eye genre from malaise and
cliche, and that he brought tens of thousands of new readers to the
form.

I agree with all of that.

Where I have trouble is the funeral pyre so many of his critics seem to be building.

Ed thinks the Jesse Stone novels prove Parker is still at the top of his game.  I don’t disasgree.  I wish Parker would rest Spenser for awhile, abandon the Sunny Randall books, and ride with Jesse for awhile.  Maybe if he took a break from the Spensers for a couple years he would rediscover the character…and maybe find a fresh take on a hero who is anything but fresh these days.