Writing

The Mail I Get — What Happens After You Turn In Your Book?

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Charmi congratulated me on turning in MR. MONK AND THE DIRTY COP and asked:

Out of curiousity, how much work will you still have to do on it? At this point in writing Monk novels, do you get many change requests from the editor? Or, can you pretty much consider this "done"?

I'm sure that's a question a lot of you have, so here's what I told her:

I usually don't get any major notes from MONK creator Andy Breckman or my editor, so the next step will be to go through the copy-edited manuscript. That's basically my own manuscript sent back to me, all marked up, after my editor and the copy editor have gone through it, spotting typos, punctuation errors, inconsistencies, awkward phrases etc. They will make suggestions on the page for corrections,  changes and clarifications. They will also suggest trims or places where I might want to go into more detail…but the choice is mine. For the most part, it's very minor stuff and I get through it very quickly. It's also my last chance to do any rewriting that I want to do for creative reasons…which usually only amounts to a line or two, here and there.

A month or two after that, I will receive the typeset galley, also known as the advance proofs, which is basically an unbound version of what the final book will look like. The editor, copyeditor and I read through it for errors (although we inevitably miss two or three big ones, much to my embarrassment) and send it on to production.

At that point, my job on the book is done…if you don't count promotion (like going to book signings, attending conferences, speaking at libraries, etc.)

Become the Next Norman Lear

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This November, Emmy Award winning comedy writer Ken Levine is hosting another one of his phenomenal SITCOM ROOM writing classes:

With all the writing classes and books around, I realized there’s one thing none of them teach – what it’s actually like being in a sitcom writing ro>Practically all sitcoms are “room written” these days (even single camera shows like 30 ROCK). That’s
when a dysfunctional group of funny, creative people somehow manage,
collectively, to craft a brilliantly funny (or at least not
embarrassing) script while suffering from incredible time pressure and
personality clashes.
[…]I found myself imagining a weekend workshop that gives you the hands-on
experience you could only get in a professional writing room […]A cross between a seminar/workshop and comedy writing fantasy camp.

If you want to be a TV comedy writer, you've got to take this class. There are still a few spaces left, so sign up fast.

So You Want to Write Tie-Ins…

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Ever since my brother Tod's terrific LA Times article on writing the BURN NOTICE tie-in was published, me and other members of the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers have been bombarded with queries from people who want to write tie-ins. In response, author Jeff Mariotte has posted his advice on the IAMTW blog. He wrotes, in part:

The key fact to keep in mind about writing official tie-in fiction is
that it's licensed. That means that (for a price) a publisher has
licensed the rights to publish the novels from the (in the case of TV
shows–the process is essentially the same for books based on comics,
games, movies, etc.) TV production company or network that owns the
original show, or the "property."

Once a publisher gets the
license, then an editor working for that publishing company looks for
writers to write the novels. The writers are approached and offered a
contract before even beginning to write the novel–it's the reverse of
the usual novel-writing approach of writing a book and then looking for
a publisher. This means that for the most part, tie-in writing jobs go
to writers of whom the editor is aware.

A Police Academy for Crime Writers

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This has got to be the best idea for a writer's conference that I have heard about in years…

My friend Lee Lofland, ex-cop turned author of POLICE PROCEDURE AND INVESTIGATION,  has put together THE WRITER'S POLICE ACADEMY on April 17-18 2009 in Hamilton, Ohio. The faculty is packed with top cops giving hands-on instruction in, among other things, Interrogation, hand-to-hand combat, police tools & equipment, arrest procedure & tech, law enforcement technology, and equipment, hostage negotiations, lie detection, traffic stops, handgun training,  as well as indepth tours of the local morgue and police department.

It sounds fantastic to me. I hope I will be able to go.

The Writer's Police Academy coincides with the Mad Anthony Writer's Conference, which includes guests like Bleak House publisher Ben LeRoy and Writer's Digest Books editor Jane Friedman.

Tie-ing up the NY Times Bestseller List

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In his Los Angeles Times essay on Sunday, My brother Tod touched on the enormous popularity of tie-in novels. I've just learned from International Association of Media Tie-in Writers' member Sean Williams that his STAR WARS: THE FORCE UNLEASHED has hit #1 on the New York Times hardcover bestseller list.  I suspect his tie-in won't be the only one on that list on 9/7. This week, Eric Van Lustbader's tie-in ROBERT LUDLUM'S THE BOURNE SANCTION is #2 and IAMTW member Karen Traviss' STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS is #19.

Expanding Literacy through Narcissism

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Leetod34x6
The front page of this Sunday's Los Angeles Times Calendar section features a big essay by my brother Tod discussing his experience writing BURN NOTICE: THE FIX and his research into the business of tie-in writing. I was approached to write the novels, but I declined and recommended Tod, who I knew was perfect for the job:

My brother was right: I was the perfect person. The only problem was my
advanced sense of artistic self. I had long, twisting conversations
with my agent, my wife and the kid who makes my sandwiches at Quiznos
about the literary equity I'd accrued, about how writing a tie-in might
somehow sully my career and other topics concerning my navel. My agent
told me to take a deep breath, get lucid and call her back after I did
some research…

So he did. Read his very funny article and find out what he learned.

UPDATE 8-25-2008: Tod's article got a surprisingly unsnarky mention on GAWKER, some love on TV Squad and some attention from Publisher's Weekly's Book Maven.

UPDATE 8-26-2008: TV Squad also gave Tod's book a rave review.

How to Throw the Pitch

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I'm going in to a major studio next week to pitch a TV series.  In advance of the meeting, the studio wants you to send them a very short log line of the concept, sort of the equivalent of a TV Guide listing. Assuming that they like the log-line, a few days before the meeting they will send you the "Drama Series Pitch" format that they expect you to follow for your verbal presentation. Here it is:

THE TEASER—Pitch out a tease that grabs your audience, that is visual, gives a sense of the world, tone and set up of our show.

THE WORLD—After you have grabbed our listener, tell us what the world is and why you want to do a show about it.

THE CHARACTERS-Outline
our characters in order of importance, allowing what makes each one distinct to
shine through (quirks, traits, backstory). Also discuss character dynamics, how each character relates to each other and what their point of views are about each other. Tell us about triangles, rivals, love interests, etc.

THE PILOT—Broad stroke the rest of the pilot. Do not go beat by beat or act by act. This should really just be broad strokes and key plot points which help establish character and set up. Also, your pilot needs to serve as an example of what a typical episode would look like (i.e. an example of a closed-ended story and examples of character conflicts).

THE SERIES—discuss what an episode of your show looks like, where you want to go in series, potential storylines and character arcs and entanglements.

THE TONE—You want to make sure you have clearly established the tone of your show and may want to hit it again in the wrap up at the end. It is often helpful to use shows that people are familiar with.

I've been in the TV business for a while, and I have done hundreds of pitches, but this is the first time anyone has ever given me a required format.  I guess that the studio has been hearing a lot of meandering, unfocused, boring pitches lately.

In general, I have no problem with their format, and would certainly have included most of what they want in my pitch anyway, though perhaps not in that order. 

Doing it their way is fine for me and has actually helped us focus our pitch and tighten it up. But I think there are some cases where rigid adherence to their format could kill a pitch. Not all series ideas are best told with a teaser and the pilot story…nor do all ideas lend themselves to comparisons to previous series ("It's HANNAH MONTANA meets THE SHIELD with a touch of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA").

Also some writers just have a natural, entertaining way of  pitching that suits their personality and thinking that might not follow a template…but still gets the key points across that the studio is looking or. Asking those writers to adjust to a particular template might throw them off and undermine what otherwise would have been a great pitch.

Comic Con and the Scribe Awards

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My daughter Maddie and I left the house yesterday for Comic Con in San Diego at 5:30 am and walked through the door of the convention center at 8:30. The Scribe Awards weren’t until 2, so we roamed around the exhibition floor for a few hours.

I was astonished by how many bootleg DVDs of TV shows were being sold there (and at outrageous prices)…which seemed awfully brazen to me, considering so many of the legitimate rights holders were in attendance.

Lee and Mark Evanier
I ran into my old friend Mark Evanier, who was signing copies of his
beautiful new book KIRBY: KING OF COMICS. The book is major achievement
and I’m glad Mark is getting the big sales and wide acclaim
that he deserves for it. He hinted to me that more, equally ambitious,
books are on the way from him.

On the way to the Scribes, we scooted through the autograph area, where I always find it sad to see has-been B, C and D list stars of yesteryear signing pictures of themselves for a few bucks. As we walked by, a morbidly obese, middle-aged man was singing a song to BUCK ROGERS co-star Erin Gray, who looked like she wished she was anywhere else but where she was sitting. Richard Hatch, thanks to the revival of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, had two or three more people than Erin. But poor Herb Jefferson, another former GALACTICA cast member, was exiled to a table far from Hatch, and sat forlornly without a single fan.

The Scribe Awards and Tie-In Panel was sparsely attended at first, but by the time we were mid-way through, we built to a nice-sized crowd. Our 2008 Grandmaster Alan Dean Foster gave a thoughtful, and very funny, speech on the lack of respect tie-in writers get from the publishing industry and their fellowAlan Dean Foster and Lee Goldberg
writers, despite the huge success of tie-in books. He applauded the International Association of Media Tie-In Writer’s efforts to change that and to increase the awareness of tie-in writing in the mainstream media.

Other panelists included Andy Mangels, Max Allan Collins, Steve Leiva, Kevin J. Anderson, William Dietz and Stacy Deutsch. I must admit, though, that I was distracted for much of the panel by an audience member who had long hair and a beard on one half of his face and was bald and clean-shaved on the other. I couldn’t help thinking that he was a man born to drive Adrian Monk insane…

That’s a picture of Foster and me on the right. The Scribe Nominees and Winners (noted in bold with asterisks) are below:

BEST GENERAL FICTION ORIGINAL

CSI NY: DELUGE by Stuart M. Kaminsky
**MR. MONK AND THE TWO ASSISTANTS by Lee Goldberg
MURDER SHE WROTE: PANNING FOR MURDER by Jessica Fletcher & Donald Bain
CRIMINAL MINDS: JUMP CUT by Max Allan Collins

BEST GENERAL FICTION ADAPTED

**AMERICAN GANGSTER by Max Allan Collins

BEST SPECULATIVE ORIGINAL

LAST DAYS OF KRYPTON by Kevin J. Anderson
**STARGATE ATLANTIS: CASUALTIES OF WAR by Elizabeth Christensen
STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION – Q&A by Keith R.A. DeCandido

BEST GAME-RELATED ORIGINAL (SPECIAL SCRIBE AWARD)

HITMAN: ENEMY WITHIN by William C. Dietz
FORGE OF THE MINDSLAYERS by Tim Waggoner
**EBERRON:  NIGHT OF THE LONG SHADOWS by Paul Crilley

P7260035BEST SPECULATIVE ADAPTED

RESIDENT EVIL: EXTINCTION by Keith R.A. DeCandido
52: THE NOVEL by Greg Cox
**30 DAYS OF NIGHT by Tim Lebbon

BEST YOUNG ADULT ORIGINAL

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER: THE DEATHLESS by Keith R.A. DeCandido
GOODLUND TRILOGY: VOLUME THREE: WARRIORS BONES by Stephen D. Sullivan
**NANCY DREW AND THE CLUE CREW #10: TICKET TROUBLE by Stacia Deutsch & Rhody Cohon

 BEST YOUNG ADULT ADAPTED

**THE 12 DOGS OF CHRISTMAS by Steven Paul Leiva

When a Window is an Eye and a Slot Machine

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I have a theory that when authors become successful and honored, editors just don’t bother editing their books anymore. I’m reading a book by one of my favorite, bestselling authors and tripped over this clunky line:

Then all he could see was the names scrolling through the window of his mind’s eye like symbols on a slot machine.

A window that’s an eye that’s a slot machine?  Yeah, I can picture that.

Reheating Leftovers

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Author Frank Kane liked his writing so much, he reused the same lines over and over, as Marvin Lachman reveals over at Mystery File:

Poisons Unknown, page 63: “Gabby Benton was on her
second cup of coffee, third cigarette, and fourth fingernail when
Johnny Liddell stepped out of a cab. . . ”

Red Hot Ice, page 18: “Muggsy Kiely was on her third cup of coffee and her fourth fingernail when Johnny Liddlell walked into….”

Red Hot Ice, page 27: “Her legs were long,
sensuously shaped. Full rounded thighs swelled into high-set hips,
converged into a narrow waist. Her breasts were firm and full, their
pink tips straining upward.”

Poisons Unknown, page 182: “The whiteness of her
body gleamed in the reflected light from the windows. Her legs were
long, sensuously shaped. Full rounded thighs swelled into high-set
hips, converged into the narrow waist he had admired earlier in the
evening. Her breasts were full and high, their pink tips straining
upward.”

This is just a small sampling of Kane’s laziness. There’s much, much more…