Writing

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…

Scribe Awards and How You Can Enter

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The
Fourth Annual Scribe Awards are now open for submissions. The Scribes,
presented by the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers
(www.iamtw.org), honors excellence in licensed tie-in writing—novels based on TV shows, movies, and games. Here are the submissions guidelines:

The
Scribe Awards and How You Can Enter

The IAMTW will present SIX AWARDS in THREE CATEGORIES for books (& comic
books and graphic novels) published in 2008. We will also honor one
"Grandmaster" for career achievement in the field.
http://iamtw.org/images/mtk.gif

SPECULATIVE
FICTION
(Science Fiction, Fantasy, Supernatural Horror)

BEST NOVEL (original) – A licensed, original novel using pre-existing
characters or worlds from a movie, television series, computer game, play, or
an existing series of novels (i.e., new novels extending a literary franchise,
i.e., DUNE, James Bond, etc.)

BEST ADAPTATION – A licensed novelization based on an existing
screenplay, whether a feature film, episodic teleplay, computer game, script,
or play.

http://iamtw.org/images/mtk.gif

GENERAL FICTION (Mysteries, Thrillers, Westerns, Suspense, Historicals, Psychological Horror, Romances)

BEST NOVEL (original) – A licensed, original novel using pre-existing
characters or worlds from a movie, television series, computer game, play, or
an existing series of novels (i.e., new novels extending a literary franchise,
i.e. DUNE, James Bond, etc.)

BEST NOVEL (adapted) A licensed novelization based on an existing screenplay,
whether a feature film, episodic teleplay, computer game, script, or play.

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YOUNG ADULT (All Genres)

BEST ADAPTATION (defined as above)

BEST NOVEL (original) (defined as above)


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GRANDMASTER (For Career Achievement)
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The Fine Print Regarding The Categories…
 
For a
category to go forward, three submissions leading to at least two nominations
must pertain. In the case of a category falling short of submissions and/or
nominations, entries will be transferred to the nearest appropriate category —
for example, BEST GENERAL (Adapted) category would go into an overall BEST
NOVEL (Adapted) category that would include both Speculative and General
submissions. 

In the case of BEST ADAPTED (YA) or BEST ORIGINAL (YA), should submissions
fall short of the minimal two nominations requirement, entries would shift into
either BEST SPECULATIVE (Adapted) or BEST GENERAL (Adapted), depending
upon the genre.

In the event a combining of categories becomes necessary in a given
year (i.e., BEST NOVEL Adapted) the judging committee is authorized (but not
required) to give more than one Scribe, reflecting the combined
categories, if the committee members feel such recognition is warranted.

Horror entries have been divided into "Supernatural Horror" under
SPECULATIVE and "Psychological Horror" under GENERAL. This is a
judgment call the authors and then committee chairs must make, depending upon
whether a submitted horror novel is more grounded in reality than the
fantastic. Should a committee chair reject a title on this basis, the chair
will forward all copies of the submitted book to the appropriate committee
chair, and inform the author of the decision.

Should the author already have submitted another title to the other committee,
the author will be given the opportunity to choose which of the two titles he
or she wishes to have considered (since we have a one-book-per-category
submission limitation).

The future of the Special Game-Related Scribes will be decided after this
year’s Gen-Con. If we decide to continue this award, game-related submissions in the Speculative Original and Adapted
Categories will be simultaneously considered by those category judges for the
"Best Game-Related" Scribes. A gaming-related book submitted in those
categories is simultaneously eligible for both the "regular" and
"game-related" Scribe Award.


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How The Scribes Are Judged

The judging committees are made up of three of your peers from within the organization,
writers who know the unique obstacles and restrictions that tie-in writers
face, because they are tie-in writers themselves. The judges will read all the
submissions in their category and select both the nominees and the winners (a
system patterned after the Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller
Writers, and the Private Eye Writers of America, among others).
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Rules for Submission
  • Authors can submit multiple titles, but only ONE BOOK PER CATEGORY/ONE CATEGORY PER
         BOOK (i.e. you can’t submit the same book in two different categories or multiple titles in one category. Authors who’ve done several books in any one category need to pick the one title that seems strongest and submit only that).
  • Only authors can  submit their books for consideration but we encourage you to have your
         editors/publishers send the actual books on your behalf so you don’t have to raid your author’s copies or pay the postage.
  • Judges can submit their work, but obviously not in the categories they are judging.
  • The book must be a licensed work published for the first time between Jan 1, 2008 and Dec. 31, 2008. Only books with a copyright date of 2008 will be eligible for consideration. Though novels published through December 31, 2008, are eligible, entrants are required to get copies of eligible work into the hands of the category judges no later than December 1st, to allow adequate time to review the titles. Galleys are acceptable.
  • All entrants MUST include a cover letter with each book. The cover letter must include
         the following information: the Category you are entering, Title of the
         Book, Name of the Author, Publication Date, Editor & Publisher, and
         email & "snailmail" addresses and phone numbers for the  author and editor.
  • A copy of all submissions—the book and cover letter—should be sent to each judge in the category you are  entering and to the IAMTW. Please send an email to tieinwriters@yahoo.com for the list of  judges and their mailing addresses. IAMTW members can find the list in the MEMBERS  ONLY section of the IAMTW site.
  • Submission is free for any IAMTW member. Non-members must pay a $10 fee for each submission to cover our costs (payable via Paypal or by check to IAMTW, PO  Box 8212, Calabasas, CA 91372).
  • A list of all  the books submitted will be posted on the IAMTW site and updated regularly. The
         nominees will be announced, to entrants and the media, in March 2009. The Scribes  will be awarded in July 2009 at a location and date TBD.

The Edgars

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P5010027
One of the great things about the Edgars, besides meeting so many terrific authors, is all the free books you get when the ceremony is over. I just lugged up to my room two bulging bags of books to send back home. But you don’t want to hear about that, you want to hear about the Awards…

Well, as Edgar chair, I’ve known who the winners are for a while now and I nearly bit off my tongue not leaking the news to Tana French and Susan Straight that they were winners when I met them at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books last weekend. Also Matt Nix, executive producer of BURN NOTICE, won as well…news that my brother Tod (who is writing the BURN NOTICE books) and my publisher Kristen Weber (who is publishing the BURN NOTICE books) would have loved to have known in advance. That’s Tana and Matt in the photo to the left and the Southern California contingent of MWA in the photo to the right…P5010025_2
Jim Warren, Naomi Hirahara, Leslie Klinger, Pat Smiley, Doug Lyle, Deborah  Atkinson and yours truly.

Al Roker was a funny host, and he even said "fuck" a few times, which is kind of weird to hear coming from him. As a number of people noted, he was like a thinner, blacker, Tod Goldberg.  I sat with my agent Gina Maccoby and my publisher, which is always nice, and I did a lot of schmoozing before the event, though I was too tired to hang out in the bar afterwards.

Galleycat’s Ron Hogan has posted more pictures from the pre-Edgars reception here.

A complete list of winners follows after the jump.

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