#1 New York Times Bestselling Author & TV Producer
"We Ho" is probably an apt way to describe what we Goldberg siblings do to sell our books but, in this case, Weho refers to the West Hollywood Book Fair, which we attended last Sunday. Mark Sarvas over at the Elegant Variation took the photo on the left and writes about his favorite panels of the day. That’s me, Karen, Stacy Bierlein (moderator), Tod, and Linda. You can click on the image to get a large image and see all of my chins.
Victoria Strauss, a crusader against publishing scams, is warning aspiring writers to be wary of The Sobol Award contest. She writes, in part:
[…]the contest is being run by an
organization that apparently will eventually transform itself into a
literary agency, it is, in effect, a reading fee (according to the
contest rules, literary representation isn’t limited to the 10
winners–offers can be extended to semi-finalists).[…]This is tantamount to signing with a literary agent whose background
you haven’t checked or aren’t able to research, and, in my view, is the
main argument for avoiding the contest.Also, I’d never
advise a writer to pay $85 even for a contest of proven, unimpeachable
reputation.
Good advice. If you were to ask me, I’d say save your money and submit your manuscript instead to an established literary agency or reputable publisher that doesn’t charge you anything to read your work.
(Thanks to Tari Akpodiete for the heads up)
Variety reports that Francis Ford Coppola is developing a TV series version of his classic movie THE CONVERSATION for ABC. The pilot will be written by Christopher McQuarrie ("The Usual Suspects") and Erik Jendresen ("Band of Brothers").
Released in 1974, between Coppola’s first two
"Godfather" pics, "The Conversation" is a sparse thriller featuring
Gene Hackman as master of electronic surveillance Harry Caul.McQuarrie
and Jendresen plan to set the TV version in the present day, with Caul
now equally adept at digital spying and traditional audio surveillance.Skein
will feature close-ended stories, with Caul reluctantly taking on cases
in order to help people deserving of assistance. But there’ll also be
an ongoing storyline since, as in the movie, Caul will be a man under
constant observation by various government agencies due to a secret
conversation he’s recorded.
This is not the first time this has been attempted. Back in 1995, Oscar-winning screenwriter Ron Bass wrote a pilot based on THE CONVERSATION for NBC that starred Kyle MacLachlan in the Hackman role.
The Wall Street Journal takes a look at fanfic writers who have made the leap to the mainstream.
Fan fiction, stories by amateur writers about characters from their
favorite books, movies and television shows, was once mainly a fringe
pursuit. Now, it’s changing the world of fiction, as Internet exposure
helps unknown authors find mainstream success. Some Web sites are
attracting unprecedented numbers of readers and, in some cases, leading
to book deals…There’s a librarian in Rathdrum, Idaho, who spent 10 years posting her
writings about a character from Jane Austen’s "Pride and Prejudice"
online; Simon & Schuster paid her a $150,000 advance to publish the
works as a three-novel trilogy. In Brooklyn, N.Y., a free-lance copy
editor has become one of the Web’s best-known "Lord of the Rings" and
"Harry Potter" fan-fiction writers, and has landed a three-book
publishing deal for a young-adult fantasy series.
Fanficcers are changing the world of fiction? This I had to read. Unfortunately, the reporter relies more on hyperbole than fact. To support his pronouncement, he chronicles two writers in specific, a Potter-ficcer who has sold a book to "Frank Fradella, an author running his own small independent
book-publishing company, New Babel Books" and a guy who landed a literary agent thanks to his submissions to an officially-sanction "L Word" fanfic contest. That’s, um, hardly rocking the foundations of publishing and broadcast media. (New Babel Books has published six books to date — four of them written by the publisher himself).
More interesting to me was the reporter’s discussion of FanLib, a company that’s trying to mainstream fanfic for promotional use. They are the one who staged THE L WORD competition and they have a new one coming with Harper Collins.
FanLib recently launched a romance-writing contest
with HarperCollins’s Avon imprint. "We’re looking for ways to reach the
real core readers," says Liate Stehlik, Avon’s senior vice president
and publisher. To avoid copyright problems, they had writers create
chapters of a novel from scratch, instead of basing them on one
particular book.
What I don’t get about this contest is that readers are being asked to write original work, not something based on someone else’s character. So what’s the fanfic connection? From what I can tell, there isn’t any. And in the L WORD contest, writers were given scenarios by a writer/producer on the show…and the winner would be writing with someone on the show… thus site-stepping the fanfic issue altogether. It seems to me that FanLib is only interested in exploiting fanficcers under the pretense of supporting fanfic…which, in fact, they aren’t actually doing at all.
Your thoughts?
(Thanks to Kete for the heads-up on the WSJ article!)
Who says this blog isn’t doing important work? Thanks to me, author Eric Stone has discovered the Naked Bookseller of Quartzsite, AZ.
I got this email today:
Dear GoldbergMy name is Charles Kobenan a Banker and
accountant with BIAO BANK Abidjan.I am the personal accounts manager to
Engr Lake Goldberg a National of your country, who used to work with an
oil servicing company here in Cote Ivoire.My client, his wife,
and their three children were involved in the ill fated Kenya Airways
crash in the coasts of Abidjan in January 2000 in which all passengers
on board died. Since then I have made several inquiries to your embassy
to locate any of my clients extended relatives but thas been
unsuccessful.After several unsuccessful attempts, I decided to trace
his last name over the internet,to see if I could locate any member of
his family hence I contacted you.Of particular interest is
this huge deposit with our bank here in,where the deceased has an
account valued at about ($16 million US dollars).They have issued me a
notice to pro vide the next of kin or the bank will declare the account
unservisable and thereby send the funds to the bank treasury.Since I
have been unsuccessful in locating the relatives for over last 6years
now, I will seek your consent to present you as the next of kin of the
deceased since you have the same last names, so that the proceeds of
this account valued at ($16million US dollars) can be paid to you and
then you and I can share the money.All
I require is your honest cooperation to enable us see this deal
through.I guarantee that this will be executed under all legitimate
arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law. In your
reply mail, I want you to give me your full names, address, date of
birth, telephone and fax numbers.If you can handle this with me, reach
me now for more details.Thanking you for your anticipated cooperation.
Sincerely,
This sounds like a terrific idea idea to me. I am going to send him whatever he wants, especially my checking account and social security numbers if he asks for them, because this legitimate opportunity to get rich is just too good to pass up. This is my lucky day!
My brother Tod, while hyping our appearance this coming Sunday at the West Hollywood Book Festival, observes:
Other than Evel and Robbie Knievel, I have to believe the family with
the greatest genetic disposition toward one career must be mine.
Between just the four Goldberg siblings alone, we have something like
30 books. Now, granted, Lee has written about 25 of them, but he is
significantly older.
He’s only scratching the surface. My mother Jan Curran was a feature writer for the Palm Springs Desert Sun (among other newspapers), my father Alan Goldberg was a TV anchorman on KPIX (which, back in the day, actually involved some newswriting), my Uncle Burl Barer is writes true crime books (as well as the Edgar Award winning ‘The Saint: A Complete History"), my cousin Sam Barer is an auto industry columnist, and my great-cousin (I’m not sure that’s what he is…what would the son of my grandmother’s brother-in-law be??) David Zarkin was a newspaper reporter. I know I’m leaving some writerly family members out (I think that my grandmother’s brother may have written for Look magazine and know I have a distant cousin who writes for the New York Times). And most of them…at least the ones who are still living…have blogs, many of which you can find listed on the column to the left.
So, yeah, writing is definitely in our blood. Then again, so are the furniture, pelt, and scrap metal businesses…
My brother Tod just returned from speaking at the East of Eden writers conference in Salinas, California where he had some hilarious encounters with aspiring writers. He lists a few of them on his blog. Here’s a sampling:
3. Number of writers who attempted to present me with velobound manuscripts: 9
4. Number of writers who asked me to write their ideas: 4
5. A conversation with a very nice woman who wanted some advice on her short story:
Woman: I think my short story would make a great musical.
Me: Uh, okay.
Woman: I’ve already written all the lyrics and am adapting it for a movie musical.
Me: What was the last musical you saw?
Woman: Oh, I can’t remember the last time I saw a great musical. They don’t make great musicals anymore.
Me: Then why do you think a movie studio would want to make a musical out of your short story?
Woman: It’s a universal story, I write wonderful songs, it would be
just a great musical. My screenwriting teacher at the junior college
thinks so, too.Me: What kind of movies does your screenwriting teacher make?
Woman: Documentaries and technical films for businesses.
I was a keynote speaker at the same conference a few years ago, shortly after one of the surgeries on my arm. Just before I went on stage, I spilled an entire slice of chocolate cake in my lap. I tried to wash it off and only made myself look like someone with both a severe bladder control problem and irritable bowels. Nothing earns you respect and admiration when you’re standing in front of hundreds of people like a pair of soiled pants.
I got this email today:
My name is Diana. I was wondering if you’ve ever heard of Morgan James Publishing? If so, what do you think?
All it takes is 30 seconds on their site to discover that they are just another vanity
press — you pay them to have your manuscript printed in
book form. A real publisher pays you.
Once your manuscript has been accepted, our professional staff guides
you through the publication process. We don’t charge a huge price for
services, and our costs are clear so you know exactly what you are
getting prior to submitting your manuscript. After publication, we
offer marketing support that helps you find the audience for your book.
What more do you need to know? That says it all. Get out your credit card and you, too, can be a "published author."
I have nothing against small
presses. I’ve been published by small presses (McFarland, Five Star,
etc.) and so have my friends and members of my family.
I do have a something against vanity presses that pretend to be
something they aren’t to hoodwink aspiring writers out of their cash.
I also am very leery of so-called "small presses" created by an
author to publish his own work…at least until his work is far
outnumbered on the company’s list by books written by other authors.
Until then, it’s not a small press but a vanity operation…though
not in the sense that they are charging other authors to get into
print. It’s a vanity press in that it primarily exists to self-publish
one author.
For instance, Jim Michael Hansen self-publishes his LAWS mysteries
under the moniker Dark Sky Publishing. Those are the only books Dark Sky publishes. If tomorrow he publishes a book
by Jane Doe, I don’t think that makes Dark Sky a small press. In my
mind, he becomes a small press when the business clearly shifts from
being primarily geared towards selling his own work to editing, publishing, and distributing the work
of other writers (and paying them royalties).
On the other hand, Uglytown is an example of a local, small press that was started to serve the needs of
its author/founders and grew to become a legitimate and respected imprint
(which, sadly, is no longer in business).
Hard Case Crime began by publishing the work of its author/founders Charles Ardai and Max Phillips and
has grown to become a highly-acclaimed, respected, and exciting small press with
authors like Lawrence Block, Stephen King, and Ed McBain among their large list of titles.
New Babel Books was apparently established by author Frank Fradella to
publish his own books. Four of the six titles listed on the site
are his own. The company’s FAQ reads:
Meaning, it seems, that Frank couldn’t sell his projects to any traditional publishers so he published them himself. Now he’s publishing books by two others (what’s not clear to me from the site is whether his books are P.O.D or not… I suspect that they are). The company’s mission statement reads, in part:
Not surprisingly, his four books, which make up the bulk of his "list," managed to make it through his own rigorous process…and will probably continue to do so.
None of that means that New Babel Books won’t become a legitimate small press, but I wouldn’t call them one now.