Chapter 79.1: But What Publishers Really Want to Do Is Direct

An article in the New York Times about a month ago noted an interesting development in film and book publishing. For years, book publishers weren't getting much if any of the Hollywood rights when books went to film. Now Simon & Schuster is getting a piece of the movie pie.

The book publisher now has a deal with a Hollywood management company, the Gotham Group, which seems to put the movie and book rights in the same hands. All I have to go on here is this article, but it seems that S&S is putting itself in a very risky position. How many of their books can honestly be expected to produce profitable films? And is Hollywood's notorious accounting going to wreck havoc on one of the world's largest book publishers?

I could well be naive, but I can't imagine this "end-in-mind" deal is in place for all its Young Adult books. Indeed, the article suggests that whether a book gets made into a film will now be decided well ahead of the game.

So what does this mean for people who want to option the rights to books? Will there be fewer books that get made into films? (Doubtful.) Will it be more expensive to acquire film rights for independent filmmakers? (Somehow, I don't think most indies are going after the same books as S&S and other major publishers.) And will the writer get more out of this? That's really what I want to know.

Somehow, I doubt the poor schlub writer will come out of this with much more money.

Chapter 75.6: Making Progress

Inspired by a conversation with my brother this weekend and encouraged by miserable Sunday weather, I returned to the revisions of my novel -- untouched for nearly two months but very much in my mind. While it may be difficult for me to meet my self-imposed April 30th deadline for making my changes, I feel fairly certain that I'll be able to meet my other deadline of reaching out to agents before the end of May.

If you're on a New Jersey Transit train at the end of the work day and see a guy tapping away on his computer, it may be me.

Chapter 75.1: All Right, Already!

I swear, ever since my birthday I've had odd little reminders that it's time for me to seriously pursue my intended career writing fiction. There's the aforementioned receipt of an Irish-American encyclopedia that includes three pieces I wrote. Then there were other reminders that popped up about an editor I've worked with in the past and a profile subject who contacted me about her upcoming book signing.

The writer, who I'll interview this weekend, writes historical fiction set during the American Revolution. I've interviewed her before and she's been a wonderful resource for marketing materials that I might use as a template for my own novels. More importantly, she loves the era she writes about and there's nothing better than interviewing people who really has a passion for what they do.

Then I ended up sitting on the train next to a lawyer who's written a novel and is working on his second and is also shopping a screenplay that he wrote with his brother. He and I chatted a bit about finding agents [he has one that he found via a client], our mutual love of writing and our particular ways of writing -- he compiles entire folders, like case briefs, of characters, for example -- as his client [who looked guilty to me] listened inattentively.

But my point is that I feel like there's been an element of divine intervention involved in the scant days since my birthday: a reminder that the window of opportunity for my becoming a published novelist of not just one but several books is starting to close. Intuitively, I know that it doesn't happen without my putting the time in. I've written the book. People have read it, enjoyed it, and suggested ways to make it better. I've made lots of edits to improve it. It's almost ready. But I need to start shopping it around. Soon.

I'm reminded of that joke about the guy who's drowning and several boats come by and offer help, but the guy keeps saying: "No, God will save me." I think I've gotten the message.

Chapter 75: A Decade of Publishing?

While I was home yesterday, enjoying a planned, post-birthday day off, an unexpected package arrived. I didn't recognize the sender, which was based in Michigan, and I assumed it was a birthday gift that someone had neglected to mention.

But when I opened the box, I realized that this was something different -- albeit not at all inappropriate for the time. Inside, tucked within poppable blister wrap, was Ireland and the Americas, the three-volume encyclopedia of all things Irish-American. Aside from arriving the day after St. Patrick's Day, why is this significant? Because three of the entries were written by me!

While it often takes years between a finished draft and actual publication of a novel, that is certainly the case with encyclopedias, which need to be fact-checked and carefully scrutinized. After all, they'll sit on library shelves for decades. I wrote these entries at least three years ago -- it may have even been in late 2004.

I was originally asked to write about the Irish-American influence on baseball. For those who aren't aware, Irish Americans (and several American Irish) were the first superstars of baseball. Michael "King" Kelly was once the wealthiest player in the game (making less than what many of today's superstars make per inning), and there was a reason why it was Mighty Casey who was playing for Mudville in Ernest Thayer's famous poem. It's the same reason "Flynn preceded Casey, as did also Jimmy Blake." These guys were Irish.

Alas, Mighty Casey eventually struck out, but not before the Irish Americans started to dominate the managerial ranks. I wrote another entry about Irish-American managers, and one about Ned Hanlon. Hanlon was both a successful manager and credited with several innovations that fans take for granted today. I offered to write about Hanlon's proteges, John McGraw and Connie Mack, but they were already written.

But back to my original point, this has been a wonderful week already. I've marked another decade of life with a newly published work, and before the next ten years are out I hopefully will have a couple novels published. And soon the 2008 baseball season will begin. I can hardly wait!

Chapter 67: The Rest Is Academic

Yes, that title line is supposed to be a joke. I finished the book earlier today, though I have discovered in some skimming that I still have a bunch of smaller tweaks to make still. Tomorrow, after a hearty jog, I'll devote as much of the day as possible to reading it full through. I know there'll be some word changes to make, and I want to make sure my town names remain consistent (aside from Hoboken and New York City, I decided to fictionalize the other towns I mention, though they're based on places I know -- some of the cities have been combined for the sake of convenience.)

Of course, I still don't have an agent, much less a publisher. I'm confident that the right opportunities will arise.