Year: 2012
[Quick note: if you’re interested in the videos we started here last Wednesday (“A Long Tail Business“), they continue this week—and for the next month—on Mondays. Click here or on “The Series” drop-down menu above to view the other videos.] I imbibed this piece of screenwriting wisdom from Jack Epps (“Top Gun,” “Dick Tracy”) a few years ago: “You can’t do everything in one draft.” Hollywood is like major league baseball. The manager doesn’t hesitate to bring in a reliever. Writer #1 originates the script. He gets fired. Writer #2 is brought in to solidify the structure. She gets yanked.…
Read MoreRemember last week when I wrote that Steve Pressfield’s publishing company, Black Irish Books, had sold 85% of the number of THE WAR OF ARTs that his Big Six publisher had sold per year? A few people who read the piece thought I overstated the viability of book publishing as a long tail business. The gist of their argument was that I was giving short shrift to the advantages of having bookstore placement for THE WAR OF ART and that the loss of 15% of sales in just one year was far more damaging to the long term success of…
Read MoreBreaking in and staying inside corporate book publishing is akin to gaining admission to a select New York cooperative building. Tenants are never issued a rules and regulations handbook, but are required to figure out the “way we do things” and abide nevertheless. If you don’t have the bona fides that indicate you will play by the unspoken rules when you apply, you’ll be declined. And the thing about New York Co-ops, as anyone who has been declined by one or who lives in one currently, is that they never have to give you any reason for rejecting you beyond…
Read MoreI’m aware that there’s an official definition of narcissism in the Psychiatric Handbook. The following is my unofficial definition—and a theory of how narcissism comes about in the first place. Narcissism is self-iconization. To control our internal terror, insecurity, etc., one mode of coping is to erect an icon in our minds. This icon might be a mentor, a role model, a guru. It might be a lover or a parent, a teacher, a coach. I’ve done it. We’ve all done it. Sometimes it’s healthy. It’s a stage in the progression toward independence and self-command. When we set someone up…
Read MoreTo learn more about the individuals being featured in this series, visit Outreach, Part I: The Introduction. “What’s your home base?” is the question that follows “What-do-you-want-to-accomplish?” Where are people going to learn about you? While the answer is Facebook for some, my preference is a blog. In this case, I’m a pessimist. We saw what happened to MySpace. Don’t rely on Facebook’s existence to share your work. Set up a blog. Own it.
Read MoreOne mistake that beginning writers often make is to forget about setups and payoffs. Sometimes they’ll have great setups but no payoffs. Other times they’ll invent a fantastic payoff, but fail utterly to set it up. I used to make those mistakes all the time. I’d kick off Act One of a screenplay with all kinds of provocative premises. Then I’d forget about ’em and fizzle my way to a no-bang climax. Or I’d have a dynamite finish that fell unannounced out of the sky. Think about a joke. It has two parts: a setup and a punch line. A…
Read MoreThis past Tuesday, Simon & Schuster shut down an entire publishing division. The publisher, editor in chief and three additional editors of The Free Press are leaving the company. The other editors and support staff were transferred to the remaining publishing groups—The Simon & Schuster Group, The Scribner Group, The Atria Group and The Gallery Group. What were once five opportunities for a novelist or nonfiction writer to have their work published at the S&S conglomerate are now four. The Free Press will transition into a “backlist” operation, meaning no new acquisitions will be published under that imprint name. Over…
Read MoreWe were talking last week about acquiring mojo, which I defined as that state when we are going gangbusters in our writing, art, or business. It’s “flow.” It’s “the Zone.” The only problem with having Big Mojo, in my experience, is you can’t keep it up for long. I know I can’t. My nervous system can’t take it. Three weeks maybe, four tops. What do I do then? I flake out. Deliberately. I knock off. I get outa Dodge. I take a break. Years ago, I had a small freelance business. I used to get into trouble because I couldn’t…
Read MoreThis series is rooted in the one question I’ve been asked more than any other—Should I hire a publicist?—and my frustration with the many articles I’ve read about how to do outreach campaigns. The articles tend to offer up examples of people with household names, who can rely on monster followings that most people don’t have, to share their new projects—or they are based on general suggestions, without any specific examples. The goal for this series is to share specific examples of what has/hasn’t worked for different individuals, via what they’ve done on their own and what they’ve accomplished through…
Read MoreWe’ve been talking for the past few weeks about thinking in blocks of time, saying no to distractions, and digging in for traction. What’s the point of all this? The point is to produce mojo. According to Wikipedia, mojo is “a magical charm bag used in hoodoo, which has transmuted into a slang word for self-confidence, self-esteem or sex appeal.” Here’s my definition: Mojo is a force field of positive attraction produced by sweat, intention, dedication and love. It’s a groove, a rhythm. It’s “flow.” It’s “the Zone.” Mojo builds up over time. It feeds upon itself. The more mojo…
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