Saturday was an interesting day for me. Our latest author, Stephen Goldman, scheduled a reading/signing for his opus The Canon of the Lone Ranger. This books is a collection of poetry and prose exploring one man's life through pop fiction and historical icons. Sounds literary but it is very accessible and extremely funny. Here's the bit that made me want to publish it.
The silver mine is running low, and late in life the Lone Ranger applies for a job. The ad reads:
WANTED
Masked rider of the plains, capable of returning with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear, proficiency with exotic, expensive side-arms a must, able to work in a multi-ethnic partnership setting, activist with a strong commitment to truth, justice and the American Way. Must provide own magnificent white stallion w/ insurance. Bi-lingual and computer literate a plus.
After the interview, the Lone Ranger receives the following letter:
Dear Mr. Ranger:
Thank you for your interest in our organization. Although superbly qualified in your job skills, we regretfully inform you that, after due deliberation, nay, prayerful soul-searching, we have selected from the excellent pool of applicants, someone more exactly suited to our needs as stated in the advertisements and job-description. Thank you again for your interest, and best wishes to you in your puling and pathetic efforts to survive.
Yours truly,
I.M.Ashmuk
I.M. Ashmuk
Exec. Vice President for Personnel
AMERICORP-VERY LTD.
cc: Wotan A. Soul
Recruitment Director
It is a funny, twisted and very witty book. Marie and I wanted to broaden our support of the writing community in LA, and Stephen has quite a following. Thus, began a wild ride. Such wonderfully twisted writing tends to come from a writer with a very ...interesting personality. We should have expected that. However, since the book was 30 years in the making, I thought the need to publish would mitigate any problems the writer had with cover art restrictions and editing concerns. Ha! The months it took for this book to be produce were extremely trying. The deal nearly fell apart on several occasions. Tempers were so hot that I had forgotten why I liked the book.
Marie stepped in and mediated, cajoled, and pleaded the book through the final stages. This meant sitting with Jon and calmly going through the various editing issues while plying me with wine or martinis to keep me from remembering that I was on a seething vat of anger and resentment. While all of this was raging, I was foolishly trying to mount three films. Laura's latest book was also in the final throes of creation. During the last week of editing Stephen's book, I was ready to dissolve the publishing company. And this was before our latest PC meltdown.
Fortunately, calmer heads prevailed (and those were some good martinis). The book got made and all were pleased with the results. We were all weary though. Thus, Jon, Marie and I approached the signing with a bit of trepidation.
It was quite an event. Marie and Stephen and a man named Betto (did you know that Betto is the most common nickname in the world. It's short for Roberto and covers Spanish, French and Italian versions) brought bunches of food and wine. Jon and I helped with the set up. The spread was very nice. The crowd was great. it was a mix of aging flower children, hippies and young beatnik wannabees. All of them loved our author and they all had high praise for the book -- especially the cover. Since the cover was one of the near deal breakers, it was a relief to see that Jon's design sense was validated. We sold almost every copy we had -- our biggest single day sales to date. And Stephen has two more signings! At that moment, I was reminded of my favorite signing event. It was with Toni Morrison. She was wonderful. The crowd was wonderful. That was a moment I hoped to live for myself as a writer.
But then came the introductions and thanks by Stephen. He heaped praise upon the three of us while acknowledging how difficult he had been. And then he said that this was his first book ever published and he was in his sixties. It struck me then what had been done and why there was so much turmoil around the creation of that title. We had his life's work in our hands. I was floored that he was ever able to rise above his worry and misgivings to trust us. I was very glad that we managed to pull it off.
As we were applauded, I realized that we were really publishers. It's scary to think of taking on someone's dreams of creative fulfillment. It was even scarier to realize we'd been outed as publishers in a room full of writers. Kidding. It was an amazing day. I'm not sure what this will mean for next year's list of titles. This realization underscores the fact that we have to be able to focus on our authors while a title is being produced. As we're all distracted by other projects, I believe we'll take fewer titles next year and really work on nurturing and promoting them. Marie and I have our eye on a few already. But all that is for later. Right now, I'm happy in basking in the success.
