AOL Chat 2/16/98

This is the record of a "meet the author" conference on America On Line in the Writers Relief area.

DONSSu: Okay - Keith would you just briefly tell us about your current project - or make any comments you would like to and we'll start the Q&A

Note On: Okay. Well, I'm not sure which one counts as "current"...

Note On: My first suspense novel (with funny parts), SHOW CONTROL, is the only one now in stores...

Note On: it was published by Write Way, a small press in Colorado...

Note On: The second -- same characters -- will be out from Walker & Co. in August. It's called COFFIN'S GOT THE DEAD GUY ON THE INSIDE, which is the punchline to an old musicians' joke: What's the difference between a cello and a coffin?

ELEANDER: Is Walker also a "small press?"

Note On: No, Walker is not a small press. They are small compared to Simon and Schuster, but...

RVaug0575: Walker is big on getting books in librarys...pretty good company, actually

Note On: they are well known and respected among the "majors." They do nonfiction and mystery. And I'm about 6000 words into #3, which has only a tentative title right now.

JohnMarco: Can SHOW be purchased on line, keith? Amazon, and such?

Note On: Yes, Amazon has it. And if you access the Amazon page from my site and then buy the book, I get a buck, thus doubling my royalty. :)

DONSSu: LOL

JohnMarco: Great. will make purchase tomorrow. Thanks.

Note On: Not that I'd hint.

RVaug0575: Wow...is that true for everyone?

Note On: RV, no Write Way is a small press with different rules.

Note On: Or... what are you asking?

Note On: Hope you like it, John.

RVaug0575: think you probably answered it

Note On: OK

JohnMarco: Im sure I will.

DONSSu: How did you connect with Write Way Keith - through an Agetn or directly?

Note On: The link to Amazon is on my SHOW CONTROL page, BTW.

JohnMarco: Yes, noted.

Note On: Funny you should ask that. I connected with Write Way and sold SHOW CONTROL in an unusual way. I'm still unagented (which I do not recommend)...

Note On: I had a finished ms. and didn't know what to do with it. I asked the few writers I knew online about the ABA show, which was coming up in L.A. I asked whether it was a good place to sell a book. The answer was an unambiguous no: Do not go to the ABA show as a writer. You will just annoy people. It's for publishers and booksellers...

MaryCP: (that can't mean "American Bar Association".....?)

Note On: American Booksellers Association...

RVaug0575: American Booksellers Associatioin

MaryCP: oh!ok

Note On: So I decided to go. The ABA show was at that time closed to the public, so I volunteered as booth help. Then I talked to every publisher with the word MYSTERY in their brochure blurb. (I didn't yet know that I wrote suspense, not mystery). I pitched directly to editors, and ended up with a dozen ms. requests. I sent the mss out right after the show was done, and got 11 personal rejections and a contract offer from Write Way. ga

DONSSu: ga Dick

RVaug0575: Two things 1)That is the kind of initiative that I reccommend, highly to potential writers...good for you...and 2)Walker is a respected enough company that if you really wanted an agent...you can probably get one now fairly easily.

Note On: Yes, I've already had agent offers. None was right.

ELEANDER: you have someone representing foreign rights etc?

Note On: No, I do not. I do need an agent at this point. (I sold my second book to Walker also unagented.)

RVaug0575: in fact, I admire and respect you for that, as well

Note On: Thank you, RV.

DONSSu: agreed

DONSSu: Keith do you have an on going series with teh characters?

Note On: If anyone's interested, by the way, the story of that sale is in my most recent newsletter. Email me your snailmail address if you're interestd. ga

Note On: I seem to, Don. :)

ELEANDER: Usualy writers roam around ABA like lost souls LOL

Note On: EL, I go to the NAMM show (National Association of Music Merchants) every year. It's like the ABA only about 60 decibels louder, with smoke machines...

RVaug0575: lately there have been fewer editors attend ABA than in the past...but

Note On: The ABA was easy! ga

MaryCP: HA

DZStone: (ya got balls, note )

ELEANDER: Ha!

DONSSu: LOL

RVaug0575: it is still an exciting place to see...I've done about 12 of them.

ELEANDER: one was ebnough for me

Note On: It turns out I'm good at trade shows. [shrug]

RVaug0575: And it is difficult to get in as a writer...though you can generally get a floor pass from your publisher, or...if unpublished....from a local bookstore

Note On: Yes. Or you can do like I did, and find someone who needs help at their booth.

RVaug0575: that you are friendly with. ONce...I phonied up press credentials

RVaug0575: and got in free

Note On: The main thing is just not to try to figure it all out in advance. Finish your book and then try brute force and ignorance.

DONSSu: LOL

Tallon Jke: Have plenty of both, thanks

RVaug0575: some of the big publishers are coming back this year after a few years absense, so

Note On: Me too, Tallon. :

RVaug0575: I have hopes for it reasserting itself

C0MBATSUTR: <---'s strong suites

Note On: The ABA changed. It's now BookFest or BookThing or BookDeal or something. And it's open to the public, so it has changed in nature.

RVaug0575: Open to the public? When? I didn't go last year...but it wasn't open to public two years

RVaug0575: ago

Note On: RV, I think last year was the big change. It no longer bounces between LA and Chicago, either.

ELEANDER: it was in NY when I went

Note On: The ABA was? Well, then, I obviously have incomplete information.

RVaug0575: it used to be all over...Chicago, NY, New Orleans, Atlanta, Dallas, and I went, twice to LA

ELEANDER: about 5 6 yrs ago

RVaug0575: also, in Miami a couple of years ago but it's now settled in Chicago, hasn't it?

Note On: Yes. But it's not called ABA.

JohnMarco: ?

JohnMarco: Note - why no agents right for you yet?

Note On: John, I think it's a combination of things, both good and bad. One agent simply rubbed me the wrong way. I agonized over the decision not to go with her but my decision was borne out later, when I saw how she flaked out with other writers...

Note On: Another, I just didn't feel right about, but I'm also not sure I'm trusting that, because much of the information I got about her was from disgruntled writers (of which there is no shortage) and I suspect that partly I'm just too picky.

JohnMarco: interesting. I think you need to feel comfortable with decision. Very important relation.

RVaug0575: I've had only 3 agents in 41 years

ELEANDER: you gomma stick with this genre or do u have other plans?

Note On: That's the other thing, RV. I don't want to pick an agent only to change later when my career advances. I want a permanent one.

RVaug0575: sometimes they die, though

JohnMarco: (agreed, keith)

Note On: EL, I'm already sort of playing with the genre. It turns out that my writing fits into the crime fiction niche, but not conventionally (I didn't know I was doing that -- I was just writing). So for now, I don't really feel any of the genre's strictures. So for now, I'm happy within it. If I stop being happy, I'll write something else.

DONSSu: ga DZ

DZStone: a question (for not just Note)...but if Note has sold his own books to pubs...why does he

RVaug0575: do you have a background in that? police...law...family connection....intense interest, ex-con?

DZStone: even need an agent yet...and not just a lawyer to cut the deals?

Note On: RV, no none of the above. Just really liked reading it.

Note On: DZ, because I need someone to negotiate, not just someone to check over the contracts...

DZStone: hey RV...no cutting in line

Note On: A lawyer can tell me if the contract's legal, but a good agent...

DZStone: lawyers negotiate

Note On: can tell me if the percentages are industry standard or better or worse...

DZStone: literary lawyers

Note On: DZ, yes, but they specialize in law. I don't need that.

ELEANDER: little Ive read of yr stuff--youre a natural for foreign sales

ELEANDER: an agent with a good stable of foreign sub-agents

Note On: Thank you, EL! My fear is that I'm too American/slang/idiosyncratic for foreign sales, but I hope you're right and I'm wrong.

Note On: Yes, exactly, EL.

DONSSu: ?

ELEANDER: The american slant is one thing that intrigues foreign readers

DONSSu: How did you handle PR with the Pub - or were you allowed in put into the PR?

Note On: Which, Write Way?

DONSSu: yes

Note On: Write Way is very small, so author participation has to be very strong. I had some bad breaks with SHOW CONTROL. It was not reviewed in any of the usual places Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, and Library Journal. I feel as though I've hand-sold every copy that's been bought. Write Way was very receptive to my ideas. ga

DONSSu: What about with Walker?

Note On: My book with Walker hasn't come out yet, so I have no idea. My editor, Michael Seidman, certainly listens. We'll see where it goes.

RVaug0575: Michael's a great guy

Note On: Yes, we get along great.

Note On: He's touting me as "William Gibson meets Donald Westlake." :) ...

ELEANDER: Wanna talk about where u get yr ideas--what turns u on etc?

Note On: Hmm... Well, when asked "Where do you get your ideas?" I usually answer, "I make them up." Exactly what kind of turn-ons are you talking about? :)

ELEANDER: where yr interests lay

ELEANDER: lie

Note On: Music is my biggest interest. I always considered myself a composer first and a writer second. Then my first book sold. So now I need to put some of that energy into music.

DZStone: just curious as to your age...when you started writing seriously...were you working fulltime when you wrote the first book...

Note On: I'm 31. Yes, I was working full time. It took 3 years to write SHOW CONTROL...b

DZStone: did your mother have hopes that you'd get a real job?

Note On: but I would have written faster had I known it would sell.

ELEANDER: ha!

Canids: LOL

Note On: No, my mother was the one who always encouraged my creativity as a kid. My dad's the one who's glad to have a tangible accomplishment he can point to...

DZStone: (nice to hear that about mom)

Note On: I don't think he ever quite figured out what the hell I was up to.

DZStone: thanks. How long have you been composing Keith

Note On: We inherited a piano when I was 5, so that would be 26 years.

ELEANDER: what kind of music?

RVaug0575: have to go folks...Note...good luck to you

Note On: Thanks, RV.

Note On: EL, right now I'm working on two projects. I'm finishing a short film that I scored called "1 is for Gun," and I'm working on a CD of music for my wife, who is an operatic mezzo-soprano. I've got audio samples up at my site. :)

ELEANDER: hmm wonder if my player wil work

Note On: EL, if it doesn't, please let me know.

MaryCP: Am I remembering that you did Nigerian music of some kind?

Note On: Yes, I played for three years with a West African band in L.A. called Kadara.

MaryCP: ok

Note On: Afrobeat, Afropop, reggae, highlife, etc.

DONSSu: Did you play Piano? or what instrument did you play

Note On: Keyboards. Synthesizers. I don't have an acoustic piano right now.

ELEANDER: Is that what you wrote for yr wife??

Note On: Um... I never know how to describe what I wrote for her...

DONSSu: LOL

Note On: The instrumentation is synthesizers and percussion but there are also simulations of acoustic instruments (strings, piano, etc.) mixed in. The best I could do to describe it is invite you to download some.

ELEANDER: Ill try Note

Note On: If it doesn't work, EL, please let me know. I'll fix it.

ELEANDER: thanks

Note On: In fact, I'd like to invite everyone to my site. It's got book excerpts, audio excerpts, stills from my short films, and a bunch of other junk.

ELEANDER: I think we have a link

Note On: Great. :)

PRoss9: You've added a lot, Note, we met online several months ago!

Note On: Hi, PR. :)

PRoss9: :)

PRoss9: No hobbies,eh? LOL

Note On: That's right, I remember you. You're a pianist.

PRoss9: yep

Note On: Nope, no hobbies. Except maybe this &*%&% online D&D game my supposed friend Blake got me hooked on today. I spent all day killing villagers. Got nothing done, but I did go up 7 levels.

PRoss9: Progress!

Note On: Yah.

DONSSu: Keith have you used teh Internet for your promotion a lot?

Note On: Yes, quite a bit. It's a lot of work for unknown return, but I believe in doing what you can.

ELEANDER: howabout yr book for our circulating library?

Note On: Circulating library?

ELEANDER: WR has a small circulating library of members books etc

Note On: I see! Well, I'm unable to feed myself until I get a check, but after that, I would certainly be interested.

ELEANDER: Just one copy

ELEANDER:

Note On: I have no copies right now, not a one. But I will be getting more...

DONSSu: That';s fine EL - we can get a copy

Note On: after I get a check.

DONSSu: It is in hte stores now isn't it Keith

Note On: Yes.

ELEANDER: hard or soft?

Note On: Hard only. There is no pb deal yet.

DONSSu: Okay - we can certainly promote members by buying it - and we will

Note On: Hit me up in a couple of weeks.

ELEANDER: good deal

Note On: Or I like Don's idea, too. :)

DONSSu: LOL

ELEANDER: Ill buy a copy, Don

DONSSu: We'll do that

DONSSu: Any more questions?

Note On: If you're only going to get one, wait for COFFIN in August. Better book.

DONSSu: Okay - would everyone pelase show you appreciation to Keith

DONSSu: and we will go to open chat with him

Canids: thanks Keith!!!!!!!

PRoss9: YAYAYAYAYAY Keith!!!!!!

ELEANDER: Thanks Keith

Note On: :)

MaryCP: thank you keith, I think this was great!

DONSSu: Thanks Keith for a great evening

Tallon Jke: great hotseat.....Keith!!!!!!!

DONSSu:

Note On: Thank you all for having me! I had a good time.

PRoss9: EL is brewing something.....

PRoss9: I won't be here,either :(

Canids: love it when Jerry brews....

PRoss9: Yeah, it's better than Mocha Java!

Note On: PR, I used to get Frappuccinos every day until I calculated my yearly frappuccino expenses.

PRoss9: Keith, I think AOL needs a themesong, don't you?

Note On: Well, all... I'm supposed to get some money for posessions of which I divested myself for our NY move. So I need to get going. It was great being here.

ELEANDER: Note--NY move??

Note On: Yes, EL, my wife is an opera singer, and NY is where opera is.

ELEANDER: note when?

Note On: She's already there, EL, looking for a job. I'll follow when she's found us an apt.

ELEANDER: going to Met for Madam Butterfly, next week

MaryCP: Keith, I was serious, if you guys are coming through SLC, let me know

ELEANDER: Note--we have WR New Yorkers--if we cabn help--say the word

Note On: Mary, I'm driving all my equipment cross-country, so we shall see.

MaryCP: ok

Note On: EL, at this point, anything's a help. We've given up our apt. here and sold our stuff.. Now it just remains for her to get the job and apartment there.

ELEANDER: How is she looking for apt?

Note On: First she's looking for a job, since no one will rent to her without one. Then she's following up any leads anyone gives her; brokers, etc.

ELEANDER: Note rents are out of hand in Mahattan

Note On: Yes, we know.. And so are the deposits.

ELEANDER: unless yr in the chipps, try brooklyn

Note On: She's looking in Brooklyn and probably also in Hoboken.

ELEANDER: Park Slope is a good place to start

Note On: Yes, Park Slope. But it's all academic until she gets work.

ELEANDER: good luck

Note On: Thank you. I'm sure it will all turn out fine; it's just a little up in the air right now.

ELEANDER: what kind of work?

Note On: Well, diva work first and foremost! But she spent a few years as a production manager at a magazine.

MaryCP: "Help Wanted...Diva"

Note On: Exactly. "Will hit high C for food."

MaryCP: HA

DONSSu: Keith, thanks again for tonight. I need to go. I will make sure you get another run down on hte room activities, and a link <