The best laid plans of mice and men PART 1

While I’ve been researching the story of Carl Denham and his “Eighth Wonder of the World” since long before Peter Jackson’s KING KONG remake was announced -- and James Mansfield’s chance discovery of long-lost Denham footage and images at Villa Maisonneuve in France certainly occurred with no forethought of a 2005 “King Kong marketing blitz” -- it’s a sad fact that the world of publishing looks for tie-ins almost above all else.

The EIGHTH WONDER book had been scheduled for November release by Carroll & Graf, an imprint of Avalon Publishing Group. They were particularly interested in slightly preceding the Peter Jackson KONG film (especially since Jackson is featured in Mansfield’s EIGHTH WONDER documentary and he contributed a cover blurb to my book). Though I was sympathetic to Avalon’s situation (the publishing business is a nightmare), this attitude made me uneasy from the start. No one likes to see something they’ve worked on for many years regarded as a simple tie-in that seemingly has little value to the publisher on its own. Also, I’m savvy enough about marketing to know that a flood of Universal-licensed KONG film tie-in books would come out in November as well, and these books would get paid placements on display tables in the big chain stores. How would people find EIGHTH WONDER when faced with so many choices? Would they understand that the book is nonfiction?

I’m also reminded of the questions asked by so many publishers regarding EIGHTH WONDER: “Do people remember who Carl Denham was?” Perhaps they do not - - that’s part of the point of the book - - but they surely will know his fictional doppelganger very, very well after Jackson’s KING KONG has been in theaters for a while. It seemed to me that we’d do better coming out in early ’06; still in the wake of Universal huge KONG marketing push (the DVD release), but in a space of our own.

All of these second-guesses were rendered moot when it became clear that the restoration of footage found at Villa Maisonneuve would take longer than originally thought. This is actually good news, as the delay consists principally of shifting to a series of brand new technologies developed mere months ago that may make it possible to recover much, much more than we’d ever hoped. It’s enormously expensive and very time-consuming, but the short-term results we’re seeing are spectacular.

While Mansfield and I - - indeed, the entire Denham Restoration Project staff - - are excited about this turn of events, my publisher was not. They need a book on November, and strongly suggested I alter my material to reflect what we have in hand as of August 1, which would be the necessary deadline for a November release.

I can’t blame them. They sold it to their sales staff and reps as a November ’05 book, and the tie-in to Jackson’s film, whether I liked it or not, slowly but surely became utterly intrinsic to EIGHTH WONDER’s value as far as they were concerned. When I had to notify them about the possible delay - - mere days before Book Expo, and after their catalog had already been printed - - Avalon pulled no punches: It’s November or nothing.

So, sometimes a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do: the book is no longer at Avalon Publishing.

Coming in Part 2: What Next?

Sustainable energy source could solve Bermuda Triangle riddle

From the article:

One theory now suggests that when the covering of "methane ice" which exists over much of the seabed of the Bermuda Triangle becomes unstable; this causes instability of the sea and an explosive mixture of air and methane above. Any ships or planes travelling over the area could sink or catch fire.

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Orson Welles' The Mercury Theatre on the Air on the Internet

It’s long been whispered among “those who know” in Hollywood that Orson Welles—a self-described Denham Explores fan from childhood —got much of the more audacious Hearst-related material in Citizen Kane past the powers-that-be because he agreed to cut a single scene that was scripted, storyboarded and designed for the film but never shot.

The sequence in question was to take place at Kane’s sprawling Florida estate, Xanadu, and it contained a fairly disposable bit of dialogue between the powerful millionaire and his bored second wife, Susan Alexander (representing Hearst’s lover, actress Marion Davies). It’s an outdoor scene designed, like the rest of the picture, to be shot on an enclosed soundstage, ostensibly created in order to illustrate Charles Foster Kane’s love of exotic animals and willingness to spend extravagant amounts of money on them and their comfort—all the while maintaining their captivity, of course, reflecting his treatment of the failed singer, Susan. The couple are regarding Kane’s latest prize; a giant ape-like creature sitting blissfully behind a wall and moat, which enclose dozens of acres of the sprawling grounds to form a habitat.

Welles would make hay of this bait-and-switch much later in his life, when he was no longer a viable creative force in town and was for all intents and purposes a professional cocktail party raconteur. “Do you think they would have let me leave ‘rosebud’ in there, with all of its innuendo, if I didn’t agree to pull out something even more embarrassing?” he would ask in conspiratorial low tones. People loved that story; it seemed so very “inside,” and it added another layer to the legend. Hearst's aborted (but apparently earnest) offer to buy Denham's beast - - the details of which were thoroughly quashed after the opening night disaster to avoid embarrassment - - greatly amused everyone who held a grudge against "The Chief."

Welles would also refer to Denham and his beast when discussing his Mercury Theater radio production of "The War of the Worlds," citing live radio reports during the beast's short "rampage" as inspiration for the show's faux-news format.

From the site:

The finest radio drama of the 1930’s was The Mercury Theatre on the Air, a show featuring the acclaimed New York drama company founded by Orson Welles and John Houseman. In its brief run, it featured an impressive array of talents, including Agnes Moorehead, Bernard Herrmann, and George Coulouris. The show is famous for its notorious "War of the Worlds" broadcast, but the other shows in the series are relatively unknown. This site has many of the surviving shows, and will eventually have all of them.

The show first broadcast on CBS and CBC in July 1938. It ran without a sponsor until December of that year, when it was picked up by Campbell’s Soup and renamed The Campbell Playhouse. All of the surviving Mercury Theatre shows are available from this page in RealAudio format (some are also in MP3 format). There are several Campbell Playhouse episodes available here as well, in both RealAudio and MP3 formats; the rest are being added gradually.

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Book Expo

Every year at this time publishers get together in rows of booths at an enormous convention center in Chicago, Los Angeles, or, as is the case this year, New York to show the trade and media what's coming out in the season ahead. It can be tons of fun; lots of free books, and chances are you'll see a half-dozen celebrities of various magnatudes (I had a three year streak of almost stepping on Dr. Ruth).

As an author, if you can't get to the show (I've got a book to finish!) it's up to the publisher to promote your upcoming book to whatever extent they feel appropriate. Let's spy on my publisher: If you get to the Book Expo and visit the Avalon Publishing booth, drop me a line and let me know how EIGHTH WONDER is faring.