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?