Tallfellow Press Blog

The Tallfellow Blog Has Moved

2005-06-28T11:40:00.000-07:00

Hi folks,

For anyone who may still be arriving here instead of there, please note that the Tallfellow Press Blog has moved to Typepad.

You can find it here:

http://www.tallfellow.typepad.com

Please update your bookmarks! And thank you for stopping by.

Part V of Chris Abbott Interview

2005-05-09T10:00:00.000-07:00

Hey folks. The fifth and final installment of Chris Abbott's interview on Complications Ensue is up. Please stop by and read it if you have the chance... and show your support of the blog by leaving your comments. Thanks!

Part IV of the Chris Abbott Interview

2005-05-06T12:56:00.000-07:00

Man! This site is really giving people their money's worth. Especially considering it's free!

Book Quiz Giveaway

2005-05-05T19:16:00.000-07:00

Check it out! StudentFilmmakers.com is using our book, "Ten Minutes to the Pitch," as part of a newsletter enrollment campaign. Nifty concept.

Part III of the Chris Abbott Interview

2005-05-05T17:51:00.000-07:00

This is a great interview for anyone interested in writing for episodic (one-hour) television -- particularly freelancers looking for tips on how to make a better impression!

Remember, if you like what you're reading, you can get Chris's book, "Ten Minutes to the Pitch," on our site.

Part II of the Chris Abbott Interview

2005-05-04T21:39:00.000-07:00

Here it is, on Complications Ensue. This is a great interview. You can also read more about it here.

Forever Friends Reviewed on a Writers Digest Top 101 Site for Writers

2005-05-03T17:02:00.000-07:00

Oncewritten.com landed in Writer's Digests's Top 101 Sites for Writers this year, and lucky for us, the editor likes Forever Friends.

Another Chris Abbott Q&A: Complications Ensue TV Blog

2005-05-03T14:24:00.000-07:00

The very gracious Alex Epstein, owner of the blog Complications Ensue, agreed to interview the equally gracious Chris Abbott, author of "Ten Minutes to the Pitch". You read the serialized interview (live, over the next several days) here.

Thanks, Alex!

Chris's Q&A on "A Writer's Life" is Live

2005-04-17T14:45:00.000-07:00

Chris Abbott talks to fellow TV writer Lee Goldberg about pitching and about her book. Read it here.

2005-04-14T18:48:00.000-07:00

...And here's Robin Bucci, one of the two winners in the pitch contest. She walked away with a free, autographed copy of "Ten Minutes to the Pitch."

2005-04-14T18:46:00.000-07:00

Here's a rapt audience, entertained by an attendee's pitch...

2005-04-14T18:45:00.000-07:00

Chris Abbott giving some pointers (quite literally!) at The Barnes & Noble at The Grove, April 13.

Pitching at the Grove

2005-04-14T18:37:00.000-07:00

Last night's event at The Grove was a big success with a packed house. A huge thanks to our wonderful panelists and to all the great bloggers and site owners who helped us spread the word: Lee Goldberg, Alex Epstein, Oncewritten.com, and many others.

Thanks also to Jennifer over at Writer's Break for coming down in person to show her support.

We had fun and I think everyone learned something. I'll be posting photos shortly...

Hitting it Big in the Blogosphere

2005-04-09T15:15:00.000-07:00

A well-respected TV writing blog by Alex Epstein, Complications Ensue, is listing next week's event at The Grove.

On top of that, the very kind Mr. Epstein has offered to both interview Chris Abbott on his site and include her (in the form of quotes or excerpts) in his next book.

I should also add that Lee Goldberg, who ran "Diagnosis Murder" before Chris, will also be hosting an interview with her on his blog.

And I've set yet another TV-website appearance up for Chris, though the details aren't finalized yet. That one's for a wider readership -- not just writers, but viewers. I'll post more as soon as I know what's going on.

Thanks, guys! There are so many helpful, friendly folks out there in the blogosphere. It's highly encouraging.

Free Pitchfest on April 13 at The Grove

2005-04-08T16:52:00.000-07:00

Hey folks! Here's the official press release for next Wednesday's event. If you live in the L.A. area or know someone who does, please direct them to this release. This is a great opportunity for writers to learn hands-on how to pitch. It's also a great chance to mingle with some big-time producers.

---------

For Immediate Release:

HOW NOT TO SELL YOUR MOVIE OR TV IDEA

Aspiring writers will find out how to correct some common pitching errors at a Los Angeles book signing event for writer/producer Chris Abbott’s new insider’s guide, “Ten Minutes to the Pitch.” Joining her will be fellow writers Charlie Hauck (Frasier), Tom Schulman (Dead Poets Society) and Eric Tuchman (Early Edition). During the signing, several lucky attendees will have the opportunity to pitch and re-pitch their own ideas to the trio of writers/producers.

LOS ANGELES, CA (PRWEB) April 8, 2005 –- According to 25-year Hollywood veteran Chris Abbott (Magnum P.I., Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, The Bold and the Beautiful), there are three key mistakes new writers make “in the room” when trying to sell their ideas to network and studio executives:

1)They’re in the wrong place
2)They don’t know the people in the room
3)They don’t tell the story they’ve come to tell

On April 13 at 7:30 p.m., Abbott and guests Charlie Hauck (Frasier, Home Improvement), Tom Schulman (Dead Poets Society, What About Bob) and Eric Tuchman (Just Cause, Early Edition), will gather at The Barnes & Noble at The Grove in Los Angeles to redress these problems and share their experiences and advice about what to do in a pitch meeting – and what not to do.

The event will begin with a public, pitch-to-the-camera practice session. Following that, Abbott and her industry guests will select audience members to “pitch” their ideas before she discusses common pitfalls, helpful hints and her new book, "Ten Minutes to the Pitch” (ISBN # 1-931290-56-3, Tallfellow Press). Following the session and Q&A, the same audience members may “re-pitch,” hopefully with newfound knowledge, to the panel. The most improved pitch of the evening will receive a free, autographed copy of Abbott’s book.

Ten Minutes to the Pitch: Your Last-Minute Guide and Checklist for Selling Your Story is the second in Tallfellow Press’s new “Ten Minutes to Success” series of last-minute guides. The first was “Ten Minutes to the Audition,” by actress Janice Lynde.

The Barnes & Noble at The Grove is B & N’s flagship store in Southern California. The address is 180 Grove Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90036.

For more information or to book appearances or interviews with the author, contact Claudia Sloan at Tallfellow Press, (310) 203-3837.

Tallfellow Press is an eclectic publisher located in Los Angeles. Its predecessor, Price Stern Sloan, is best known for publishing the popular word game "Mad Libs," the ever-true "Murphy’s Law" and the melodious "Wee Sing" Series.

CONTACT INFORMATION:
Claudia Sloan
Tallfellow Press
(310) 203-3837, (310) 203-3893 fax
www.Tallfellow.com, www.tallfellow-la.blogspot.com

TV Writer/Producer Endorses "Ten Minutes to the Pitch"

2005-04-08T12:23:00.000-07:00

This is great. Getting the word out... Thanks to Lee Goldberg. His blog is really great, by the way. I'll be adding it to our sidebar soon.

Press Release: Noted TV Writer to Tour This Summer in Support of Her How-to-Pitch Book

2005-04-05T14:05:00.000-07:00

For archival reasons, here's the press release for Chris's spring tour (as of 3/30/05).

Tallfellow Authors at 2005 Festival of Books

2005-04-05T13:56:00.000-07:00

Hey folks. If you're so inclined to check out the L.A. Times Festival of Books -- always a wonderful, informative, and inspiring way to spend a weekend -- please sign up to see our authors talk about movie and TV writing. For more information, go to the Writers Guild Foundation Events page.

The event runs the weekend of April 23.

Breaking in from the Outside: What to Do if You Write Outside of L.A.

2005-04-05T13:25:00.000-07:00

Chris Abbott made a great appearance online last week at The Writers Channel. One of the very useful subjects she covered was concrete advice on how to break into the film industry and get an agent -- even if you don't live in Hollywood.

I can't give away everything she said -- that would be unfair to those who paid to attend that seminar, and future seminars -- but I can provide you an excerpt from the very well-attended and enlightening discussion:

ON GETTING PEOPLE TO SAY "YES" TO YOU:

The main thing, once you're in the room, is to remember that it's a performance. It's sitting around the campfire telling stories. I always try to get the executive to nod "yes" to something. Like -- "Great weather, huh?" Obviously something better than that. But I have this theory that once they're saying "yes"... It'll be easier for them to say "Yes" to your pitch.

If you're interested in finding out more about breaking in, making a great impression, and getting people to say "yes" to you, buy the book... and contact us at 310-203-3837 to help set up an author appearance and seminar in your area or at your school. We love to travel.

How to Write a Tips/Trends Oriented Press Release

2005-03-29T14:08:00.000-08:00

The best way to float your company's name and products into the media without spending any money is to put out press releases.

But there's one little problem: you don't always have a new product or big event to announce.

A possible solution: Find something interesting say. Then say it in a way that relates your information to a current trend or topic of interest. Here's an example.

I'm going to be putting out a Tip release sometime this week. I'll post it here when it's done.

How to Pitch Journalists Over the Phone

2005-03-23T13:59:00.000-08:00

I hate nothing more than making those phone calls, and I'm sure others feel similarly. So here's a link to a good article that offers a script for the kind of things you ought to say.

Forever Friends Voted One of 100 Best Picture Books

2005-03-23T12:58:00.000-08:00

We love Google.

Without it, we'd never know that one of our children's books was voted one of the 100 best children's picture books by the Pikes Peak Library District in Colorado.

Given this fact, don't you think every parent should buy a copy? The soft cover is only $9.95.

Ten Minutes to the Pitch Events

2005-03-15T15:22:00.000-08:00

Spring is here, which means it's the season for author events. Chris Abbott will be reading from her book and taking and critiquing pitches at the following places on the following days:

March 24, 5:00 pm
The Writers Store
2040 Westwood Blvd.
Los Angeles, Ca 90025
800-272-8927

March 30, 6 pm (pacific)
The Writers Channel
Teleseminar
www.Thewriterschannel.net

March 31, 6 - 8 pm
Drama Bookshop
250 W. 40th Street
N.Y., NY
800 322-0595

April 13, 7:30 pm
Barnes and Noble at the Grove
180 Grove Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90036

Scr(i)pt Magazine Review: Ten Minutes to the Pitch

2005-03-14T21:33:00.000-08:00

Check it out!

And the Paper Back is Doing Well Too.

2005-03-10T07:03:00.000-08:00

The paperback Great Failures is at 2,669 on Amazon.

Thanks to Steve, who is relentless in getting behind his books. He's the one who secured the Hannity interview; he's the kind of author publishers dream of signing.

Radio Works: The Hannity Show

2005-03-10T06:59:00.000-08:00

This isn't news to anyone in book sales, but I thought I'd reiterate the point that you really do need to get on radio if at all possible.

Steve Young was on Sean Hannity's show yesterday, and now the hardcover edition of Great Failures of the Extremely Successful is hovering at around 1100 on Amazon.

That means only 1099 books sold more than we did yesterday. Most of those are probably pre-established Best Sellers.

How to Promote Your Children's Book

2005-03-08T12:36:00.000-08:00

Check out Barbara Cohen's article here.

Google News Alerts

2005-03-03T14:07:00.000-08:00

If you're trying to get into the media, you really need to subscribe to Google News Alerts.

Google News Alerts let you subscribe to an as-it-happens, daily, or weekly newsletter digests that send you links to news stories featuring certain keywords you select.

For instance, if -- like me -- you're trying to promote a book on grandparenting, enter keyword "grandparenting" and every news story on the net that mentions "grandparenting" is yours for the picking. National news, local news, internet-based news, major market newspapers and magazines... it's a catch-all for everything, and it's immediate.

Doing this lead me to a motherhood and pregnancy portal that just yesterday published an article about creative ways to break the news to your family that you're pregnant.

One of the article's suggestions was to buy books on grandparenting and give them as gifts. Recognizing an opportunity to mention The Grandfather Thing, I went onto the portal's web site and submitted a pitch for our book via the on-line form. The Editor-in-Chief responded immediately and agreed to run a photo and blurb about our book in a followup story on her html newsletter -- which went out today.

That's right -- less than 24-hour turnaround.

So this is what it feels like to be of-the-moment. It feels pretty good. I'm going to be signing up for more Google News Alerts ASAP.

If you're interested in trying this out, go here to get started.

Author Blog

2005-03-01T15:01:00.000-08:00

Check out Steve Young's new blog.

Chris Abbott at The Writers Store March 24

2005-02-24T15:31:00.000-08:00

Chris will be appearing at The Writers Store in Westwood on March 24 to talk about pitching TV and movie ideas. After that she'll take questions and sign books.

We're not sure yet exactly what topics she'll cover, but I'll post more as soon as I know, and I'll put this event on the calendar.

Here are the details:

Chris Abbott, author of Ten Minutes to the Pitch

at

The Writers Store
2040 Westwood Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90025
(310) 441-5151

March 24 from 5-7 p.m.

Please come by and visit! Chris is a lot of fun and has a great, positive energy. We're looking forward to the event.

And a reminder that all the author's proceeds from the sales of the book benefit the Writers Guild Foundation's Literacy and Libraries programs.

The Grandfather Thing Hits 20,000 on Amazon!

2005-02-23T18:06:00.000-08:00

Wow, I just checked on The Grandfather Thing, and its rank is 20,694 on Amazon.

In publishing parlance, that really rocks. Anything under 40,000 is considered awfully good. This new status could be due to the fact that we excerpted a chapter on the GrandTimes web site for seniors. I'll keep checking in to see if it stays there more than a few days.

While checking the site, I realized that I recently bought 2 of the books that are currently in the Top 25 -- Collapse, by Jared Diamond, which is a 600+ page history/sociology/anthropology book, and French Women Don't Get Fat, which is a diet book.

I first found out about Collapse in The New Yorker, and a couple weeks later, a friend of a friend mentioned hearing Diamond give an interview on NPR. So in this situation, the publicists really worked the intellectual in-crowd, focusing on the "environmental impact" and "how we can learn from history and not repeat it" angle. Diamond's book -- which I haven't started reading yet -- apparently contains moralistic undertones about how we should be giving more thought to long-range land and resource management so that we too don't vanish from the planet.

This book is everywhere you look -- on the radio, in major market magazines, in newspapers -- and I think the key to its success is its alarmist p.o.v. Even the most subtle suggestion that society may self-destruct is one that taps into common fears, fears people will spend $25 in an attempt to ameloriate.

French Women Don't Get Fat first entered my awareness around Christmas, when I was feeling especially chubby. I spotted a feature article in the lifestyle section of the Hartford Courant. I made my mother read it, and then we become obsessed with finding the book.

Diet books are always popular, especially if you can offer a refreshing approach that involves little to no effort on the part of the dieter. This book is unique because it offers promises of chocolate and champagne without exercise. Somehow by the end of the process you should end up looking like Juliette Binoche. Hell, this book doesn't even need a publicity campaign. The word of mouth should be, and probably is, ferocious.

To recap. If you want to sell a lot of books:

1) Pick a controversial topic, then figure out how to tie it into current political policy later;

2) Promise the impossible.

Chris Abbott to Give Talk on Pitching on The Writers Channel, March 30

2005-02-22T16:21:00.000-08:00

If you're interested in joining the site and dropping by Chris's panel, visit the site for more info on registration. I'll post this event to the Tallfellow calendar as well.

TV Writer.com/TV Guide Online Writer Reviews "A Martian Wouldn't Say That!" (!!)

2005-02-22T12:08:00.000-08:00

To see the glowing review, go here and scroll down to the book review. It's a .pdf document.

It's very true that this book should be a basic (and enjoyable to read) primer in the real-world politics of getting your writing produced on network TV. It's also a great behind-the-scenes glimpse as to some of the compromises writers and producers have to make to bring you the content you DO get to see on the tube each week. Imagine, then, all the fantastic, cutting edge material that ends up going through the super-shredder! (Time for another book...)

Press Release: A Dozen Romantic Movie Rentals to Cuddle up With at Home

2005-02-15T17:02:00.000-08:00

Last week we put an article by author Billy Mernit out on the PR newswire. Apparently it's been syndicated all over the place. It'd be nicer if we'd placed it in a newspaper, but who knows -- with the web being as influential as it is, maybe this is better.

Read the full article: "A Dozen Romantic Movie Rentals to Cuddle up With at Home."

A Martian Might Say This...

2005-02-15T16:06:00.000-08:00

Our book A Martian Wouldn't Say That is one of the prizes in the current Write Safe Present-a-Thon for aspiring TV writers.

Forever Friends - an Incentive to Be Humane

2005-02-15T15:34:00.000-08:00

We're very pleased to announce that our softcover children's book, Forever Friends, is being offered by the American Humane Society as an incentive for Humane Action Teams to engage in virtual activism and advocacy on behalf of animals. Here's the link.

Press Release: 10 Minutes to the Pitch

2005-02-15T14:18:00.000-08:00

This release was put out a few weeks ago, but I'm just posting it on the site now.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Pocket-Sized Pitching Coach Hits America's Bookstores

Pedro Martinez. Roger Clemens. Randy Johnson. All have pitching coaches to steer them toward victory. So should every Hollywood writer. Pitching - selling one's story to producers and executives - is the only way to stay in the game.

For those who can't afford a live-in coach to prep them for studio meetings, there's now a portable alternative: Writer and producer Chris Abbott's new book, TEN MINUTES TO THE PITCH: Your Last-Minute Guide and Checklist for Selling Your Story (Tallfellow Press, ISBN #1-931290-56-3, Jan. 2005).

TEN MINUTES TO THE PITCH is the second in Tallfellow's new Ten Minutes to Success series. Written by a Hollywood veteran who has pitched and been pitched to, the book provides invaluable insider advice as
o Turn Off Everything But Your Mind
o Don't Start Pitching Until You're in the Room
o Be Memorable (lacking natural charisma? Turn to page 83)
plus anecdotes from industry pros explaining what to do... and what not to do!

Compact and comprehensive, TEN MINUTES TO THE PITCH comes with a last-minute checklist that prepares writers for that all important moment on the mound, as well as a resource guide to get you in the game. At $12.95 and 4 1/2” wide, it's designed to fit any budget or pocket.

Chris Abbott's career began as a story editor on Little House on the Prairie. She went on to write for, consult on, and produce such shows as Cagney and Lacey, Magnum P.I. and Diagnosis Murder. She lives in Utah with her husband and son and is working on a novel. Her royalties are being donated to the Writer's Guild Foundation's Literacy and Library Programs.

Ten Minutes to the Pitch
By Chris Abbott
ISBN: 1-931290-56-3
120 pages, 4 _” x 7”, $12.95
Softcover, January 2005

Check Out Our Online Calendar

2005-02-15T12:44:00.000-08:00

Your good old-fashioned neighborhood press is getting with the times. We set up our online calendar on Yahoo last year in order to help streamline a busy summer. I've decided to make the calendar public.

Now you can check out the calendar for upcoming events that are open to the public, as well as get a first-hand glimpse into the deadlines we small publishers strive to meet on a daily basis.

I'll also add a permanent link to the calendar our sidebar.

Do you think I've said the phrase "the calendar" enough times?

Failure is All the Rage

2005-02-10T16:57:00.000-08:00

A new book on failure has come out.

In this article, a professor at Georgetown, Michael Kazin, is quoted a saying (I paraphrase) "I don't think anyone's ever written this sort of book before."

But we beg to differ. So I'm hoping our author Steve Young will call this professor and let him know there IS another social history of failure -- Great Failures -- and it's a primary resource -- perfect for future historians.

2005-02-01T18:30:00.000-08:00

Today was a busy day. We're trying to do a Valentine's Day Promotion, part of which involves placing an article our author wrote about romantic movies.

Claudia and I are both hustling pretty hard, and there's a chance we may be getting some media attention as a result. I'll post more when I know for sure.

Remembering

2005-01-27T14:22:00.000-08:00

Today is the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. NPR is doing some great coverage. Check it out.

Covert Iterations

2005-01-27T13:36:00.000-08:00

This blog post came up on my AOL start page today.

I've never seen a more blatant example of covert book marketing. This recent convert to genre literature is going to chronicle the details of her new interest starting tomorrow. I won't be surprised if all of the books she's read are put out by the same publisher -- an up-and-coming romance imprint or independent press, quite possibly specializing in chick lit. (A phrase which I keep mistaking for "Chiclet," as in gum, in casual conversation.)

I'll monitor this and see what happens next...

2005-01-25T11:53:00.000-08:00

This morning on The Today Show, Dr. Mel Levine talked about his new book, Ready or Not, Here Life Comes.

The subject of the book is work-life preparedness -- and how twentysomethings lack it. The book examines why young people in this day and age are so shocked and confused when they exit childhood and enter the working world. More and more young people (and I'm one of them!) live at home for longer periods of time and flounder in a variety of careers before figuring out where in the world they fit.

Something about this book's topic reminded me of Steve Young's book on failure, and made me wonder if there's a natural connection between "work-life preparedness" and learning to benefit from failure and rejection.

It seems to me like adolescence sets children up with a series of very simple trials. You pass a test, you hand in your homework, you make the team, you graduate. For many people, all of these things are relatively easy. Maybe that's why so many of us are so shellshocked when we enter the corporate world. Nothing is quite as cut-and-dry as a Shakespeare quiz.

Perhaps -- just perhaps -- the students who fail out of classes, get cut from the football team and get dumped, repeatedly, by members of the opposite sex are the ones who go on to the greatest successes!

Anyway -- read both books and let me know what you think. Maybe we can design a course where overachieving teenagers are forced to fail, purely from a learning and rejection-preparation standpoint.

Syllabusted!

2005-01-21T16:40:00.000-08:00

This post does little to support the clever title, but here goes:

The Wharton Business School at UPenn is teaching a class in which one of our books, Great Failures of the Extremely Successful (I post about it often), is being used on the syllabus. The class is called The Literature of Success, and it sounds like a great topic to me.

Before Clive Cussler Was a Best-Selling Author...

2005-01-20T18:43:00.000-08:00

...he worked in jobs he hated -- until he was 43. When he finally published something, he received absymal reviews.

And then he went on to sell millions of copies. Now he's living every writer's dream: supporting himself pretty darned well, and entirely through his writing.

The moral of this story: failure isn't the end of anything -- it's just the start of something new. Somebody out there is looking for the precise thing you're able to provide.

For more inspirational stories of this nature, check out Great Failures of the Extremely Successful. If you fail to learn anything, leave us a comment and maybe, just maybe, we'll send you a free book.

Tsunami of P.R. and Profit

2005-01-07T09:58:00.000-08:00

Our author Steve Young (Great Failures of the Extremely Successful) has an article out on how stars are pledging tsunami relief in exchange for instant sainthood. Check it out.

Also, a side note: Steve's book is still on sale. If you order directly through our website, you save 15%.

Another "Write Screenplays" Review

2005-01-07T09:22:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

And I'm pleased to start it off with yet another glowing review of Hal Ackerman's screenwriting book, "Write Screenplays That Sell."

Here's the full text and a link to the review on the original site:

When I was first asked to convert a novel into a screenplay, I believed that novelists had the market cornered on how-to books, but the abundance of screenplay manuals proved me wrong. Like books for the novelist, many are laden with feel-good fluff and advice that becomes outdated before New Year’s Day. Write Screenplays That Sell is an exception. With arresting prose, Ackerman gives the only lesson that is relevant. He breaks down that peculiar yet beloved sub-genre of storytelling known as the screenplay. His lessons are just as useful for the novice as they are for the journeyman who thinks he knows it all. Write Screen Plays That Sell doesn’t explain how to sell a script. That’s a different animal, but with Ackerman’s instructions and a pile of master scripts, the aspiring writer will be well on his way toward production.

-- Christopher Klim, editor Writers Notes Magazine, author Everything Burns

Publicity Tip of the Week: Every Writing Career is a Small Business

2004-12-10T10:32:00.000-08:00

Here's an article from Filmmakers.com that includes a great tip: treat your writing career as a small business.

Publicity, marketing, A BUSINESS PLAN, are all essential to anyone engaging in any sort of industry, be it a solo operation or a mega-conglomerate.

What I like about this article is that it refers readers to a website where they can download a business plan to help them get started.

I also like it because it underscores a message that Hal delivers in his public appearances: every film is a labor of creative love to its writer, but a small business plan to its producer and distributor.

Hal calls this "Making Passion into Product," and that's a good term for it. A certain amount of practicality is necessary for surviving in the arts. Unless you really enjoy chewing on your boots and pretending it's jerky.

And that, friends, is the Publicity Tip of the Week. Have a great weekend!

Publicity Tip of the Week: Multiple Publishers

2004-11-30T14:21:00.000-08:00

Hit up multiple publishers. Here's more info on that, courtesy of Foreward Magazine's online edition:

"Multiple publishers are companies that publish clusters of weekly community papers. Liberally scattered throughout the United States, multiple publishers vary in size, some churning out as many as two to three dozen neighborhood weeklies. One of my best-kept secrets has been how to use multiple publishers to jump-start p.r. campaigns," relates Blanco in her book THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO BOOK PUBLICITY (Allworth Press).

Typically, a multiple publisher will print a separate, regionalized edition of the same weekly paper for each individual suburb in its territory. If you are able to secure an author interview with a multiple publisher, which Blanco assures us is a cinch now that you are an "Award-winning" author/publisher, that article is likely to appear in every edition they issue. If you live near a multiple publisher in a bigger metropolitan area, the effects could be amazing. And given the nature of the newspaper business and conglomeration-even smaller regions have great potential to create momentum for notoriety and tremendous sales. Go to the library and/or surf the net to find the multiple publisher in your area."

Ten Minutes to the Audition Updates

2004-11-18T15:45:00.000-08:00

Good things are happening! We're getting positive buzz on the book. Here's a run-down of recent developments:

1) Judy Kerr (author of Acting is Everything) loves 10 MINUTES TO THE AUDITION and is putting it in her daily email next week. She's also taking it to the Actor Fest in New York this weekend and is adding it to her website.

2) ON SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 21, Janice will be interviewed on KLSX's (97.1) "Sunday Edition" radio show. If you live in L.A., please tune your dial to it!

3) ON MONDAY, NOVEMBER 22, Soaptalk is due to air an interview with Janice three times: at 8 a.m., 8 p.m. and 11 p.m.

4) SoaptownUSA.com will run an article/interview on Janice starting November 25. It will be a front page special feature piece. They will also offer a few books as a prize giveaway.

Keep an eye out!

We'll Never Be Young Again Letters at SDSU

2004-11-18T14:29:00.000-08:00

Now through January 28 you can see the original letters that comprise our book We'll Never Be Young Again. They'll be on display at the San Diego State University library. I'll add the press release to the sidebar...

How to Work with Your Publisher

2004-11-12T10:28:00.000-08:00

There's an excellent article in the Nov./Dec. issue of Poets & Writers in which the current predicament of book marketing is outlined in detail. The basic gist: even the big houses have no time or money to sell an author's book for him/her.

The bottom line is that in today's world, a writer who wants to be successful needs to switch roles once her book has been picked up for publication. Self-promotion and aggressive internet marketing are key. None of this is news to us, of course; we've been working our butts off to get our authors reviewed, interviewed, mentioned in blogs, discussed in chat rooms, etc. I'm a writer myself, and through this job I've learned a lot about what a person needs to do on the author end to help her book sell. That's why I'm opening this blog up to Q&A.

If you're a writer -- aspiring or published -- in search of tips on how to market yourself or your book, leave your question in a Comment and I'll answer it to the best of my ability in the next post.

Thursday News

2004-11-11T15:50:00.000-08:00

Keep an eye out at Studentfilmmakers.com, a cool site that will soon begin carrying Hal's screenwriting book in its online store. Other developments this week: we're sending out kids' books to be reviewed by various homeschooling web sites, and I've got Friedl going out to *hopefully* be reviewed by a very cool site on spirituality and modern culture.

Meanwhile, the Daylight Savings change-over has been difficult for everyone here in L.A. We're all so spoiled by eternal sunshine that it's hard to stay awake after 4 p.m. I'll have to re-program my clock to think about book marketing a bit earlier in the day, when my faculties are still sharp.

Enjoy the rest of your Veteran's Day...

2004-11-05T14:20:00.000-08:00

Here's a great review of Hal's book, Write Screenplays That Sell.

10 Minutes to Broadway!

2004-11-05T14:03:00.000-08:00

The American Association of Community Theatres has posted an Audition Tip from 10 Minutes to the Audition in their newsletter. Check it out!

Another Great Failures Mention

2004-10-26T15:13:00.000-07:00

The American Association of School Administrators mentioned Great Failures of the Extremely Successful in their February 8, 2004 newsletter. One of the book's contributors, Joe Batory, was a superintendent of schools in the Philadelphia area. His entry is quite an inspiration to anyone in involved in education, but no, I'm not going to tell you why. Buy the book!

As you can probably guess, today is my Gathering Our Internet Press Tidbits Day. There are a lot of stray mentions of our books that we'd never know about if we didn't take the time to do this. Eventually I'll link to them all in the sidebar.

"Great Failures" Gets Mentioned in the Chicago Sun-Times!

2004-10-26T15:02:00.000-07:00

It's not a review, but it's a nice little mention, anyway. Dated October 8.

Friedl Exhibit Gets a New Yorker Writeup

2004-10-26T14:46:00.000-07:00

From the 10/25/04 issue, Goings on in Art:

JEWISH MUSEUM
Fifth Ave. at 92nd St. (212-423-3200)—Amid the terrors and deprivations of the Terezin concentration camp, children were given lessons in art, where they were taught to draw with bold, expressive shapes and synesthetic color choices. The teacher was their fellow-prisoner Friedl Dicker-Brandeis: a student of Johannes Itten and Paul Klee at the Bauhaus, then a designer and painter in Vienna and Berlin, she produced textiles, furniture, costumes, and stage sets, as well as tender, incisive portraits of her intimates. Examples of all are on view, as are some of the five thousand children’s drawings Dicker-Brandeis hid in her suitcases, discovered after she was killed, in 1944. Reflecting intensive original research, “Innovator, Activist, Healer: The Art of Friedl Dicker-Brandeis” is crushingly sad, of course. But you walk out with colors singing in your head. Through Jan. 16. (Open Sundays through Wednesdays, 11 to 5:45; Thursdays, 11 to 8; and Fridays, 11 to 3.)

Here's the link.

I don't know if a blurb like this will sell books, but it certainly makes me wish I were living in New York. There's always something interesting going on!

2004-10-19T11:06:00.000-07:00

A site called Yoga Oasis agreed to do a reciprocal link to Painted Prayers in exchange for a link on our site, so I'm adding a Links section to the sidebar.

Here's a description of their retreat center:

Yoga Oasis, in Hawaii: We offer accommodations, yoga retreats, daily yoga classes, eco adventure tours, massage, lomi-lomi massage courses, vegetarian cooking classes, raw food retreats, watsu workshops, group rates, and more.

2004-10-19T10:44:00.000-07:00

Hal's talk at Vidiots went really well, in spite of the AIDS walk, the Red Sox/Yankees playoff game and the light drizzle that so intimidates 95% of Angelenos. About 30 people showed up, and we old 8 books, which is about a 30% sales rate. His guests, screenwriters Scott Kosar and Dave Johnson, were articulate, funny speakers who had a slew of positive things to say about the UCLA writers program in general and Hal in particular. And I learned some new things myself -- always the mark of a good event.

Claudia took some video, and if we can figure out how to upload it, it'll make its way on here eventually.

Reminders

2004-10-14T11:08:00.000-07:00

Tonight is the book party for 10 Minutes to the Audition. In addition, I want to remind folks that Sunday at 5:00, Hal Ackerman will be at Vidiots, talking about screenwriting with screenwriter Scott Kosar, a former student and a master of the macabre. (He writes other things, but is having a pretty stunning run in the horror genre these days.)

So if you're looking for an intellectually stimulating event to get you ready for Halloween, this is it! Come in costume if you wish.

Friedl Dicker-Brandeis and the Challenges of Book Publicity

2004-10-13T07:51:00.000-07:00

Hi folks.

One of the things I've been working on lately is trying to get more art historians, women's studies professors and museum book shops to know about our book FRIEDL, about a Bauhaus artist and teacher who died in a concentration camp during the Holocaust. The book is beautiful, and beyond that, it's the only one of its kind on the subject -- so once people know about it, it should sell like crazy, at least in the academic world.

What I didn't know about was that Chapman University, earlier this year, ran a Holocaust essay contest in which FRIEDL was offered as one of the topics.

If I can find the time, I'd like to get more schools to do the same. This will require either a ton of phone calls or a very wide mailing. This is the great challenge of book publicity for a small press: lots of great ideas, but a very small budget, and a lot of questions, primarily "how"?

One good place to start, I've found, is trade or web publications. What you need to do is say:

a) What is my intended audience?

and then

b) What is their common denominator? What do they all read?

If you can get an article or advertisement in a publication that 1,000 high school teachers read, then you don't have to send a blind mailing to $1,000 high school teachers. Not to mention the fact that your audience respects its trusty publication or information source. If it sees your product mentioned there, it will take notice.

I've tried this approach a couple times, but it's too early to see if it's worked.

A variation on this line of thinking is to buy an affordable ad in a special issue that will be heavily marketed. We recently excerpted material in a timely publication that sent press releases to national media. The banner ad cost us very little, but time it would have taken us to publicize a back list book on a national scale would have cost us at least three times as much. The idea is to think of clever ways to get the same exposure while minimizing the financial risk. At the end of the day, for a small amount of money we became part of someone else's P.R. blitz, saving ourselves a lot of time and money.

I try to think this way about every book. I think right now, FRIEDL is the one best positioned to succeed, especially since the Jewish Museum of New York has devoted an exhibit to her. It's my opinion that the next step in Friedl's travels should be a woman's college like Smith or Wellesley, or an art college with a program in art therapy. Hopefully a web savvy curator will stumble upon this post while I'm working on something else, and the wheels will be set in motion. That's the great thing about the internet. Say something, forget about it, and reap the rewards months down the line.

To order FRIEDL books or to discuss ideas on how to publicize the book, call (310) 203-3837.

Pedestal Magazine's Political Issue

2004-10-05T11:24:00.000-07:00

Hey folks -- please check out Pedestal Magazine's Political Issue. It's a non-partisan anthology of over 750 political cartoons, non-fiction essays, short stories and poems centering on politics and related issues.

Our book We'll Never Be Young Again plays a major role. We've taken out a banner ad and excerpted John Kerry's letter, a remembrance of how Kennedy's emphasis on the Peace Corps and other forms of public service influenced him to become a volunteer.

We're really excited about this and hope it gets the attention it deserves. The editor has assembled a massive amount of material that I look forward to reading myself.

5 Reasons to Buy Our Screenwriting Book

2004-09-30T13:52:00.000-07:00

1. It's inspirational and practical. It tells you what you ought to be looking for in your work, how to recognize when it isn't there, and how to self-diagnose what is missing and how and where to find it.

2. It takes writers seriously and is equally useful to beginning and experienced writers.

3. It contains a series of practical writing exercises, dubbed Writers Gym Exercises, that will exercise your brain like the muscle that it is.

4. It uses concrete examples from modern films to help make issues of character, plot, and structure relatable to today's viewing audience.

5. Pamela Gray. Sacha Gervasi. Scott Kosar. Felicia Henderson. The list goes on. Each of these writers has had a feature film script produced. Some have won or been nominated for major awards. All studied under Hal Ackerman at UCLA, in a class that was structured almost identically to the book.

SO

If you're good at self-direction, consider taking this master class in book format. It's significantly cheaper than an MFA, and the nice thing is, you can keep going back to it.

Little Bits O'News

2004-09-21T17:35:00.000-07:00

Janice Lynde recently appeared in the season finale of Six Feet Under and on Soapdom.com... Hal Ackerman and Write Screenplays That Sell was mentioned in this week's L.A. Times Magazine review of screenwriting books... and our website is now equipped to take pre-orders of 10 Minutes to the Audition.

Hey All You Horror Fans

2004-09-16T08:42:00.000-07:00

I'm with you. I'm a huge fan of horror films. This is why I'm excited for our October 17 event at Vidiots, when our author, UCLA screenwriting prof Hal Ackerman, talks to screenwriter Scott Kosar about the art of writing quality scripts.

In addition to The Machinist (which premiered at Sundance), Scott also wrote the scripts for:

The Amityville Horror (coming out next year)
The Crazies (a remake of a George Romero film)
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (last year's remake)

As a reminder, that's 5:00 p.m. on October 17. The event is FREE. For more info and directions check our press release below, or go to the Vidiots web page.

Visit Our Online Store!

2004-09-14T13:15:00.000-07:00

For those of you who are new to our blog -- please be aware that we do have an online store where you can buy any of the books that interest you. I'll add a link to the sidebar to make sure people know about it. Someone just called me at the office to ask if Hal's book is available now in stores, and I have a sneaking suspicion he found out about it here, thanks to the publicity efforts I've been doing on behalf of the upcoming Vidiots event (see press release below).

NEWS

2004-09-09T16:00:00.000-07:00

On October 14 we're holding a launch party at the Samuel French in Studio City. It's for the release of our newest book, "10 Minutes to the Audition." The event will run from 7-9 p.m. and should be fun. So far it's a private guest list, though we may be running a promotion that will allow a few aspiring actors to attend. Check this site for more news...

What the Next Batman Did Before Donning His Cape

2004-09-07T16:15:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

UCLA Professor Hal Ackerman and Screenwriter Scott Kosar Talk Shop at the Video Store this October 17

LOS ANGELES, CA (PRWEB) September 7, 2004 - On October 17 at 5 p.m., UCLA Screenwriting instructor Hal Ackerman and former student Scott Kosar, writer of the upcoming THE MACHINIST, will chat about the craft and realities of screenwriting at Vidiots video store in Santa Monica.

Kosar's film script, directed by Brad Anderson (SESSION 9) and starring Christian Bale (BATMAN: YEAR ONE), premiered at Sundance this winter. It's a thriller about a machinist whose insomnia-induced exhaustion may have lead to the injury of a co-worker. When peers blame him for the accident, his resultant paranoia leads to a startling physical and mental deterioration as he loses the ability to tell reality from fantasy. The film has received advanced buzz in part because of the shocking amount of weight Bale lost for the role.

Ackerman, an eighteen-year member of the UCLA faculty, is a playwright and screenwriter who has optioned and sold material to several networks and major studios. Over the last decade, a dozen screenplays written in his class have been sold and six have become films, including the recent Spielberg/Hanks project THE TERMINAL.

His new book, “Write Screenplays That Sell: The Ackerman Way” (ISBN # 1-931290-52-0, Tallfellow Press), combines the basic rules of storytelling and structure with creative writing exercises designed to act as a “writers' gym.” It has been adopted as a new classic text by university film studies departments around the country and has been called “exceptional” by Scr(i)pt Magazine.

Vidiots, voted Best Video Store in L.A. by Los Angeles Magazine and called “one of America's best-kept secrets” by Entertainment Weekly, is located at 302 Pico Boulevard, Santa Monica, CA. For more information about this and other in-store events, call (310) 392-8508 or go to their web page, www.vidiotsvideo.com.

For additional information about the book or its author, contact Claudia Sloan at Tallfellow Press, (310) 203-3837.

Tallfellow Press is an eclectic publisher located in Los Angeles. Its predecessor, Price Stern Sloan, is best known for publishing the popular word game “Mad Libs,” the ever-true “Murphy's Law” and the melodious “Wee Sing” Series.

CONTACT INFORMATION:
Claudia Sloan
Tallfellow Press
(310) 203-3837
(310) 203-3893 fax
http://www.tallfellow.com

###

Press Release: Become a Star in Ten Minutes

2004-08-26T16:04:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Become a Star in Ten Minutes
(or at least get the part!)

Go to the restroom, turn off all electronics (except pacemakers!) and never apologize!

What do these have to do with acting? You'd be surprised!

From getting a good night's sleep to exiting gracefully, Ten Minutes to the Audition (Tallfellow Press, ISBN 1-931290-55-5, October, 2004), the first in the new Ten Minutes to Success series from Tallfellow, tells novices and seasoned professionals alike everything they need to know to land the role.

Award winning actor Jack Klugman says, “Janice Lynde is a brilliant actress who really knows her craft. Why shouldn't she write the definitive book on auditioning? She did!”

With a unique Last-Minute Checklist as well as an invaluable Resource and Reference Guide, this book equips every actor with the tools to get the job… and then become a star!

About the author: Janice Lynde is a two-time Obie winning, Emmy-nominated actress and acting coach who originated the “Directing the Actor” program at The American Film Institute (AFI) and teaches at Robert Redford's Sundance Institute. Her acting credits include Six Feet Under, Touched By An Angel, The Odd Couple and General Hospital. Broadway turns include Applause, Pippin and Nine. She lives in Los Angeles, California.

Ten Minutes to the Audition
By Janice Lynde
ISBN: 1-931290-55-5
96 pages, 4-1/2 x 7-1/2
Softcover
October

Contact:
Claudia Sloan
Tallfellow Press
1180 So. Beverly Drive Suite 320
Los Angeles, CA 90025
Tallfellow@pacbell.net
(310) 203-3837 fax (310) 203-3893
http://www.tallfellow.com

Press Release: Have You Ever Screwed Up?

2004-08-26T16:01:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Have You Ever Screwed Up?

You're not alone!

Did you know that cheese, pacemakers, Velcro®, Ivory Soap®, chocolate chip cookies, stainless steel and Silly Putty® were all invented by accident?

Did you know that Gone with the Wind was rejected 25 times before it was published or that Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was rejected over 100 times? Both of which went on to sell millions of copies.

Or that John Murray Anderson, of the Anderson School of Drama, said “Try any other profession” to Lucille Ball!?

Or that Albert Einstein said “There is not the slightest indication that [nuclear energy] will ever be obtainable. It would mean that the atom would have to be shattered at will”?

Well, they were and they did!

From “Oops” to “I can't go on another day!,” Great Failures of the Extremely Successful - Mistakes, Adversity, Failure and Other Steppingstones to Success (Tallfellow Press, September 2004, Hardcover and Softcover), by Steve Young, offers historical quotes and facts as well as inspirational first-hand accounts from over 60 accomplished people.

o Basketball great (and severe stutterer) Bill Walton says “I'm a better and happier person today than I ever would have been had I never gotten hurt; had I never had this nightmarish speech problem” (p.132)
o Former Texas governor Ann Richards says “Alcoholism and my additional treatment ended up becoming the most wonderful, most instructive, most important experience I've ever had in my life.” (p.142)
o Saturday Night Live's Julia Sweeney, after having and audience yell “get off the stage!,” says "...sometimes you need to first discover what you can't do before you can discover what you can." (p.171) to
o Rocker Billy Idol says “I've discovered that everything in my life that seemed to crash was a part of what pushed me forward" (p. 236)

So, don't be afraid to fail…it could be the best thing that ever happens to you!

Steve Young, who flunked out of four different colleges, is now an award-winning television writer, author, BBC's Hollywood correspondent and published pundit in the New York Times, USA Today, L.A. Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, L.A. Daily News and the National Lampoon. His radio and television appearances include FOX News Channel, NBC's Today, ABC's Good Morning America, CNN and CNNfn. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children.

Great Failures of the Extremely Successful: Mistakes, Adversity, Failure and Other Stepping Stones to Success
Steve Young
Tallfellow Press, Los Angeles
September, 2004,
ISBN: 1-931290-17-2 hardcover; $24.95, ISBN: 1-931290-19-9 trade paperback; $15.95

Contact:
Claudia Sloan
Tallfellow Press
1180 So. Beverly Drive Suite 320
Los Angeles, CA 90025
Tallfellow@pacbell.net
(310) 203-3837 fax (310) 203-3893
http://www.tallfellow.com

2004-08-24T14:23:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted here in a while, namely because we have a tiny readership if any at this point in time. However, for anyone who may stumble across here, please be aware that we're no longer accepting unsolicited submissions of children's books. We've put out a few announcements in SCBWI, Children's Book Insider, and elsewhere, but the manuscripts just keep coming.

If you write kids books: thanks so much for thinking of us, but our apologies. If and when things change we'll make another announcement.

Are We Too Busy to Read?

2004-07-12T20:19:00.000-07:00

The following is excerpted off the newsletter provided by Levine Communications:

BOOK READING DOWN ACCORDING TO BEST SELLING AUTHOR: According to media expert and best selling author Michael Levine, busy lives and cultural clutter help explain why Americans are reading less and less these days - dropping books, in fact, at a rate that's tripled over the past 10 years. The latest evidence of America's bookish decline came in a comprehensive study unveiled last week by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). In one sense, the findings weren't particularly jarring: Americans have been reading less for more than a decade. "The numbers are even more stark than expected" said Levine. Consider that, while America has gained 40 million adults in the past 20 years, only about 600,000 more people are reading literature (defined in the study as fiction, poetry, or drama). The habit is down across the board - in every racial, age, and ethnic category, across all income levels and regions - and the decline is worst among young adults. For the first time in history, less than half the adult population reads literature. Nearly two-thirds of men don't read it at all. Among Americans over 18, the rate of decline has nearly tripled in 10 years, accelerating from 5 to 14 percent.

Updates

2004-07-08T11:57:00.000-07:00

As I type this, Barbara Cohen is wrapping up a morning reading and signing at the Pasadena Polytechnic School. This afternoon she'll make an appearance at two Barks & Books programs in the Pasadena Public Library.

Other news: we've received advance copies of the soft-cover of GREAT FAILURES OF THE EXTREMELY SUCCESSFUL, by Steve Young, and are gearing up to circulate the book with a press release to 20 influential magazines.

See Below

2004-07-07T14:27:00.000-07:00

Most of our more recent press releases are available to us on PRWEB's server, but the one below was eluding me on the internet.

Spring is Here!

2004-07-07T14:26:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Children’s Book Author Scott Allen To Make Appearance in Torrance, CA Barnes & Noble on March 19

Torrance, CA (PRWEB) March 3, 2004 – On March 19, children’s book author and designer Scott Allen will make an appearance at the Torrance Barnes & Noble to sign and promote the seasonal romp for kids, It’s Spring, published by smallfellow press.

It’s Spring, written by Jimmy Pickering and designed by Allen, is one of four children’s picture books devoted to the joys of the seasons. In it, Sally and her faithful dog Sam "venture out to truly discover what Spring is about." Along the way they sniff daffodils, pull weeds, plant seeds and find cloud figures in the sky.

Allen, a native of the San Fernando Valley, previously collaborated with illustrator Pickering as the author of the highly successful Halloween-themed Somethin’ Pumpkin, also by smallfellow press.

The Barnes & Noble in Torrance is located at 21400 Hawthorne Boulevard, Torrance, CA 90503. The reading and book signing will begin at 7:00 p.m.

For additional information about the event, contact Claudia Sloan, Publisher, at Tallfellow, Inc., (310) 203-3837.

smallfellow is an imprint of Tallfellow Press, an eclectic book publisher located in Los Angeles. Its predecessor, Price Stern Sloan, is best known for publishing the popular word game Mad Libs.

CONTACT INFORMATION:
Claudia Sloan
Tallfellow Press
(310) 203-3837
(310) 203-3893 fax
http://www.tallfellow.com

###

Author Visit and New Feature

2004-07-07T13:17:00.000-07:00

Hey folks,

Our kids' book author, Barbara Cohen, is in town for a week to do readings and appearances throughout SoCal. We're keeping her very busy, and she's using her downtime to mass-produce stickers and bookmarks. That's very cool of her to donate her time in so many ways, and we're all grateful.

I've decided that in addition to compiling marketing links over time, I'm also going to add a Press Release archive to our blog sidebar. This way you can access all our releases by title & date. This should make it easier for journalists to write about us in the future.

If a random press release appears on the main page out of nowhere, it's because I'm posting it for the sole reason of archiving and linking to it later. Don't be alarmed.

2004-07-04T11:33:00.000-07:00

David Sedaris was on Letterman the other night, where he read a selection from his new book. The selection was a story that began slow but ended in a toilet joke, this affirming my earlier statement that Sedaris writes fart jokes for the intellectually elite.

Perhaps a book of fancy fart jokes is the ticket to publishing success in the new millennium.

Happy 4th!

Your Chance to Make or Break a Business

2004-07-01T12:25:00.000-07:00

Anyone have an idea for a great publicity stunt for one of our authors? Leave it in the comments and if we love your idea and find it feasible, clever and non-hazardous, we'll send you a free book.

New Feature!

2004-06-28T09:20:00.000-07:00

Please note - I added to our sidebar a list of marketing resources for book publishers and authors. We're not personally endorsing any one of these; think of it as a jumping-off point for your own research, and be sure to let us know if anything works for you. We're always looking for ideas.

2004-06-23T19:23:00.000-07:00

A-ha... we're not getting Sacha Gervasi traffic because people are searching for the misspelling of his name: Sasha Gervasi.

Enter Your Keyword Here.

2004-06-22T17:48:00.000-07:00

Hurray! Tallfellow has opened a Google AdWords account. For the next month we're running three text ads for 2 of our books, at a modest budget. We'll see how it works in driving traffic to our site and drawing attention to Great Failures of the Extremely Successful and It's Summer. Fingers are crossed... Wish us luck!

Lost at Sea

2004-06-21T21:31:00.000-07:00

Something must be wrong with the web's surfing mechanisms, because a handful of people get to my personal blog every day by looking for Sacha Gervasi (co-writer of THE TERMINAL, starring Tom Hanks), but none of them end up here. It's very strange.

If you're surfing for Sacha and you end up here, keep reading, because there's info here for you. Scroll down.

The Terminal

2004-06-18T17:19:00.000-07:00

Apparently Creative Screenwriting gave a rave review to The Terminal, which was co-written by one of Hal's former students. Congratulations, Sacha! I'll post a link to the article as soon as I can.

Excerpts from Hal's The Writers Channel Chat

2004-06-15T16:39:00.000-07:00

Hi folks,

Hal Ackerman's online chat about screenwriting at The Writers Channel last week went really well. Here's a partial and interesting excerpt from that event, on the subject of character desire in the films FARGO and LOST IN TRANSLATION:

flora (Jun 10, 2004 9:48:32 PM)
what do you say are their desires in Lost in Translation?

Nancy (Jun 10, 2004 9:48:46 PM)
sometimes movies don't seem to know when to end

Hal Ackerman (Jun 10, 2004 9:48:56 PM)
Nancy, I agree with you

Hal Ackerman (Jun 10, 2004 9:49:17 PM)
and the point is to learn from the things that we don't like about movies to make sure we don't do ourselves

Hal Ackerman (Jun 10, 2004 9:49:30 PM)
we can learn more about writing from movies that don't work, than those that do

Hal Ackerman (Jun 10, 2004 9:49:51 PM)
Flora: Bill Murray's is to get to sleep!

Hal Ackerman (Jun 10, 2004 9:50:09 PM)
Kurt Vonegut has a line where he says that even existentialists just need a drink of water

flora (Jun 10, 2004 9:50:17 PM)
that's a strong desire

Hal Ackerman (Jun 10, 2004 9:50:23 PM)
And it's important when we think about characters desires that we think about them in 2 ways:

Hal Ackerman (Jun 10, 2004 9:50:30 PM)
1, what is the GRAND DESIRE?

Hal Ackerman (Jun 10, 2004 9:51:05 PM)
which as in Rabbit Proof Fence and Wizard of Oz, the Grand Desire is to get home

Hal Ackerman (Jun 10, 2004 9:51:26 PM)
But also, as we write each scene, as we conceive each scene, we need to think of the immediate objective in that moment. It's important that when we think about desire, it's the character's
desire *in that moment.*

Hal Ackerman (Jun 10, 2004 9:52:11 PM)
Another example: in the movie Fargo

Hal Ackerman (Jun 10, 2004 9:52:34 PM)
In the opening scene, the Bill Macy character wants to make a deal with the Steve Buscemi character

Hal Ackerman (Jun 10, 2004 9:52:45 PM)
and the conflicting objectives in that moment are

Hal Ackerman (Jun 10, 2004 9:53:02 PM)
whether all the money is paid up front, or whether it is paid after the kidnapping of his wife is completed

Hal Ackerman (Jun 10, 2004 9:53:10 PM)
One wants it all now, the other wants to delay it

Hal Ackerman (Jun 10, 2004 9:53:17 PM)
These are the immediate desires in that scene

Hal Ackerman (Jun 10, 2004 9:53:23 PM)
the immediate objectives in that scene

Hal Ackerman (Jun 10, 2004 9:53:39 PM)
An important axiom for writing exposition is that the best exposition is a byproduct of conflict

Hal Ackerman (Jun 10, 2004 9:54:02 PM)
So if you look at that 3 minute scene in Fargo, which is based solely on those 2 objectives that I just mentioned

Hal Ackerman (Jun 10, 2004 9:54:14 PM)
all of the information about the convoluted kidnapping scheme

Hal Ackerman (Jun 10, 2004 9:54:32 PM)
emerges painlessly, interestingly, because it comes out of character

(cont'd)

If you'd like to read more of Hal's writing tips, check out his book, Write Screenplays That Sell. And if you're interested in online chats with screenwriters and professors, visit The Writers Channel.

A Reading in Westchester

2004-06-15T12:45:00.000-07:00

We just booked Barbara to read FOREVER FRIENDS to kids at the Westchester Public Library. Here's the intel:

Children’s book author Barbara Cohen will read her popular children’s picture book, Forever Friends, for FREE at the Westchester Public Library at 4:00 p.m. on July 13.

The address of the library is 7114 West Manchester Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90045. The reading will be for children ages 1-8. For more information, call the reference desk at (310) 348-1093.

Monday Updates

2004-06-14T08:53:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's Monday again! Tough to believe.

Hal's appearance at Barnes & Noble went really well. He touched upon a lot of themes from his book and rounded out the evening with personal anecdotes from students and from his own career. Stay tuned for more updates and other appearances... Happy Monday!

Monday Updates

2004-06-08T10:26:00.000-07:00

Hal's Saturday event at Portrait of a Bookstore went well. A handful of enthusiastic screenwriters showed up and bought books. Just a reminder that he'll be doing two events this week too:

Thursday, June 10
6:00 p.m.
The Writers Channel
www.writerschannel.net
Hal will participate in a live chat with screenwriters about the nuts and bolts of crafting a story. You may get some interesting writing exercises out of the experience. For more information or to register visit the site.

If you're not into online chats, you can have the same experience in person at the Barnes & Noble on the Promenade in Santa Monica. Here's the intel:

7:30 p.m.
Barnes & Noble
1201 3rd Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 260-9110

All you writers: getting out of the house and listening to someone talk about the craft can re-charge your batteries.

Check it out!

News

2004-06-04T18:36:00.000-07:00

Hi folks,

Wednesday night's talk with the Barnes & Noble Writers Group was a great experience. Turnout was good, with a lot of interested writers looking to expand their knowledge about publishing and the process of submitting. I enjoyed speaking with them and can't wait do it again soon.

This weekend is a big weekend in the book world. The BEA (Book Expo of America) is convening in Chicago as I type, and everyone's really interested to see how it goes.

Meanwhile, locally... just a reminder that tomorrow UCLA Professor Hal Ackerman will be talking about his screenwriting book, Write Screenplays That Sell, at Portrait of a Bookstore in Studio City. Here's the info:

3:00 p.m.
Portrait of a Bookstore
4360 Tujunga Avenue
Studio City, CA 91604
(818) 769-3853

We hope to have a solid turnout. Next week will be busy too. Here's what Hal's doing on June 10:

6:00 p.m.
Live chat at The Writer's Channel
For more information or to register visit the site.

7:30 p.m.
3rd Street Barnes & Noble
1201 3rd Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 260-9110

Yup, that's right. Our author is racing from his computer to the bookstore. And we're very grateful!

Have a wonderful weekend.

The Ways of the Web Are Mighty Weird

2004-06-04T16:54:00.000-07:00

There's a site called Technorati that is widely known in geek circles to accurately track one's "popularity" on the internet. This means you type in your URL and bite your nails until the results arrive, declaring you a total loser (in which case the error message reads "Ouch! 0 sites have linked to you."), a blazing winner, or, in most cases, a mediocre success.

Technorati monitors books. Its gauge is called Book Talk and it tracks who's talking about what book on the internet today.

Today the top two most widely-discussed books are (drum roll):

David Sedaris's new collection, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim

AND

Jeffrey Eugenides' Middlesex, new to paperback.

What I'm wondering is whether there are any thematic through-lines connecting Sedaris and Eugenides to our authors, all of whom deserve a few sales, and some of whom demand outright notoriety. If we can siphon away even a sixteeth of their fan base, we'll be sitting pretty.

So let's try.

David Sedaris is a very, very funny man who thanks to NPR exposure finds himself uproariously popular among overeducated folks like myself who read widely but still enjoy fart jokes.

Maybe, just maybe, people will feel the same way about our own Steve Young once he catches on. Steve and David share a similar sardonic streak. Both write for magazines. Both have been fired from a host of jobs. And here's the clincher: David's sister wrote for and starred in "Strangers With Candy," a show about a drug-using prostitute going back to high school, while Steve wrote for "Boy Meets World," about a milk-drinking kid befriending his principal. As you can see, these people are clearly related.

I'll concede that these sensibilities could not be more opposite if they tried, but at least they reside on the same continuum. We could catch the same web traffic, because in theory there exists a lone web surfer who admires any and all TV series about high school. Such a person may stumble upon this blog while researching guidance counselor episodes and come upon this entry. This same person may then buy Steve Young's book, or at least wonder aloud at the striking similarities between him, Amy Sedaris (co-author of Wigfield) and David Sedaris.

Ding!

Our online store should start smoking at any second.

Now, on to Jeffrey Eugenides.

Eugenides is not very funny, but he has written quite extensively about high school (see The Virgin Suicides). What causes a problem for me is his creepy obsession with sex and repression.

Now, our authors are much more wholesome (see Saul Turteltaub's The Grandfather Thing and The Sibling Thing) and a lot more humorous. Saul pretty much sticks to funny anecdotes and witty observations about family life.

However, although readers of Middlesex (like me) may be moody and confused, it's possible that sharp, funny, and gentle books like The Grandfather Thing may serve as a bracing tonic capable of reminding these gloomy types (like me) that there's more to life than death, inbreeding and the Pulitzer Prize. (Sigh.)

Is it obvious what I'm doing here, folks? We all want a piece of the pie. Publishing is a tough business.

Though I have no doubt that people are discussing these two authors (both Greek-American, by the way! I wonder how they feel about "Troy"), I have to add that Technorati is not comprehensive. My average Google search for my own site reveals a smattering of links and trackbacks that this uber-crawler has failed to recognize.

So the bottom line is, yes, shamelessly grab traffic where you can, but don't cede dominion to any one source. I, for one, am hoping the little blogs and clusters of discerning readers will win out for us in the end. In the meantime...

[Deep exhale.]

Here I am, Technorati. Come and find me.

The Best Book

2004-06-03T16:55:00.000-07:00

I just now did a Google crawl for the phrase "the best book" and came up with a stunning lack of Page One insight into what people think is the best book ever.

Ergo I am going to write the phrase "the best book" over and over again as an experiment to see if this phrase will gather hits to our site, and ergo orders of THE BEST BOOK ever, which is...

anything off our site!

Likewise: we've got THE BEST BOOK for Father's Day. For grandfathers, anyway. It's called The Grandfather Thing.

(We who are internet savvy will try anything once...)

Barbara Cohen and "Forever Friends"

2004-06-03T11:13:00.000-07:00

Ever wonder about the life of a touring kids' book author?

It probably works a little differently for Madonna, but for small presses, promoting a book involves the tireless efforts of both the staff and the author. In this case, our own Barbara Cohen, creator of "Forever Friends," has graciously put herself at our disposal during a week-long visit to L.A. in July. We're taking full advantage by booking her for as many public readings as we can wrangle. More details will come as I get them, but here is a list of what we've got so far:

July 8

8:30 a.m.

Barbara will read "Forever Friends" to over 100 children at the Summer Program at the Polytechnic School in Pasadena.

2:45 p.m.

Then she'll read the same to two groups of children at two separate branches of the Pasadena Public Library, as part of the Barks & Books literacy program. Barks & Books allows children the opportunity to read aloud to specially trained dogs.

July 9

7:00 p.m.
Barbara will read "Forever Friends" at the Pajamarama Storytime at the Torrance Barnes & Noble.

Open to the public!

Location & Information:

Barnes & Noble
21400 Hawthorne Boulevard
Torrance, CA 90503
Phone: 310-370-5552

July 10

1:00 p.m.

Barbara will read "Forever Friends" at the Kids-n-Pets Reading Room at Storyopolis bookstore.

Open to the public!

Location:

Storyopolis
116 N Robertson Blvd
Plaza Level A
Los Angeles, CA 90048
Phone: (310) 358-2500

Here's a description of the event, off the Storyopolis calendar page:

Saturday, Jul. 10, 2004 at 1:00 PM
FOREVER FRIENDS

Description:
Join Barbara Cohen reading and signing her delightful, heartfelt book FOREVER FRIENDS. Also attending our signing will be KIDS-N-PETS Reading Room. Kids-n-Pets is a non-profit organization that teaches children positive life sklls through the humane training of pets. Their animals are ready to hlep children read and practice their language skills. In this Reading Room children will be invited to read to an animal and when they are finished they will be allowed to interact with the animal for fun. The Pet Squad members are dogs, cats, birds, fish, rats, and hamsters.

RSVP Required?
no

Recommended Ages:
3 and up

Admission Price:
$ FREE

Please feel free to stop by the public events!

On Writing, Submitting and Getting Published

2004-05-28T20:01:00.000-07:00

Our very own Claudia will be making an appearance at the Barnes & Noble Writers Group in Torrance at 7:00 p.m. next Wednesday, talking from an editor's perspective
about the biz -- children's books in particular.

The store is located at 21400 Hawthorne Boulevard. Come on down!

Shout-Out, Right Back At Ya

2004-05-28T17:18:00.000-07:00

Many thanks to Kevin Roderick at L.A. Observed for mentioning the Tallfellow Press blog in his wonderful L.A. resource.

Appearances!

2004-05-28T17:02:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy week as usual, trying to come up with increasingly more creative ways to promote books. I'm thinking about wallpapering the Hollywood sign with our book jackets, but until then (still looking for the necessary climbing equipment), here are some exciting author appearances by UCLA Screenwriting Professor Hal Ackerman, a future contributor to this site.

WRITE SCREENPLAYS THAT SELL: THE ACKERMAN WAY

UCLA screenwriting professor Hal Ackerman will speak and e-chat about the craft and his new book, "Write Screenplays That Sell: The Ackerman Way" (ISBN # 1-931290-52-0, Tallfellow Press) in the following times & places:

June 5
3:00 p.m.
Portrait of a Bookstore
4360 Tujunga Avenue
Studio City, CA 91604
(818) 769-3853

June 10
6:00 p.m.
writerschannel.net
Live chat
For more information or to register visit the site.

June 10
7:30 p.m.
3rd Street Barnes & Noble
1201 3rd Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 260-9110

This book has gotten great reviews by Scr(i)pt, Screentalk, and others. Bloggers, writers, and others encouraged to attend!

For additional information on the book go to www.tallfellow.com or contact us at Tallfellow_Press@yahoo.com.

[As you can see, I am syndicating myself!]

2004-05-24T16:28:00.000-07:00

How could you not love these faces? These are Petey and Skip, stars of "Forever Friends." You can buy the softcover for $9.95. And now that THAT obvious ploy to send you to our website (http://www.smallfellow.com) is over with...

Yes, welcome to Tallfellow's new blog.

2004-05-21T23:18:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy week here at Tallfellow (and Tallfellow.com) working on some great Fall books and continuing marketing on our current and backlist titles.

Stay tuned for a sneak peek!

2004-05-21T17:12:00.000-07:00

The Tallfellow Booth at the May 1 Pet Adoption Faire in Encino, CA

Welcome!

2004-05-21T16:45:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the first blog posting by Tallfellow Press, an eclectic book publisher in Los Angeles. Stay tuned for more news from the editors and authors.