Not Really Writing a Book, But Maybe Finally Learning How.

Continuing on about how my book got into the mainstream at Viking Penguin, I hope you substackers find some inspiration here, for being inventive with your own approach to submissions. Good Luck

What’s important to understand is that between my blindly typing up transcripts of my classes, and actually trying to write something to reach some book advance money, it took a breathtaking set of miracles. In advance of you perhaps building your own individual pathway to getting published, here are some of the obstacles you could encounter, which I overcame against all odds. 

Not Really Writing a Book, but maybe finally learning how.

It took a while to realize that transcribing audio tapes/typewriting from my 3-month college course called “Feature Workshops” didn’t mean that a book was actually getting done. But still, at first, typing away every day gave me a nice, fuzzy productive feeling, and got me used to the daily process/grind. Using the basic typing tools of delivering words to a page helped me build some discipline. I grabbed onto this activity like a drowning man would to a life preserver. Fortunately my tape recorder had a stop-start foot pedal, so I just dug in to complete the transcribing job at hand. When I finally had a good pile of pages stacked in a collection box––the more pages I accumulated the more confidence I got––I decided to also add reviews and articles from the 15 years of my past moviemaking. That helped to fatten the pile, finally a thick, 380 page tome. So, YAY, I had completed a book. Whew! 

I made some clean, velo-bound copies—initially, 30-40 page teasers for making partial submissions—selected some famous East Coast publishers and mailed off copies. The full doorstop-sized copy was only sent one place, to the Joyce Cole Agency in Berkeley, on the suggestion of friend, Gary Thorp (author of “Sweeping Changes,” <https://www.amazon.com/Sweeping-Changes-Discovering-Everyday-Tasks/dp/0802713602>, and Music Score for my Morgan’s Cake feature).

And then I just waited. 

I changed diapers, grocery shopped if Julie hadn’t, and occasionally rolled down the Point Richmond (California) hill with infant Marlon in his stroller, to grab a delicious burger at Jumbo’s Cafe. And weeks slipped by. Finally, the publisher’s rejections began pouring in. 

Viking Penguin sent a No, on a small 3”x4” scrap of paper with their message––no signature, no mark from a human hand. And other publishers followed. Publishing houses, I soon learned, hardly bothered returning a full 8 1/2” x 11” page to deliver the news of one’s defeat. Oh well. But one day, soon after the first flurry of mail, a letter showed up from the Joyce Cole Agency. It was hand-typed, on agency letterhead, and nicely signed in ink. And what it said was quite positive. The agent there, Jayne Walker, wrote, “This is not a book yet, but I could see a Trade Paperback with the title, Feature Filmmaking at Used-Car Prices.” (She was right: <https://www.amazon.com/Feature-Filmmaking-Used-Car-Prices-Revised/dp/014024560X>.

Suddenly I was awakened. I had an avenue, though vague as yet, toward bringing in revenue for my family, and ultimately for my survival as an artist. In any case, I was suddenly determined to make Ms. Walker’s vision real.