PASS IT ON

My novel "SPOOK: CONFESSIONS OF A PSYCHIC SPY" has been out for a few months now and it's exciting to see everything that is happening with it. 

In the past, I would have just written it as a spec script and gone through the traditional channels to try and sell it to a studio or studio level company. The company buying my script would have complete control over how it was produced. They could bring in other writers and change anything they wanted. My biggest concern would be they would change the lead character from African American to White. In initial pitches where I talked about how pivotal the Civil Rights movement was to the story I was telling, I actually got statements like, "I really like the whole Cold War spy/Civil Rights dynamics. But is there a way we can do that and have the lead character be White?  Just for sales' sake."

Or, equally as bad, I shop my script and it doesn't sell. Hollywood gatekeepers have their own agenda and it has nothing to do with finding the best script. It's about deal making, making the most money possible and nepotism. 

Without the backing of a studio or studio level company, my spec scripts that don't sell inevitably end up in the back of my sock drawer.

That's why I'm still excited about going straight to the audience for my novels without a traditional printing house. I don't think a traditional printing house would get it anyway. It's not traditional enough.

Also, by printing and building my own audience, I own the project. It is an intellectual property. I can still license a screenplay adaptation to a studio. Only now, they be would less likely to change anything of major importance in the story.

That being said, I am pleased to find out that people who have read my book are passing it on to other people after they are finished. To me that's the greatest compliment (other than giving me a positive review on my Amazon page).

So, whether you bought my book Online, at Book Soup on Sunset in Los Angeles, Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena or if I've given you a free copy (I carry copies around with me and give a copy to anyone who expresses a true interest in reading it), please pass it on once you're done.

There are a billion books being sold Online. I believe that even with those odds, a good book will eventually find an audience. And I wrote this from the heart.

Thanks.

CHECK IT OUT HERE