Do
publishers rip off writers? Sometimes. But fortunately, rarely.
Okay, Steven King, John Grisham,
etc. I’m not. But I have written four successful books (Two for young readers,
three mainstream nonfiction-travel, nature, history). I have been a
contributing writer on two encyclopedias and two travel guides. I have had 173
newspaper and 142 magazine articles appear in major publications. I have
written for both radio and television, even got nominated for an EMMY as a
writer.
So yeah, I’ve been around the block
a few times. And yeah, there are some publishers and editors who, having little
imagination of their own, are not above cherry-picking yours. Usually it’s just
petty larceny. Herewith a few war stories.
Some years ago Wife and I moved to a
mid-sized city where she worked as an economist…doing whatever it is economists
do. Before moving I had been writing for a television magazine show on a Southern California station. Nothing glamorous, when my
name rolled by on the credits the audience was already out of their easy chairs
on the way to the bathroom.
But
it was fun. So, soon after our arrival I made an appointment with the station
manager at a local network affiliate. Showed him tapes, letters of recommendation,
etc. “Hum,” he said, furrowing his brow. “What kind of stories would you do
here?”
The
city was in the middle of a rural area. Lots of old barns. You can find all
kinds of neat things in old barns. Once I found an old-time car reborn as a
chicken coop. “Well, for example,” I said, “who knows what forgotten treasures one
might find in old barns?” The station manager nodded his head and promised to call
me in a few days.
He
didn’t of course. But a week later on the local news I saw a reporter standing
in front of an old barn. “Who knows what forgotten treasures, etc.” he intoned,
looking earnestly at the camera. Like I said, petty larceny.
Sometimes
publishers are guiltier of sins of omission rather than commission. Like
neglecting to mention that their publication is about to go belly up. One
magazine sent me on assignment to the Caribbean
to do a business piece on new hotels. While I was there the magazine went D.O.A.
(Fortunately I already had my airline ticket home which is why I’m not writing
this sitting on a beach chewing on sugar cane.)
Years
later I was writing short fiction for a London Atlantic .
One
last war story and pay attention, this one’s important. In publishing it can be
a short jump between petty larceny and
grand theft auto. Case in point: some time ago I wrote a combination history/travel
book for the California
Unfortunately
for those same writers the aspiring publisher who bought the firm went
bankrupt. But not immediately. For a while he continued printing and selling our
books. But only by threatening legal action was I able to get even part of the
royalties due me. Eventually he sort of disappeared and I have no idea how many
royalties I lost. I probably could have put our daughter through college with
them.
So
have I scared any aspiring writers who read this off? Well, in a sense, if I
did, good. There are already too many writers in a diminishing market and I
don’t need any more competition. I can name four major magazines I wrote for
that have gone to the Great Paper Shredder in the Sky.
On
the other hand, I began this blog by noting that writers being ripped off is rare.
It simply doesn’t pay for a publisher to be dishonest. To survive he needs
content and a bad reputation will ultimately cost him that content. I have
dealt with literally dozens of editors and publishers over the years and only
in the cited examples did I have problems.
So
go for it. Just be careful. And don’t be too good. Like I said, I don’t need
the competition.
Dad
out.
