| (This article appeared in the April 2003 issue of the Mensa Matrix) So you've decided to write a book. If you're doing it for the money, take a cold shower, sober up and put your funds into a savings account! If you're doing it just for fun, Great! Perhaps you can learn from my experience. Just a little bit of wisdom from someone who's been there, done that. Almost all of us Mensans have had dreams of perhaps writing the great American Novel -- we all know that Mensans have strong opinions, and writing a book is one way to express them! So, if you have some inclination, perhaps I can help. When I was growing up in Denver, there were a good bunch of kid's shows on local TV. One of those was a show called "Fred'n'Fae." A lovely young couple who had traveled around the country doing nightclub comedy routines gave a kick start to Denver TV in 1952 with a show for teenagers, the "Soda Shop." In 1955 they did a daily kids show for the next dozen years. In between cartoons, the little girls loved Fred Taylor -- a guy with a Mickey Mouse voice that was his real voice. And the little boys had a crush on Fae Taylor, a lovely redhead who did some modeling on the side. In 1967 their show went off of Denver TV. They were never heard from again. What happened to them? I always wanted to know, Mensans have inquiring minds! Some years ago I joined a broadcast club where "old-timers" from Denver radio and TV get together for a Saturday brunch every six months. I saw an elderly lady in her mid 70s in a wheelchair. I knew that Fae had had a stroke in 1974, but, was THAT really her? That beautiful chic redhead that I fell in love with in the 1950s? After checking her nametag a few times to make absolutely sure it was really her, I sat down and talked to her. She was very friendly, called me by name, and invited me to come over to her house to look at her "archives." I said, "You know, you and Fred had such an interesting career, traveling around the country entertaining, even appearing on the Ed Sullivan show. Have you ever thought about writing a book on this?" She said, "No, not really." I said, "Well, maybe you could tell me a bunch of stories, I'll type 'em up on my computer, and we'll make a book!" She said, "Let me think about.....OK!!!" And off we went. I came over to her house with my tape recorder, and found out everything about her life. I took my 35 mm camera with a close-up lens, and copied pictures from her albums and shoebox collections. (Fred died in 1982) We put a book together called "Whatever Happened to Fred'n'Fae?" It has 140 pictures in it. We signed an agreement splitting the cost and the profits. I decided to try something against all sane advice. I'll REALLY "self publish" this thing. I'll print this baby myself on my computer, staple it together on my kitchen table, and call it a "book." Did I get away with that nonsense? Keep reading.... I had no idea how to market this thing, so, I called the Tattered Cover and asked them, "How Can I get a book into your store?" They told me to send them a sample copy, and they'd call me. I'll never forget the call: TC: "I looked at your book, I wasn't in town when Fred'n'Fae were on, but I guess it's all right as a book. I showed it to a few other people, they weren't real excited about it, but, well give you a chance, we'll carry your book." DM: "GREAT! Fantastic! You've open the doors of opportunity!! How many copies do you want?" TC: "Two." DM: "Uhhh....two hundred? two dozen? ehhh...just two? Well, ya know, Gene Amole might write a nice article on this book in his column." TC: "Sounds like a nice tie-in. But we'll just take two. By the way, if the book doesn't sell within two months, we CAN get our money back, can't we?" I must admit, things didn't look too good! A week later, Gene Amole wrote a very nice article about the book in the Rocky Mountain News. (I had given him a copy) And the night after, I was a guest on Peter Boyle's TV show, and the show was devoted to the book. Two people from the Tattered Cover called me in a panic: "Are we supposed to be carrying this book??" "Of course, I GAVE YA TWO COPIES!" "Well, we need 84 COPIES PRONTO!" Yipes! The next week they ordered 100 copies. The week after that, 80 copies. For two weeks, the Denver Post listed my book as one of the top five local best sellers in Denver (in soft cover non-fiction) Barnes and Noble, and other books called me from their national headquarters, wondering what was going on, and to send them a copy. I bought a color Laserjet Printer to speed up production. You might say my house was suddenly a "book making" operation for a few glorious months! Things have settle down a bit now. The Tattered Cover still carried the book for years. You can find it on Amazon.com. The libraries carry it. So did I get away with it? I'll say, "yes" to that question -- but I do have one piece of advice if you want to write a book. KEEP YOUR DAY JOB! I had to scramble to get caught up on my finances -- I don't think I can afford to have another success like that again! (after I wrote this article, Fae Taylor died in February of 2003) |
| WRITING A BOOK? KEEP YOUR DAY JOB! |
