Newspapers take a stand, support cartoonist under threat of death by extreme factions

Salman Rushdie introduced the world to radical Islam when a death threat was issued against him by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini of Iran. The threat not only extended to the author of The Satanic Verses, it also extended to his publisher. Recently, Ayaan Hirsi Ali experienced a similar threat, fleeing to America after her friend filmmaker Theo van Gogh was brutally murdered on a city street in Amersterdam. Hirsi Ali and van Gogh collaborated on a film about violence against women in Islamic societies. Hirsi Ali didn’t pull any punches when she followed that with her best-selling memoir Infidel. At the present time, artist Kurt Westergaard has been forced into hiding after he received death threats because he drew a cartoon depicting Prophet Muhammad wearing a bomb instead of a turban.

This sort of fanaticism makes an American incredulous, and it usually has the same effect on Europeans. But in Westergaard’s case, his home country Denmark isn’t going silent. Three newspapers in that country reprinted his cartoon in a show of solidarity.

Perhaps the greatest challenge to Westerners is getting across the concept of freedom of speech to those in countries governed and/or oppressed by fanatics. Solidarity in the press is a great place to start. I’ve read comments on some newspaper Web sites that question why a cartoon like this is published, knowing it may provoke violence. To an American that is a question more dangerous than the violence that might be provoked.

The diversified writer: covering rugby league and politics, with writing and advertising along for the ride

I wrote a column last week about a writer opting to work as a generalist. This morning I realized it probably isn't for everyone, but it really suits me. The first email I opened was a request from Sky News to come up with some commentary about the Florida Primary.

Covering Florida was staring me in the face, a hungry blog begging for a mouthful of content. I remember wishing for 50 visitors a day. Those days were the calm before the storm. There's lots of content there, not only about the primary but also about the Australia Day Challenge.

I just finished my column for Web Savvy at The Writer. Subscribers can read my ideas about 'web-working' and see what others have accomplished by collaborating with other people they may or may not have actually met in person.

Meanwhile, I blogged at Beneath the Brand, explaining why I think rugby league is good for American businesses, large and small.

Each day I've worked on my nonfiction book, with a target of March 31 for manuscript completion. I've set the same deadline for the poetry manuscript--I'm down to nuts and bolts on that one, with the hard part (writing the poems) basically done.

Why am I telling you all this? So you'll know exactly what I mean when I use the term 'generalist.' In looking more closely, I guess it's obvious I'm passionate enough about several subjects to write about them repeatedly. So within that generalist arena, there are some specialized categories.

Bookstore moments yield wisdom for authors

A couple days ago I finished up an interview and dropped by a bookstore on my way home. I’ve been visiting bookstores in a purely clinical way lately. Rather than wandering around mindlessly and coming out with a bag of books, I’ve been studying the way books are arranged in stores and especially the way they’re categorized. Either way, I still come out with a bag of books. When I visit stores I talk to people. I’m in the process of formatting my nonfiction manuscript, and this time, I’m doing my homework ahead of time. This will also help me to put together a marketing plan for my publisher.

I asked one bookseller how books with a geographic theme sell—I can’t help but notice all those Florida-related titles in every bookstore I visit. “They sell great,” came the response. I’ve noticed those titles are re-stocked on a regular basis.

I told another bookseller it’s hard for me to understand how some books are such blockbusters. “They’re sort of like a movie of the week, the novels at least,” I told him. His answer was uncomplicated. “A lot of them buy their way onto the shelves.”

I confess for me, the hardest part of the book business is committing to doing the legwork to help promote the book—that’s especially important with a small or regional publisher. I’ve come to learn big publishers also expect effort from an author, but many of them actually prohibit some authors from doing booksignings. That’d be fine by me. Booksignings are a tedious, draining way to sell your book even if you meet really nice people in the process.

Yesterday, I picked up a copy of a new novel, Nelson DeMille’s Wildfire (it's proving to be a good read). As I headed to checkout, I dropped by the regional authors section to see if my own nonfiction book was there. Four copies were on the shelf. I stood there for a few minutes, remembering that when I was young, I dreamed one day I’d have a book with my name on it. Standing there, I took in the measure of that. It was a good moment to savor. I didn’t let myself remember the hard work doing the author jig. I figure there’ll be plenty of time for that when the next one is about to come out.

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Tina Brown does the Clintons (with forthcoming book)

COMMENTARY


It’s all over the news. Tina Brown, former editor of the New Yorker and another in a long line of authors of books about Princess Di, is writing a book about those darlings of the “intellectuali” The Clintons (the ‘T’ on ‘The’ is capped on purpose). I’m not really sure why we need another book aimed at the populace on a topic as worn as my 10-year-old Birkenstocks, but I suppose the publisher, Broadway Doubleday Publishing Group, thinks it’s a good idea. Plus the Clintons are, like Di, basic royalty I suppose. The book is scheduled for a 2010 release, by which time it is possible Hillary will be Commandress-in-Chief and Bill will be First Spouse.

I tried to read a bio of Hill. After buying the hardcover copy of Carl Bernstein’s A Woman in Charge, I made it through 39 pages. You can only spell ‘boring’ one way. I ranked it right up there with Ian McEwan’s Atonement. If I were placed in solitary confinement and had only those two books on the shelf, I might pick one of them up and try to read them again. Under no other circumstances can I imagine indulging either of these self-indulgent authors’ books. Both of them are just a shade more boring than It Takes a Village, a book that succeeded in convincing some that children are primarily everyone's responsibility instead of the two people who conceived them.

Of course, Brown’s book will be fodder for (1)library orders, (2)book clubs, especially those with female members, and (3)bookstores who hold a Tina Brown event whether she appears in person or on a video screen as so many tony authors do nowadays.

Meanwhile, Clinton fans can take comfort in knowing yet another tome recounting the dandy duo’s interests, pursuits and habits will be served up in glittering prose (Brown always writes glittering descriptives) within two years. The rest of us can go drown our sorrows in the nearest bottle of Scotch and close our eyes when we walk past bookstores in 2010.

Seinfeld may want to apologize to author Lapine

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld has been very outspoken about accusations of plagiarism levied against his wife Jessica by author Missy Chase Lapine. During appearances on TV shows, Seinfeld has implied Lapine is a “wacko” and among other things, he called the author “angry” and “hysterical.” An attorney for the Seinfelds said Lapine’s claims were “unfounded and untrue.” Both authors’ books deal with getting children to eat healthy foods, even if they’re picky eaters.

After reading Lapine’s legal complaint, I’d have to say she provides some very persuasive evidence. For one thing, Lapine isn’t a “wacko.” She’s a professional writer, the former publisher of Eating Well. She serves on the Culinary Arts Faculty at The New School. She serves on the Children’s Advisory Council of Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of New York-Presbyterian where her culinary nutrition methods are used in pediatric wards.

After carefully reading the examples Lapine set forth, comparing similarities between her book, published before Jessica Seinfeld’s book, there are one too many similarities. Lapine had submitted her manuscript to Harper Collins, who rejected it. HC later published the Seinfeld book. Lapine’s book is titled The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids Favorite Meals. Seinfeld’s wife’s book is titled, Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Getting Your Kid Eating Good Food. Both books have identical techniques (the use of pureed healthy food items, disguised in favorite recipes) and the logos were eerily similar. Lapine devoted her life’s work to developing her recipes, and it’s hard to imagine that two authors would choose identical ingredients to puree.

If I were a judge hearing this case, Lapine would win hands down. It’s irresistible to theorize there was a crossover with the publisher somehow; after all, Lapine had submitted before Seinfeld. Perseus published Lapine’s book, and even brought to HC attention similarities between the books after Lapine showed her publisher a promo brochure for the Seinfeld book.

Read the list of extensive similarities between Lapine’s book and Seinfeld’s wife’s book at The Smoking Gun where the complaint is published. In my opinion, if what the complaint says is accurate, and the examples are accurate, Seinfeld owes author Lapine a sincere apology. I wonder how the comedian would react if he found someone else marketing one of his routines, with minor alterations.

This is simply another example of what happens when the publishing marketplace is monopolized by a few big houses with a gluttonous appetite for celebrity-written (or ghost-written) content, and the only emphasis is profit. I doubt publishers even worry much about plagiarism, because unless you can spend a lot of money on attorneys, you don’t have a hope in hell of protecting your work. My sympathy goes to Lapine.

What is it about publishing a book?

I’ve forced myself to dig into the haphazard manuscripts on my desk, because I know I need to get a book out. My newest book is two years old. I left an agent and a couple publishers hanging. My frustration isn’t over writing the book; I do that almost without trying. It’s the business end of the book that puts me off.

For one thing, dealing with contracts and rights to future works (aka ‘slave clause’). For another, the sheer grunt work in assisting with marketing—that, combined with a busy freelance schedule would challenge anybody. And I don’t want to give up the work I do for newspapers, magazines and Web sites. I don’t want to give up the hours I still, for reasons far beyond any logic on earth can explain, devote to writing poetry. I do like to share writing and talking with audiences, so I suppose I can be grateful I don’t find that aspect of promotion drudge work.

The book biz, as many of you have heard me say, sucks. Publishing is so overwhelmingly dominated by a handful of large companies. I admit I like small presses—those where you can sit down face to face with a person who’s at least somewhere near the top of the chain. But the frustration factor here is over sales—small presses just don’t have the bucks to do a lot of promotion. And they won’t get those library orders that products from big publishers automatically get, in part because libraries are hooked on big publishers as are most bookstores.

Still, I work on the books each day, part of a New Year’s resolution to finish the manuscripts by the end of the first quarter. I think most writers love the writing but hate the biz, one of many reasons I haven't rushed to self-publish.

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I contributed to the anthology Letters to the World:Poems from the Wom-Po Listserv (Red Hen Press). The book is a diverse collection of essays and poems from poets, some of whom are famous and some of whom aren’t.

Read my latest column for Beneath the Brand, ‘Santa gets busted and a campaign succeeds.’