Evanovich Leaves Longtime Publisher St. Martin's Press After Asking for $50 Million Book Deal

Is Janet Evanovich worth $50 million? That was the question we asked ourselves in this week's magazine. Although no numbers have been disclosed, Evanovich now has a new publisher, having signed a four book deal with Random House's Ballantine Bantam Dell division.

After Evanvoich's longtime house, St. Martin's Press, played down rumors that she might defect after asking for a pay day in the neighbohrood of $50 million for her next four books, the author indeed left. A Random House rep refused to comment on how much the deal was worth. Now BBD, which took world rights in the deal, is planning its first Evanovich title for mid-2011.

In Random House's release about the deal, the company touted some impressive statistics, citing the fact that 75 million copies of Evanovich's 33 novels have sold worldwide. The house went on: "Her new titles are huge simultaneous e-book bestsellers, as is her backlist, and each of Ms.Evanovich's novels also are million-copy paperback bestsellers. Her foreign sales also are large and growing."

World rights for the new Evanovich novels were acquired by BBD editor-in-chief Jennifer Hershe. Two of the books will be Stephanie Plum novels, and the other two will be in the author's newer "Unmentionable" series.

From Publishers Weekly July 26, 2010

Quote of the Day for the Writer

“Just in time for my 50th birthday, I discovered that I could write fiction. My husband had urged me to try fiction for 15 years before I did…I believed that if I couldn’t write ‘literature’, I shouldn’t write at all…Now, I would say to young women, do something you have a true feeling for, no matter how little talent you may believe you have. Let no masterwork be your goal---a modest goal may lead you further than you dream.”

---- Judith Krantz speaking at her 40th Reunion. Judith graduated from the upscale Birch Wathen School in 1948. Barbara Walters is a childhood friend who also graduated from that school.

Judith Krantz wrote Scruples , I’ll Take Manhattan, & ‘Til We Meet Again

Waking the Subconscious

The subconscious: Can the unknown corridors of your mind be hidden pathways to creativity? Author and mental health counselor Kelly L. Stone (Grave Secret, Time to Write) thinks so, and with Thinking Write: The Secret to Freeing Your Creative Mind, he documents how she believes writers can channel their hidden halves to pump up their pages.

What’s a Key To Unlocking It?

One key is related to brain waves. Certain brain wave states are associated with the subconscious mind and creativity, specifically the alpha wave state. Alpha waves are responsible for causing people to get “into the zone” and are documented to be linked to creativity. Professional athletes have been capitalizing on the alpha wave state for decades to improve their performance.

Music is a good way for writers to get the brain into an alpha wave state. Many of the bestselling authors I interviewed for Thinking Write use music as a way to unlock their creativity. What you do is choose music that matches the theme, tone or message of what you are writing and then listen to the music only when you write. Over time, you set up what is called a conditioned response to that particular song or playlist, and when you hear it, you trigger the alpha wave state and are automatically in touch with your subconscious mind and deeper levels of creativity.
Do you have any advice to keep your creativity going strong once you’ve tapped into it?

Ride the wave for as long as you can. Also, be alert to messages from your subconscious throughout the day. It takes time to learn how your subconscious mind communicates with you; some people get hunches, others get dreams that offer an idea or solution, or ideas “pop” into their heads at odd times.

What’s the best craft advice you can offer?

Write on a schedule. Don’t wait “until you feel it.” Set aside time every week for writing (with a built-in time off if you need it) and then when that time arrives, sit down at your desk and write no matter what else is going on. That’s the only way to get words on the page—and, as many of the authors I have interviewed say, you might write crap, but you can edit crap. You can’t edit a blank page.

Writer's Digest

Lemony Snicket Moves On

Daniel Handler, aka Lemony Snicket, has signed a new five-book deal with Little, Brown, leaving HarperCollins to follow editor Susan Rich.

The deal includes a new four-book series from Snicket (the first book is due out 2012), and a separate YA novel---written under the name Handler—due out in 2011.

From BookPage January 2010

Grand Valley alumnus collaborates on latest 50 Cent film script

Brian Miller, a 1999 graduate of the School of Communications at Grand Valley State University, has co-written a movie script with Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, currently being filmed in Grand Rapids.

With the working title of "Love Me, Love Me Not," the film tells the story of an all-star running back at the height of his football career, who is faced a sudden change-of-life event. Jackson plays the lead role and has been in Grand Rapids for a week filming scenes, on Grand Valley's campus and elsewhere, for a trailer to secure financial backing for the film. Other actors in the film include Lynn Whitfield and Mario Van Peebles. William Eubank is directing the film.

This is the third film collaboration between Miller and Jackson. Miller wrote and directed "Caught in the Crossfire," shot in Grand Rapids in May, and collaborated with Jackson on the script for the action thriller "Gun," which completed filming in Grand Rapids last month. Both films had Grand Valley alumni on their production crews.

Miller spoke with students in several classes during the past week, sharing his own road to Hollywood and encouraging them to take advantage of every opportunity to get involved and learn from the pros. Noting the Michigan film credit incentives and the new Hanger 42 studio in Walker, Miller told students they no longer need to move to Los Angeles to get started in the film industry. "You now have everything you need here and a growing number of opportunities," said Miller. "There's no other place like it."

From GVSU.edu

Beautiful Malice

Australian mother and small-business owner Rebecca James has sold world rights to her first two young adult novels for major bucks, going from mom to millionaire overnight after her manuscript was pulled out of the slush pile by a U.K. agent. The rights to Beautiful Malice and its sequel sold for $600,000 in the U.S. alone, according to the Wall Street Journal, who calls James the next J.K. Rowling.

Since the days of big advances for the heck of it seem to have disappeared with the recession, this signals that Bantam Dell expects a Rowling-sized payout once the books are published.

Beautiful Malice is a story of the friendship of two girls. One has lost her sister in a horrible murder; the other is a chilling and charming party girl. The series has been described as Twilight without the vampires ----and with the sex.

Kate Miciak, editorial director of Bantam Books, who won U.S. rights, said, “You had only to read the opening sentence ---“I did not go to Alice’s funeral’---to know that you had instantly fallen under the thrall of a strong narrative voice.” The book is scheduled for a September 2010 publication in the U.S.

From BookPage January 2010

Amazon Kindle iPhone App

If you want to jump on the Amazon eBook store without forking out for a Kindle, or alternatively want another way of reading your Kindle’s books, Amazon has just launched its Kindle iPhone app in 60 markets around the world, including little old Australia.

It’s a free download, and lets you sync your bookmarks and notes across your devices. Well worth the download, even if you hate the idea of eBooks as much as he idea of spreading marmite over cinnamon toast. Or anything, for that matter.