The Breakdown - December, 2020
Hello, hello, hello! We’re back with the latest issue of The Breakdown for you! Just a reminder that I’ll be switching things up a bit and working towards getting you one (occasionally two) news & events style articles monthly, but making them longer, with more content or deeper analysis. I’m also aiming for one premium post a month, that being either a Writer’s Workshop or an Industry Deep Dive.
Speaking of the Writer’s Workshop, for those of you who didn’t see the full, in-depth critique I did for Rodney V. Smith, I just had to share the absolutely lovely feedback he provided. Seriously, it made me ugly cry. 😭
Now, I know the full critiques and comments aren’t viewable unless you’re a Premium Supporter, but there will always be a “Preview Version” where you can read the high-level assessment or analysis. If you didn’t see Rodney’s preview post, you can check it out here.
Also, just in case you’re dying for some input on the start of your story and are hesitant to give it a try, I’m just gonna drop some feedback from the other two participants in the Writer’s Workshops. Can I just tell ya’? They left me tickled pink!
So, don’t be shy. Putting your work out there is a critical step in the process of becoming a professional writer, and I promise, I don’t bite. 😁 Plus, I’m running out of submissions! So, if you’re at all on the fence, now’s the time to join us. Sign up as a Premium Supporter and submit your first five pages or query letter here: The Breakdown Writer’s Workshop Submission Form!
All right. With that, let’s dive into the news.
News
(Click the titles for the source articles)
You know I realized recently, after getting a question from a subscriber, that for the book deal announcements that make reference to a deal size, some of you may not be familiar with how that breaks down. And while I get my leads from all over the web, some select deals are drawn from Publisher’s Marketplace which tends to mention the deal size.
Publisher’s Marketplace is a service and trade publication that costs about $25 per month (thank you Premium Supporters for helping us gain access to that resource!) And while it’s pretty “spendy” as we like to say here in Portland, Oregon, it’s definitely a resource you should subscribe to whenever you get serious about querying. In fact, I’ll show you a neat trick you can do with it to more closely track deals from agents you’re planning to submit to. This will be in my next Industry Deep Dive - Inside the Agent’s Brain.
Okay, so for those not familiar, here’s a key to the deals
Book Deal Sizes
"nice deal": $1 - $49,000
"very nice deal": $50,000 - $99,000
"good deal": $100,000 - $250,000
"significant deal": $251,000 - $499,000
"major deal": $500,000 and up
Book Deals
Emily Whitson's THE RETREAT, wherein a workaholic lawyer infiltrates an exclusive single's retreat on a remote island off the coast of Hawaii, risking everything to find her best friend who disappeared under mysterious circumstances and to expose the true nature of the retreat, only to realize that she may never get off the island alive, to Sue Arroyo at CamCat Books, with Helga Schier editing, in a nice deal, for publication in fall 2021 (world).
Lauren McBrayer's LIKE A HOUSE ON FIRE, about a married mother of two who returns to her career as an architect and forms an intimate bond with her beautiful and brilliant female boss, to Gabriella Mongelli at Putnam, in a pre-empt, by Kristyn Keene Benton at ICM (world).
Alison Hart's THE WORK WIFE, set over the course of a single day, about a 38-year-old personal assistant to a wealthy film mogul whose unexpected encounters with the mogul's current and ex-wife at a Hollywood party have life-changing consequences for all three women,
Brian Charles's AFTER SHE WAS MINE, in which the downing of a man's trans-Pacific flight starts him on a cathartic journey of redemption that forces him to reevaluate his marriage, his lies, and everything he thought he knew about his son's tragic death, to John Scognamiglio at Kensington, in an exclusive submission, for publication in 2022, by Marlene Stringer at Stringer Literary Agency (world).
Missouri Williams's THE DOLORIAD, centered on an incestuous family clan fighting for survival in the wake of a mysterious cataclysm, equal parts grotesque, humorous, and philosophical, exploring changing meanings of family, language, and evolution in an abandoned world, to Jackson Howard at MCD/FSG, for publication in winter 2022, by John Ash at PEW Literary, on behalf of Dead Ink (NA).
Elaine Murphy's debut LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO, pitched as a fresh take on thrillers like Dexter and perfect for fans of Jessica Knoll and Stephanie Wrobel, in which a female serial killer enlists her sister to help cover her tracks, only to discover that she isn't the only serial killer in town, to Alex Logan at Grand Central, for publication in July 2021, by Jill Marr at Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.
Note - For those of you interested in book-to-screen adaptations and always wonder about what makes a good, high concept pitch, the one for LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO is a great example. A little Dexter, maybe a little Killing Eve, plus a sibling relationship? Yep! Sign me up…stat!
Jessica Martin's FOR THE LOVE OF THE BARD, a debut rom-com set in the Shakespeare-obsessed town of Bard's Rest, New Hampshire, in which a literary jill-of-all-trades and the veterinarian who broke her heart in high school find that while the course of true love never did run smooth, all's well that ends well, to Kate Seaver at Berkley, at auction, in a two-book deal, by Maggie Cooper at Aevitas Creative Management (NA).
Gillian Libby's debut SOMETHING REAL, a three-book series following three 20-something friends as they move out of New York and their lives take different shapes from anything they had originally planned, finding love along the way, to Rachel Gilmer at Sourcebooks, in a nice deal, in a three-book deal, by Joanna MacKenzie at Nelson Literary Agency (world English).
Alexene Farol Follmuth's MY MECHANICAL ROMANCE, a STEM #OwnVoices rom-com about two biracial teens in which the artsy new girl with an aptitude for engineering butts heads with the know-it-all captain of the high school combat robotics team she's forced to join, until they realize they've built more than just a robot along the way to Nationals, pitched as written for the smart, young women who don't see themselves in science, to Della Farrell at Holiday House, in a pre-empt, for publication in summer 2022, by Amelia Appel at TriadaUS Literary Agency (world).
Amanda Woody's debut THEY HATE EACH OTHER, told in dual POVs, the queer enemies-to-lovers romance follows 17-year-olds, who turn to fake dating after a homecoming disaster; their ploy begins to fail spectacularly, though, when unexpected chemistry and past scars interfere, weaving a profound connection between the two, to Dana Leydig at Viking Children's, in a two-book deal, for publication in 2023, by Suzie Townsend at New Leaf Literary & Media
Max Mason's debut series, SUPER SECRET SUPER SPIES to Karen Chaplin at HarperCollins, at auction, world English rights. This humorous middle grade series follows the Illuminati's newest member, 12-year-old inventor Maddie, on an unexpected adventure to save humanity from certain destruction. Publication of the first book, Super Secret Super Spies: Mystery of the All-Seeing Eye, is slated for summer 2021; Joelle Hobeika and Laura Barbiea at Alloy Entertainment brokered the two-book deal.
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Upcoming Book to Film & TV Adaptations
Ros Anderson's debut HIERARCHIES, about a sentient pleasure robot designed to cater to her husband's needs, and her startling self-discovery as she begins to realize more about the world and her place within it, to SK Global to be produced by Mazur/Kaplan and Lucky Chap Productions, with Margot Robbie to star, at auction, by Steve Fisher and Blake Friedmann in the U.K at APA on behalf of Conrad Williams & Sam Hodder.
Jess Lourey's BLOODLINE, a small-town cult thriller inspired by real events, optioned to Twentieth Century Fox Television, by Jerry Kalajian at IPG on behalf of Jill Marsal at the Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.
Silver Donald Cameron's BLOOD IN THE WATER: A TRUE STORY OF REVENGE IN THE MARITIMES, a true-crime saga about the murder of a vandal who had terrorized a small remote fishing community for years by decent people who had had enough, to Barrie Dunn at Pictou Twist Pictures, producer of the long-running mocumentary sitcom Trailer Park Boys, by Hotchkiss Daily & Associates on behalf of Denise Bukowski at The Bukowski Agency.
Roseanne Brown's A SONG OF WRAITHS AND RUIN, the first in a fantasy duology inspired by West African folklore, about a grieving princess and a refugee desperate for a new life, as the two find themselves on a collision course to kill each other amid their growing attraction, to ABC Studios, by Alice Lawson at The Gersh Agency and attorney Wayne Alexander, on behalf of Quressa Robinson at Nelson Literary.
Eric Smith and Lauren Gibaldi's BATTLE OF THE BANDS, an anthology of interconnected stories that take place at a high school's battle of the bands, from the perspective of teens running the show, cheering in the audience, and playing in the bands, to Playground Entertainment, by Liz Rahn at Red Sofa Literary.
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In two of Joanna Penn’s podcasts for The Creative Penn, she talks about two new tools Amazon is making available for authors.
The new Amazon Author Central is now much better organized, with a new interface, centralized marketing, and better analytics. You can also now manage your author profile across territories, where as before, you had to log into the portal for each country-specific Amazon site. Find out more about it here: author.amazon.com
Also, authors now have the ability to create their own series pages for their books. This is huge, because in the age of large libraries of titles, or large backlists, or extensive series of works, in any form, doing the heavy lifting of generating income these days, you get more bang for your buck by pointing potential readers to ALL your works in one shot, rather than counting on them to go searching out more to read from you. You can check out how you can create your own book series pages here: Series management tools from Amazon KDP.
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There was a big row last week when a group of over 12,000 authors rallied several writers guilds to protest (via strongly worded, open letters) Audible pushing their “easy exchange policy” for audiobooks, which wait for it…allows subscribers to return an audiobook up to 365 days after purchasing it, with no—or at least very few—questions asked. So essentially, Audible is saying to the subscriber, “sure, go ahead and buy those 20 audiobooks, listen to all of them in their entirety, and then return them for an exchange, no problem!”
Honestly, what does Audible care? They get to keep their $14.95 a month from the subscribers, regardless. But what happens to any potential royalties that would have gone to the authors of those audiobooks? Well, they just go “poof!” Yep, that’s right. The authors of those returned audiobooks don’t see a dime in royalties if their audiobook is returned as a part of this “easy exchange.”
Audible responded that the “easy exchange” policy allows listeners to “discover audiobooks and take a chance on new content.” They also claim that “suspicious activity is extremely rare.” But, reagrdless, they will now consider making the window of return shorter, bringing it down to seven days.
I don’t know about you, but I could easily listen to an audiobook in seven days, so the remedy still seems problematic.
In any event, most in the book community believe this is Audible’s thinly-veiled attempt to compete with the stratospheric growth of subscription listening and audio discovery services such as Spotify, Storytel, and Google. Heck! They were even pushing it in their marketing!
Let me know if this practice by Audible has affected you in any way. And if you want to read the deep-dive analysis, check out author Susan May’s breakdown of how Audible managed to pull off these shenanigans.
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Many conferences and trade shows consider the shift of their business online to be a temporary mitigation for the times we find ourselves in. However, for ReedPOP, the producers of Book Expo, this pandemic has made that maneuver impossible and has served as the death knell of the conference, overall. According to ReedPOP:
Given the continued uncertainty surrounding in-person events at this time … the best way forward is to retire the current iteration of events as (we) explore new ways to meet the community’s needs through a fusion of in-person and virtual events.
However, in the article I’ve linked to reporter Mark Williams from The New Publishing Standard puts the end of Book Expo in much more frank terms:
Book Expo, once widely regarded as America’s and the world’s most important publishing trade show, has for several years now been little more than the token holder of that title, long since eclipsed by London, Frankfurt and Bologna, and lately Beijing, Shanghai and Sharjah. Now it is being “retired”, which some believe is a polite euphemism for what is little short of euthanasia. Putting a wounded animal out of its misery.
Ouch…
Okay, so why is the shuttering of this event significant? Well, because to many, it signals a significant shift from New York as the center of the publishing world to other areas (and other conferences and expos) overseas. Events, such as the Frankfort, Bologna, and Shanghai book fairs are taking on much more importance and relevance, given the more global nature of publishing today.
And then there’s the fact that the Book Expo’s primary focus was to help foster author & publisher relationships with U.S. bookstores, and well…yeah, there’s not much point in keeping this rather anachronistic event around anymore.
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Publishers Announce Plans for Dozens of New Imprints in 2020
With the number of publishers dwindling (due to Penguin Random House's planned acquisition of Simon & Schuster, the Big5 is now down to the Big 4), the top-level publishing landscape is shrinking. But go the next level down, and it looks like Imprints (smaller entities within a publishing house that focus on publishing books with a cohesive market or brand identity) are booming.
If you peruse the list in the announcement from the American Booksellers Association, (linked via the article title), you’ll see that a good number are focused on amplifying marginalized voices (not terribly surprising) and graphic novels (actually, very surprising.) But there are other imprints coming into being that are focused on a wide variety of genres and topics, ranging from books inspired by Buddhist wisdom, books with a family-friendly nonfiction focus, and books that are ripe for adaption for film, TV, and streaming outlets (my personal favorite 😊.) Check it out. There are probably well over twenty new imprints in all.
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Alexander, a new digital storytelling app
Alexander is a subscription-based app offering commissioned short works by well-known authors (and with narration from the likes of David Tennant, Helena Bonham Carter, and Richard E. Grant), that synthesizes multimedia for a more immersive experience. According to the press release:
Every original feature is presented in multiple storytelling dimensions—a commissioned written story, an audio performance, and a super short film. The crafted film introduces the setting, teases the subject, and sets the mood. Audiences then transition into the full story and can read, listen or move seamlessly via The Toggle, a proprietary text-to-audio functionality, between the written word and the audio performance.
Okay, sure…the app focuses on non-fiction stories and relies heavily on top-tier talent, so it’s not exactly accessible to writers like you and me. Plus, it might just end up going the way of Quibi. But still, it’s another push into the realm of unconventional storytelling and that’s great. Now by unconventional storytelling, I’m not even talking about augmented or virtual reality here. I’m talking about the likes of interactive storytelling (Bandersnatch on Netflix), epistolary multimedia storytelling (the book Illuminae), and even such radical forms of storytelling such as (gasp!) audio-first & audio-only (Audible Originals).
The more consumers become comfortable consuming content and entertainment from non-traditional sources, the more opportunity it opens up for creators in general. And in the aftermath of the pandemic, with content consumption behaviors being reshaped and possibly, permanently re-formed, we need the big guys to push those boundaries for all of us.
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Universal Music Launches Content Studio, Led by Alice Webb
Universal Music Group (UMG) has set up Mercury Studios, which will develop, produce and invest in music-based storytelling.
In addition to content development and production, Mercury Studios will include global film and television producer Eagle Rock Entertainment (ERE) and build upon ERE’s library. Mercury Studios will produce content that has music as the foundation for projects across performance/live, factual/reality, scripted, artist and filmmaker partnerships and remastering and audio originals via film and television content, podcasts and short-form content.
Now, usually when we see that a new venture is partnering with an outfit that has their own library, it means the majority of their efforts will go towards monetizing that library, since they’ve already got the underlying IP. However, the new CEO of the venture does state in the article:
We can offer creators a vibrant space to realize the projects they are truly passionate about, tapping into the wealth of expertise we have access to. We are also keen to welcome new blood: talented, ambitious people who want to make distinctive, relevant content with music at its heart.”
Whether this is a “smile for the cameras” type statement or they really will be open to, and looking for, new talent is still to be determined. But I do see more niche entities opening up to provide scripted content to the growing number of studios (largely streamers) that focus on a particular target market. Think of how the History Channel had hits with Vikings and Project Blue Book. Well, they’ve got many more history-focused, limited drama series in the works.
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Hallmark and Lifetime channels release their first Christmas movies with an LGBTQ storyline
This year marks the first season in which Lifetime and Hallmark are including LGBTQ characters and storylines in their holiday movies in a prominent way: Hallmark with “The Christmas House,” featuring Jonathan Bennett and Brad Harder as a gay couple looking to adopt, and Lifetime has “The Christmas Setup,” the channel’s first-ever movie starring gay leads, played by married-in-real-life couple Ben Lewis and Blake Lee. Between Hallmark and Lifetime’s 74 holiday movies premiering this season, at least five of them will feature LGBTQ couples.
So, it looks like we’ve finally reached another milestone in the TV landscape. It started a few years ago with People of Color graduating from sassy best friend and wise neighbor next door to actually playing leads in the Christmas TV movies that have now become as much a part of our holiday season as candy canes and eggnog.
This is a huge leap for Hallmark, since last year, after criticism from a conservative group, the network pulled a commercial that showed two brides kissing. The network later apologized after backlash on social media.
And remember in a previous issue when I said that holiday movies (particularly Xmas ones) are turning into big business, especially now, given that streamers have joined the game? Well, this latest development will hopefully open up even more opportunities for writers to be able to write to a niche that’s growing so large and so fast, pretty soon, the Christmas season will officially start in July.
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Books to Film: The Option Versus The Shopping Agreement
And last but not least, I leave you with a real nugget. Jane Friedman’s very informative blog wades into the often murky waters of contracts for book-to-film adaptations. It’s a great overview of the terms you should know as well as getting into some of the nitty gritty.
Hopefully, we’ll all have need to do a deep dive study of this article someday. 😉
Final Thoughts
So, I’m going to keep this short. I do hope you’ve enjoyed, and learned from, this chunkier version of The Breakdown. I want to find more evergreen content for you so you can go back and re-read or review past editions and still find information relevant to your writing career. That means, overall, I’ll still be focusing on trends, deals, shake-ups, and events. But with these posts, more often than not, coming monthly, there’ll be less “breaking” news.
Cool?
Cool!
Okay, until next time!
~ Paula
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That audiblegate got me. The return policy is absolutely ridiculous -_- come on, amazon.
Another very informative piece and, of course, entertaining at the right points. Thank you Paula!