I'm excited and must share
 

feel free to move this to the parking lot, but I'm really excited. Some of you know I am writing a book on my lifelong obsession. the field with regard to Valentino has been very busy in the last couple of years, but I crossed a major obstacle today. It's official, I have a literary agent who is going to shop my book around. I do not harbor any illusions that this is not going to be anything other than very steep uphill climb to publication. For today I will be happy to have made it to base camp with an agent on my side who is excited about my project.

Secondly, I've had the most amazing coup pretty much drop right into my lap. One of Valentino's close friends was a cameraman and photographer. His (the photographer's) personal scrapbook of photos, candid, never published before photos, has just come to light and there is a very good chance I will have free access to use them in my project. Half that deal has been set already. :eek: :D

Wow, it's been quite a day!

Congratulations, SF ... and Valentino, no less. Verygood!

Very cool!

:snap:

Very cool! It's a hell of a lot easier to get published if you have an agent, and if you do score on the photog friend all the better! Wtg, Snow!

Fabulous! Congrats, and here's to continued good news :cheers:"

Awesome, and congrats!

FANTASTIC! I'm so excited for you!!!!!!

Wonderful news. Good luck with it.

Wow - congratulations. I'm so happy for you.

Great news! Congrats!
:)

This is Arthur Valentino the pastrychef from Cleveland we're talking about ? :p ;)


...I'm stoked !! If you're published, we might have to re-name you 3895 or Helen !

Holy heck! I'm so proud of you, D!

Tres cool! Congrats!

Congratulations!

Thanks! I'm really stoked, this is just a first step. It's a crapshoot and the likelihood of actually getting a contract is really slim (I'm trying ot be a realist).

That said, I do have a back up plan, I've also found a vanity press division of Random House that does fine quality photo books. Yeah, it will cost me 3k to self publish, but if that is what it's going to take to get it out there, so be it. I'm grateful to have an option to go that route.

So, now prepping the proposal and materials for the agent to start submitting. Everyone, please keep your fingers crossed for me, it's going to be a tough road!

Congrats!

That is exciting! I know that just getting an agent that feels the project is worth his time is a good thing!:snap:

Good luck!!

AWESOME! Congratulations!

I am a struggling writer myself, and hearing people who have gotten one step closer in their dream has inspired me to go after mine.

Congratulations! What a great experience you are going to have.

Congrats- I would love to write but have not made time in my life yet...good luck with it all! :)

How very exciting!!!

Congrats on your progress!!!!

Awsome! Congratulations!

First things first Congratulations.

If you do decide that you need to self publish give my friend Tom over at Creative Continuum a call tell him that Santa Ron from the Chamber sent you. No that is a different Santa on his website. I am much better looking, Ho, ho, ho

Thanks for the link, I will certainly keep this in mind if all else fails.

update
 

Well, I am making progress, my proposal is currently sitting at 8 pages (not including the nifty cover page and table of contents). This is much more difficult than you'd think. Having to really sell why there is a need for this book, and to sell me along with it.

Another piece of happy news is that Emily Leider (author of the most recent, and thus far, most extensive biography on Valentino) has volunteered to write the introduction. So that is another big plus in my column.

Authors who have consented to do a blurb for the book are Eve Golden, Kevin Brownlow and I've approached Jeanine Basinger (her book Silent Stars and Women's View are must reads for film study I think). And I just smacked myself up side the head, I need to approach Michael Morris (he did an awesome bio of Valentino's 2nd wife Natacha Rambova).

Many little ducks in a row this week.

And my sincere thanks to my friends here on the LoT for the supportive good wishes! :snap:

Great news!! Much LoT luck to you! :cheers:

Congratulations on your progress - keep going :D

Uh.... because fans will buy it ! :rolleyes:

Bit silly having to sell the concept like that... don't they think Valentino had a lot of fans, or do they think they've all died ? :confused:

I'm going to buy a copy as soon as it's released !!!

Put me down for a copy as well. I love biographies.

From your mouth to a publisher's ear LB!

Publishers are little automatons who have no real concept. When I was checking out catalogues of possible publishers to pitch, I figured, if Rizzoli can put out a cofee table book of Diana Ross, hell, they can do Valentino! ;)

If this gets published, I'll send you a copy for free, just for that! SMOOCH!

:D

Oh, and the proposal is currently at 15 pages and with my copy editor. I need to flesh out my commentary on the competing books in print (it's a slam dunk, none of the books in print are remotely anything like what I am doing. In fact, two of them don't even deal in a Valentino biography) Slam dunk to me vs. what a publisher thinks, a whole different sex! Now, I'm working on the proposed list of illustrations, picking out sample images and writing the sample chapter.

Indeed, those ARE excellent books. Jeanine is a friend and former professor of Tom's, Donna, so if you need us to put a good word for you, we can.

Well, that would be totally wonderful! Just goes to show, another case of not always what you know, but who you know! Networking! :cool:

I've not heard back from her yet since she is on sabatical. Her assistant emailed me that she would pick up her email sometime mid-November.

I've put her name in the possible author cover blurbs section of the proposal.

Many thanks!

Oh, I think that the what-you-know has to go hand in hand with the who-you-know in order for things to get off the ground sometimes, so you're off to an excellent start with your extensive Valentino knowledge and your random LoT friends. ;) I just talked to Tom about it-- he'd be happy to give her a buzz (and put a buzz in her ear...)

Great news! Thank you!

Okay, after 2 months, I've had an email back from my agent about the proposal. I realize I am a total neophyte at this soiree, but should I be worried I have the wrong dance partner?

Hmmm, I think that is the obvious choice to appeal to, right? Emily Leider's book (see below) sold over 10,000 copies, no not The Da Vinci Code, but I don't think at all an insignificant number.

It's not a biography! Photo Essay/Photo-bio, but why would there be a market or need for a book published and still in print in 2003. This is eye candy. There was a need for a new coffee table book on Paul Newman and Garbo and Louise Brooks, why would Valentino be so obscure as to need to have the book pop out of it's genre?

So, does she mean give up because most people don't know who he was or do I market this because he is a "gay icon"? :confused: Pictures tell the story, it's through the photos people will see what Valentino was like.

Now I'm really :confused: Brad Pitt?

Again, for what it is, I don't think 10,000 copies is anything to sneeze at.

We're supposed to talk this week about her thoughts, but I thought the proposal was pretty clear. I certainly harbor no illusions that this would sell 100,000 copies. I think anything close to 1,500 copies would be respectable.

Today, I guess you can color me a little disspointed. Am I being obtuse, how could she not get it? Everyone I sent it to, including other writers (and Emily Leider) felt it was strong and clear with regard to what I'm proposing. Emily (who has been around the block) said it was strong, clear and well written, very persuasive.

Is there a possibility that because your proposal is so good your agent sees an opportunity to push this beyond a niche market? There's a lot of Hollywood glamour nostalgia right now, it seems. Maybe her vision is that with a few tweaks it might move into that 100K copy realm.

If that's the case, it doesn't mean you have to go with that, just that you and she might be approaching this with different expectations.

Well, you know, I was thinking to myself... "Self", I said, "What a Rudolph Valentino book really needs is a picture of Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt, just to round it off, of course. It wouldn't be complete otherwise.

Silly Snowflake, how could you have missed this vital fact ?

:rolleyes:

Well, I just got off the phone. The agent is very excited and it lookign forward to the challenge of presenting this. It won't be easy, but she says it is worthwhile. She is, however, by no means letting me off the hook for an updated proposal. But, in talking I now see what she was trying to do for a hook for clueless editors. It is for me to bring up in my introduction how Valentino's influence is still felt today and to cite examples. This I can do.

So, now what I have to do is my introduction, and two sample chapters. But the big news is, she is going to bat for me.

Lashbear, I'd put a photo of you in the book if I could figure out how to work it in!

Oh come now, we can't have a straight line like that just hanging out there. Someone around here has to plug that gap with a pithy comment...

Just awesome!!! :snap: :D

First, congratulations, Snowflake! This sounds like a very intriguing project.

Now, for the agent. She wants two things: 1) an easy pitch (It's Valentino meets Brad Pitt meets gay disposible income!) and 2) 15% of mucho moola.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Yippee, how exciting!

Saw this title on a bookstore shelf today and thought, "If this thing with less info and photos in it than the corresponding IMDB entries can get published..."

AHA !! There's the Photo Op....

It's Valentino


Meets Brad Pitt


Meets Gay Disposable Income (Guess Who?)



PS: if you're going to put a pic of me in the book, do not, repeat, do NOT use THAT one.... :D

Lash... you realize that you are just BEGGING to have that picture used!

well..... maybe just a little bit... :D :D :D

A new wrinkle in the saga of the book. As it turns out, I'm eligible to apply for a grant from the Academy Foundation for 25k for my book. The Academy Foundation awards two 25k grants for projects such as mine. So, I'm applying, with no real hope of being awarded a grant, but it's worth spending some postage to find out. Keep those fingers crossed! :)

thats what one of my good buddies said about a writing contest he entered, just before he got published.

fingers X'd

Crossing my fingers for you too. Good luck!

Good luck! I'll keep my fingers crosed for you!

You won't know unless you try. Good luck!

Good luck! What's the selection process for the grant?

Go get 'em.

Thanks everyone! All good mojo is appreciated! I figured, what the hell, this is totally worth a shot.

Okay, here's the poop for the process, I think I can even cull a good portion of the necessary 5 page submission from the book proposal. I'll be working on this over the long weekend (in between podcasting interviews).

And here's the link from the Academy site with details of the grants.

GREAT NEWS!!! I hope this pans out for you.

You may not succeed 100% of the times you try, but you fail 100% of the times you don't.

Yay Snowflake!! :)

Go go, Snowflake!

The grant could go a long way to making the process happen, giving you a bit more freedom from worry!

GOOD LUCk!

:)

Yes, I'm excited, it took a while, but the deal is set. I will have access to 80 previously unpublished photos of Valentino taken by one of his close friends. No way I can use all of them, but the ability to cherry pick among them is awesome.

:D

Congratulations! :)

WOW !! I get this mental image of you beaming like a kid in a candy shop :D

I can't wait !

Oh, and any word on the grant thingy ?

I love the way this is progressing! Congrats!

Thanks everybody for your support. Yesterday was exciting, today I am sliding down the hillside of doubt and lack of self confidence.

Another author who knows I am working on my dream project, has just pitched Valentino to the Academy. He is currently working on another project for the Academy, he has published several other books, has creds (and I don't) and he has also pitched Valentino to other legit publishers and has gotten the nix. So, he has creds, he has published and with the Academy possibly backing Valentino, am I just batting at windmills here?

I just emailed my agent for a real, reality check about this. I'm thinking that what I have to offer will be small spuds compared to what the Academy can produce. But I do want to follow this dream of mine and if I have to self-publish, I guess I will.

Other authors (and friends of mine) have worked with this guy and I have been warned, he is a snake in the grass. They've warned me not to share my research with him. I guess I should not be surprised he's out there batting too. I don't have an exclusive right to the franchise.

I've had more than a few occasions where that slide down the "hillside of doubt" was just a setup for an awesome jump :)
If you do end up self-publishing, please put me down for a few copies, I've been getting more and more interested in Valentino recently.

I'd consider it a good sign - if monsieur snake is sniffing around the same subject matter, it must be a good subject! Maybe the other publishers turned him down because they've worked with him before and know he's a jerk.

I'm about to spew self-help book at you. So apologies in advance.

When we make breakthroughs and have good days, our "censor," the little voice in your head that belittles yourself, rears its ugly head. It's hard to learn to recognize it (I battle it every damn day) but it's really just trying to undermine the good, good work you're doing.

We all believe in you-- your agent does, too. And sooner or later, the publishers will get a clue. You just can't talk yourself out of it!

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

I heard that in Akeelah and the Bee and thought it was cool. Turns out it's a Marianne Williamson quote, but, what the hell, I like it.

Why the prickly, closed off Laurence Fishburne character was reading self-help books was not explained.

Im 100% in agreeance with LSPE on this one! Don't let the "censor" talk you out of it... You've got an idea, the knowledge and the passion - don't let the inner naysayer stop you!! Though many of us aren't nearby to support you in person, I feel confident in saying you have everyone at LoT behind you on this one.

You can do it!!

And StranglerLewis - interesting you should post that quote. I was talking about it the other day while driving home, and couldn't remember who the quote was from. It's often inaccurately attributed to Nelson Mandela. Thanks!

I always liked this quote by Mark Twain:

LSPE, feel free to spew all the self help you want, much needed and appreciated!

Pru, thanks, you're right, but in many cases it's all who you know (and what network you belong to)

Strangler, what a great quotation. If it were not so long, I'd tack it on my monitor, nonetheless, I've saved it.

Blueerica, thanks for the support! Means a LoT to me!

DPR, a great quote and one that will fit on the monitor!

LoT and the LoTizens who visit are really a wonderful bunch of peeps, but you all know that. :snap:

My agent wrote back

Congratulations Snowflake. Keep with it and I'm sure in the end you'll be happy you did.

Sounds like your agent believes in you. And we do, too, so keep at it!

Progress update
 

Well, this week has been a roller-coaster for me. But, not all was icky, I got the final newsletter out (and that was a monkey on my back the size of king kong). And, as I have been researching and reading, the lightbulb went off over my head, I do not need to re-invent the wheel, here. I discussed this with my agent and I also have a secondary meeting with an author she published about options.

That said, after a long hard look at what is really needed here, the first thing is not getting out my chisel and re-invent the wheel. There are 2 other biographical works on Valentino currently being pitched (one has a contract and will be out in 2009, the second is and has been in pitch hell for the last several years, dammit, I want to read that one, too). Again no need for me to reinvent the wheel.

Soooooooo, I am going to self publish this behemoth with photos and essays for each chapter. Let's face it, everyone I've spoken to, and all the people writing to my website, all they want is the photos. This I can do and do easily and basically, this is what I wanted in the first place.

I had checked with Xlibris last year and thought, okat $2500 investment, I can do this and get a decent book out. Well, I just went to check and that is now a $6000 deal. Not to mention that even if I went with them, the price for the book retail would be almost $100, I'd never sell any! I have no expectations of making any money off this, but going deeper into hock than I already am is not an option, so scotch that one.

Mousepod turned me onto blurb.com as an option. (Thanks Jesse!) It's not ideal in that I can't market the book through amazon.com, but I have 100% control over what goes in it, including layout (they have very cool software to work with) and minimal upfront for me to come up with, in fact, nothing for them, just me to file my own copyright (duh, that I can do) and purchase a couple of ISBN numbers (1 HB and 1 PB). The price point for the book options is fairly reasonable and I can get this out in a nice looking edition for something that won't break anyone's bank account.

So, this is where we are on it. With some dillegent effort on my part, and no more major drama for a few months, I can get this in the can for proofing in a few months time.

Oh, and the Academy sent me a nice letter, but I don't have the creds for the grant.

Progress - yay!

Vote Early and Vote Often!
 

I'm in the process of designing the Valentino book. The cover art, that is. I'm shooting for simple and something that "pops."

I've put up a page for people to make a selection (or to tell me that they all suck). The photos shown are in no way the only choices available. I'm merely trying to narrow down what is appealing to the people with an interest in Valentino. Portrait or in a film role? Sexy, smoldering or vulnerable?

So, please pay a visit and cast your vote (my choice is obvious, it's too great of a photo not to be included, even though it is in Emily Leider's excellent book)

Some possible cover choices are Here

Thanks!

I like the one you chose for the mock-up. The pose and shading looks great, and it's not one I recall seeing before. Even though he's in costume, he looks more natural than most of the other shots.

I love the one you chose. My second choice is the smoking pic. Although, it probably wouldn't be a good choice for a variety of reasons. But, it is muy sexy.

I too agree with your choice. I also like #10 as it has an air of mystery to it.

#7 would have been more interesting if he were in more casual attire.

One thing I did notice is that in most all of these pictures that he is looking down (as in direction, not mood). This better captures him and he seems to know it.

I think #13's the best, but NA's right the smoking aspect may be a marketing distraction.

Yeah, #13 as well - but maybe the smoking has just the right amount of "naughty" appeal to get attention?

Well #13 was long the "trademark" shot from my old version of the website. I really do not think the smoking thing is an issue. It's such an evocative photo of the glamor of the era. Let's face it, smoking in those days was sexy!

It's running just below the #1 shot from The Hooded Falcon, so far.

Thanks for all the input.

I like them all...well, almost. I don't care much for #9 and 12.

A as Valentino neophyte photo #6 is the only one I would look at and say "Ahh that book is about Valentino" from across a bookstore isle.

However I also like the captivating direct stare in #8.

My opinion,
Four, Six, and Thirteeen.

I guess you had better just use a collage of all the photos....

Believe it or not, that was also a suggestion by someone!

Option 6 is moving slowly up the ranks, but still not close to #1 or #13

I'm ordering a 20 page sample book tonight just to double check the quality of reproductions on the hand tinted photos and the toned shots I plan on using.

Also, Kevy if you are reading this, a CD will be coming in the mail soon with photo/scans for fixing!

And I have now had a second person tell me when they go to my website they get a popup from their anti virus staying some trojan is associated with my site. I can't find anything on my PC and lunarpages is the webhost. Go figure?

I'm torn between #6 and #13. I think #6 is instantly recognizable, so it depends on who/how you are trying to attract the potential reader.

Alrightie!

I just received the proof/sample copy of a blurb produced 20 page PB book of photos for my project.

The quality looks good, the reproduction on the images is pretty close. Not quite 100% on the toning (I see a little slight coloration on light backgrounds) but it is actually nicer than I was expecting. I can see that I need to rescan some photos.

The color tinted photo I put on the back cover is very close to color true. So that is good to know, as I have 4 hand tinted images I want to use.

What I did not get, and I read it, it just never registered with my brain, the book size is literally 8x10. Which is not a large book. The larger HB only option is 10x13.

So, I've got 3 choices:

8x10 PB - approximately $45
8x10 HB - approximately $65
10x13 HB - approximately $115

I can offer all 3, but then I would be designing 2 different books (and buying ISBN numbers for 3 rather than 2 as originally planned)

I honestly do not know how many I can sell at $115 a pop, it's a lot more than a Disney Coffee Table Book! ;)

Anyone have thoughts on the size and my options with blurb? If you want to see the stuff they've been putting out, visit them. I do need to revisit the software and see the layout I can do for the 10x13 book. It may work out well, I've just been working in the standar mode.

One of my best RV friends was like, of course I'd pay that much for a coffee table book. But, I do believe not everyone will. I'm not looking to make money on this, merely to get the thing out. I would only make money of I set the price with blurb (like $5 per book) but gee whiz, that just makes it more expensive!

If you think the larger format would better represent the pictures, I'd go with the larger format. One way to make the price point be a little more appealing (at least for the first several months), is to offer some kind of "bonus" for people willing to pay the extra money. You could, for example, offer a free 8x10 reproduction of the cover - signed by you - to anyone who purchases the book in the first 12 months.

On the other hand, if the original photos were 8x10s, would the smaller format hurt? How does a tight binding affect your margins?

Well, I do need to check out the layout options for the larger format book. Since not all the photos will be full page size, I might be able to do a slightly smaller page count and still have a book chock full of good stuff. As I said, when I get home, I will see what the layout options are.

I do not think the smaller format would hurt, but I think people might be expecting a larger format book. In the smaller book, the full size photos would be approximately 7x9 in size in any case.

In any case, I'm very happy with the quality I do see. It looks nice, feels nice in your hands and will be a nice book to thumb through. I did want to make it affordable, though and I am hoping at some point Blurb will go with some kind of distribution via amazon, that would certainly increase views and (one would hope) sales beyond plugging on my website.

Are you working with the portrait style of landscape style on the 8 x 10? Just curious.

I would say that you only need to offer TWO options: the 8 x 10 PB and the 10 x 13 HC.

Portrait is what I started with, I was assuming I would leave it that way. The 10x13 is landscape only, which is okay with me.

Very good suggestion KB!

Last week a friend who runs a bookstore in town, reminded me he had not provided me with a contact at a University Press he knows. They put out some nice film-related books. He insisted I use his name and that I do contact the editor, regardless of any outcome. So, I bit the bullet and did last Friday. Today,I received a very nice response that included a request for my book proposal! In the immortal words of BtD, squeeeeeeeeee!

I know the power of LoT, send a little swanky magic in my direction! :cheers:

You got it - coming your way!!

That magic of LoT has taken me to the next step!

They're running numbers (like how much this might cost) which may well kill it, however, it is going to be presented to the Board mucky mucks as something they should do! A viable, real, honest to goodness book! Criky!

Keep those good vibes coming my way, they asked for more information from me and we'll see how this all plays out.

Regardless of whether or not this goes any further, I'm finding even the hint of interest to be quite a boost and pretty darned exciting. Year of a Million Dreams, I think so!

Woo hoo! :snap:

Way to go Snowflake!

Yay! :snap: :cool: :snap:

Send all the magic I've got in your direction! :) YAAAY!

Guess I better get started on those photos soon...

W00t!

Go, Gadget, Go! I'm very excited for you. Good luck!

I look forward to hearing that the canvas upon which you have painted your dreams has reached publication.

What a great birthday present!

Very wonderful. Good luck.

Well, thanks everyone! I am hopeful and I had a phone call last night with an offer of addtional assistance, which is pretty awesome.

It is also amazing, however, the drama that is now swirling about this project. Honestly, some people are just too weird and nasty! Hopefully my little boat won't be shipwreacked and turn into a doombuggie! Sorry to be so obscure, but it's really kinda crazy.

Keep good notes. Your next project can be a tell all about writing a book.

Oh jeez, the stories of collectors, collecting and all that is a book in itself! Sometime it seems like a small pool with lots of guys peeing into it! Ew!

Well, I'm in wait mode (and I'm impatient, to boot).

The good news is, they asked for the proposal again and 30 or so sample images (I can't remember if I updated before Mexico). I sent them the goods and they've sent the proposal and CDs out to "readers" to get a take on the viability of the project. So far, the news back is good from the "readers" I know, thank goodness for good will among some of these people. Kevin Brownlow gave me a big boost and thumbs up with the publisher. He emailed me and told me so! Le sigh, it's like having a great being telling you that you're doing okay. He's a geek, but he is my hero.:cool:

Still in wait mode, still thinking that the $$ to produce this will lay me flat. But, I have another friend who has the proposal and wants me to come to LA to pitch in person if this deal goes no further. Two other potential publishers in the mix. Yikes! :D

The more the merrier !! It's sounding really positive !. I don't have a small pool, but I've peed in my sink here to bring you good luck. :D

Today's Update
 

Much to my surprise, I received a package from the possible publisher today. It's not all bad news, but there is some. The good news is, they are still interested based on the response from three "readers." Readers 1 and 2 were pretty positive and clear in the opinion that this is a necessary book. Reader 3 was a bit more problematic, and made some good commentary and a fair amount of critical commentary and some pretty uncomplimentary remarks about my scholarship based on the proposal not to mention that my writing style was "skittery." Ah well, can't please everyone. I'm trying to look at this analytically and not personally, heck I know I will need a damn good editor.

Bottom line, they want me to revise the proposal after considering all the points in the commentary by the readers and then go to the next step. They are also asking me if I know likely sources that might fund this expensive project. They're approaching the Italian Cultural Ministry, but want to know if anyone else comes to mind to come up with the "several thousands" needed for such an expensive book.

The editor wants to talk to me once I've read, considered and made a decision where to go next. I'm going to drop her an email and let her know I got the stuff and I will call her after the new year.

At least, shes still interested in pursuing it. That's a plus and not an outright rejection.

That sounds like good progress to me!

Sounds like some positive progress. Congrats!

Woohoo!!!! :snap:

:snap: :snap: :snap: :snap: :snap: :snap:

Sounds like mostly positives... no road is without its hills... unless you live in the plains, but that's another story.

Sounds like good news to me!

I think that is fantastic news! And what, pray tell, is "skittery" writing?

Surely there are preservationist societies for early film icons that would be interested in backing this project, not to mention such entities as SAG, the Academy, etc. Might you also tie in the possibility of a certain amount of the proceeds going to the groups that support aging actors, or some such thing? He was such an important part of our early film industry on so many levels- it just makes sense that maybe a group of interested parties might be able to really put this out there. Just a thought.

Pardon me, "breathless and skittery" was the term used. In any case, upon sleeping on it, talking with a couple of author friends, Rudolph Valentino Book Proposal and the Temple of Doom: Part II, the Sequel will begin production in January 2008.

Valid criticism and good suggestions on where to refocus the proposal and clarify the intent of the proposal and book are in there, as well a few snarky comments, so it's all good (including the pin pricks).

At least they are interested in it and looking for funding and more from me. I've got a phone call in to the editor and we'll see what advice she has for me.

I guess I should start working on those photos then

Another bump in the road
 

My editor and advocate has left the publisher I've been talking to and working with. Back to square one with them. :(

On the bright side, I'm now free to look elsewhere.

I've got a querry in to the Academy, this is right up their alley. Of course, I am not an academic, nor do I have any real creds when it comes to scholarship, so this is whistling in the dark. At least I have contacts at the Academy that could push this through.

Or bite the bullet and go with blurb.

Bah.

Don't give up! Keep on truckin'!
:)

You're all about 70's pop culture references today, aren't you.

I dig it, man! Can you dig it? Hang loose, man!

Oh, Snowflake. I am sorry. Publishing is such a crap shoot.

I'll tell you this much: I want to read your book. There is a public out there for what you are doing.

I never hug but for you, an exception. ((((Snowflake))))

Breastless and Slippery ? I would't call you... Oops, wrong glasses. :blush:

Thanks! I've not given up, but bah humbug nonetheless.

That said, I'll hang onto the glimmer of hope of an Academy publication. That would be ideal. I've got contacts, we just need the planets, moons and stars to align.

Update
 

Well, the great news is, my former editor and advocate is still interested in Rudy. At the new press, at least they do have experience in doing art/photography books. I just sent her a quick email, and got an immediate response back. My heart has lightened about 16 tons, there is still hope!

Yay!

:snap:

I'm probably the only one who is bummed about this as it means I need to get to work on the photos.

Great news!!!!

Good for you. Hope it works out.

Snowflake: Yaaaaaaay !!

Kevy: Just do the damn photos, already ! *Sheesh* :p

You are so absolutely correct. Don't know why I don't just take care of them.

Bad Kevy!

Well, no worse than me actually writing the damned thing....

Yes, Miss Snowflake, I also want you to have the damn book written, photoed, Kevvified, and published in time for my visit.

Thankyouverymuch.

Hah. I'll be there in November, darling.

Did you hear that sound? That's me striking a match to light a fire under you.

And now for a visual. This is my impatient expression. I am waiting to buy this book and listen to Snowflake being interviewed on NPR and watch her amazon.com number and ...


Move it along! It's all so exciting and wonderful.

And here I thought they banned burning witches.

Does that make this Salem's LoT

Two good news items:

1. I have actually started working on the photos
2. I learned how to use the Dodge and Burn tools effectively in Photoshop (we have an ex Adobe employee/trainer on staff). This will help fixing some of the photos.

Also, Susan has been helping with a lot of the simple but tedious tasks.

I'll take the bait: "So you have both hands free. Good."

This post also reminds me of an old Jewish joke, the punchline of which is "I'm shtupping her."

So I have finished 23 out of 48 pix (though due to work constraints, I need to take a sabbatical from Photoshopping).

I did want to share the one photo that has taken up the most time:

Before


After


Although looking at the "after," I see a couple of things I want to clean up.

Creating image is always a challenge.

You forgot to remove the cigarette from his right hand. Why do you hate our nation's children?

Well done, even better than I could do with PowerPoint. :D

Again, absolutely incredible. Thanks is certainly not enough, and way better than I have been able to do in photoshop elements and paintshop pro 12.

Shameless Self Promotion of the Valentino Kind
 

No pressure, if you need a bit of Valentino swag for 2009, the 5th annual calendar can be had here.

In the interest of full disclosure, there are no butt, package or otherwise interesting shots. Which means I will sell 2 or 3, at most. ;)

I don't know: you did a fine job with your avatar!

Damn!
:D


Nice work, KB!
:)

I just got an invitation to participate in a Symposium on RV in Torino next year (THUD).

Congratulations!

Hmm, a reference on Wikipedia called Torino "the Detroit of Italy". Ouch, cold. I'm hoping for your sake that's purely in terms of its importance in the car industry and that it doesn't share any other characteristics.

Do you know a lot about Recreational Vehicles?

Hence, it appears, the Ford Torino and Gran Torino.

Yeah, hence.

Excellent, SF. I'm excited for you. :cool:

The English language has some terrific words that nobody uses anymore.

I like "whilst"; I think I'll try to use it whenever possible.

The Starsky and Hutch car was a Gran Torino

I take it THUD means Torino Hunk Underware Discussions ?

I got this email:

Yay Kevy! That's great!

Wtg, KB! I've a friend with MS, and every year I sponsor her walk in the MS Walkathon here in Spokane. We have a very large MS population up here- I think that per capita it's one of the largest in the world. My friend is really an inspiration- she says she'll walk every year, even if it means crawling, and she raises some serious funds through her many sponsorships.

Alrightie, I can't remember if I posted this here or not, so if I am repeating myself, forgive me but I wanted to give you a 2009 update. After much long and hard thought, I decided to go with a self-published project by using blurb.com. The thought of another 2 or more years bewteen getting it done and getting it published just made me more depressed. I'm happy with my descision and am looking forward to completing the project. I'd like to do a HB, but I think it will be too costly for someone finding it on my site and wanting to buy it. So I will very likely go with a paperback, it will keep the book price down and hopefully will sell a hundred or so copies.

I've got all the material I can use, more than I can use, in truth. So, that earthquake you felt was me stopping the collecting of new images or new memorabilia. Seriously. In fact, I plan on scanning and selling a few in a very short time via the internet's great garage sale, ebay. By way of illustration, a photo I placed a nomnial bid on to watch on ebay last week, sold for $482 - seriously. Not a signed photo, just a candid photo. Amazing.

Kevy and GusGus have been working on some pics that needed tlc, which is saving my bacon. :snap:

So, I worked over Xmas and got the basic layout and design set up and I think it will be vey nice looking. My real problem is I need some cover art to make it nice and snappy. I do not like the options with the blurb fonts and layouts. This can be worked around by doing it in photoshop or some other graphic program. My problem is, I can pick photos, but I'm lousy at doing a design. Anyone want to volunteer for this project to get a credit rather than payment for your time? I do not want to further burden Kevy and Gusgus, who have already spent a LOT of time on this for my benefit.

Anyway, that's my news, I made my decision and hope to have the thing ready for August.

Congratulations on your decision. Do you have a title in mind? If not, I recommend something with the words "American Idol" in it. The ensuing lawsuit will do wonders for sales.

Good luck!

Bwahahahaaaaa, maybe I can crib the logo for real infringment issues?

Valentino Babylon? ;)

This is going to be fun. :)

Guess this means I need to get cranking on the photos...

This is a LoT-produced project! I'm loving it! This is what I had always envisioned coming out of a gathering of minds such as this. It's our virtual commune come to life. YAY Snowflake!!!!!!

CP is not one to let a challenge sit or allow grass to grow under her feet.

I think the title should be Hollywood Rajah! ;)

How about, "The Chic"?

Adding a trunk is now my trademark. :cool:

How's this for a title?

Rudolph Valentino The Silent Idol - His Life and Films in Photographs

Or cut the substitle and leave it

Rudolph Valentino The Silent Idol

"Lamb of the Silents."

He did die young.

I think the title (or subtitle) should make it clear that it's a photo book. Big selling point, there.

Humm..

"Rudolph Valentino The Silent Idol"
Sounds better but the reader will also need to know this is a photo book:

Rudolph Valentino: Visions of a Silent Idol
Perhaps?



Edited to add: DAMN. You beat me to it again MousePod.

Well, hopefully the cover art designed by either or LoT artiste who has rtisen to the challenge will make that very plain indeed.

How about: "Where's Rudy?"

Might be confused with Where's Waldo!

Hmmm, I like that or Images of a Silent Idol
Shorter title, better!

Oh gosh, this does crack me up, when put into the 'Where's Waldo?' perspective.

Kind of like the website with 'Benjamin Button' photos? He is in some big scene and you have to find him {or else it zooms in automatically, I dunno, someone just showed me}.

That would be a cool photo/poster...well, seems like a novel idea. :snap:

Rudy, Rudy, Rudy

Wait a minute: this book is all about the pictures? Now I'm REALLY feeling the pressure!

Attachment 1013

CP's artistry. Whaddaya think?

She's done a second one with the font all in NiteClub (but I did not send it to myself here at work)

That's really cool! I'm so glad it's all coming together for you, great work!

nice!

Beautiful cover!

That is perfection!!!!! Congrats and wow!

:)

This is a fun project, with challenges I've never faced before.

I'm a new convert to collaboration.

Well I'm going to have to take a contrarian position and say that is a pretty nice design. Good job.

CP has done a marvelous job, in particular since my "instructions" were pretty vague. I sent her a bunch of pics and said have fun and here are some other book covers I kind of like. It's got to be hard to do something where the person wanting the work done is not terribly articulate about what it is she might want.

That said, I'm going to ask for one more revision, minor. The text runs a bit too close to the bleed area on the top and bottom, otherwise, I think it's spiffy as heck!

CP has done a beautiful job on the gradient background and recreation of the smoke from the ciggie. I did not notice that it was not as in the original photo, awesome work!:snap:

Awesome work!

I love it! Nice work, Caddie. I'm so glad you're happy with it, Snow.

Thanks, everyone! :)Forcing Alex to agree with others makes it all the sweeter.

Au contraire, you provided plenty of book cover style samples, which is all I needed. You were exceedingly patient and not at all demanding or nitpicky. I think I got off easy!

Smokin'!

[What's a bleed area?]

It's a female thing.

:snap: :snap: :snap:

Wikipedia is a little misleading.

"Bleed" is additional image that extends beyond the trimmed edge. By printing this extra 1/8" of image, it allows for minor movement tolerances in post-press cutting. Without the bleed, one runs the risk of seeing a very small, but usually quite noticeable white edge where the image is supposed to run off (bleed) the edge of the paper.

What Snowflake was referring to ("The text runs a bit too close to the bleed area on the top and bottom...") was keeping live copy away from the trim. While typically it is suggested that "live copy" (text and images where it would be highly noticeable if they were clipped) be kept 1/8" away from the final trim edge, often times from a design aesthetic, one will keep type further away than that. From the looks of it - the type is more than 1/8" from trim, but I agree that it needs to be just a little bit more.

Hey: I have a bachelor's degree in this crap: it isn't too often I get to show it off in public.

Well, there is that too/

That's a much better explanation then what I'd typed out, erased, and linked to. Funny - I use it all the time - but trying to explain it clearly without showing a picture of it - well - I got pretty wordy.

Thanks for the expert explainer, Kevy. Hmm, guess I should get on that.

You're doing better than me: I've had the pix (that I am supposed to be cleaning up) for about a year and a half and am only about half way through them.

Man, it's been a while since I've submitted a quote.

Apparently. You seem to be a bit rusty and slow.

Yeah, I knew as soon as I typed that it would quoted. I thought about changing it, but I decided to leave it anyways.

What do you mean?

Sorry, I don't find the use of admin rights all that funny.

Boys, don't make me pull over the internet!

Well, from that you just sent me of the 25 pics you've cleaned up, WOW is all I can say! BEE-YOU-TI-FUL job! A miracle worker in digital form! :D :snap:

On the NiteClub only version, can you pump up the "Rudolph Valentino" a tad to make it pop a bit more?

Just to be clear, we occasionally comb through the quote pulling out duplicates (we're not 100% vigilant, but try to pay attention), so this was not an unprecedented use of admin powers (though my selection of which one was obviously biased in favor of humor).

I just learned that Valentino had a dog. He was an Irish Wolfhound named Centaur Pendragon.

He had more than one! That's a great pic!

A pair of German Sheperds Marquis and Sheik, a doberman named Kabar, a Mastiff (whose name I forget), the wolfhound he got in 1926 (his brother Alberto chided him on the expensive purchase) and Mayor Rolph (of SF) gifted him with a beautiful black spaniel named Mission Rudy. Poor Mission Rudy was given to RV on what would be his last visit to SF in July 1926, he was returned to Mayor Rolph. Here he is in front of the Fairmont Hotel with Mission Rudy.

Attachment 1015

Wasn't one of the pics for the book with a dog? Or was it just the train that I am remembering?

I get dogs and trains confused all the time.

Or was it the dog train?

Oh yes, I've got several. I can't remember which ones I've sent you for fixing, but I am sure there is at least one with a dog in it (or a horse)

RV also had a Great Dane, 4 horses and his wife had numerous Pekenese, one named Chuckie (and she also had a lion cub named Zela when there were living in sin on Sunset Blvd.)

I thought you just xeroxed stuff... ;)

I don't recall a hotel called "Sin" on Sunset? Did they mind her having a lion cub in her room?

I heard a tag line on the news this morning.

Oprah is doing a special from "Inside the Valentino Empire".

It took me awhile to figure out she's talking about that other Valentino.

there's another valentino?

If it's Oprah, I'm guessing this one

THAT Valentino has Pugs - 6 of them.

I don't know much about people but I know what kind of dogs they have. :rolleyes:

Okay, a MouseWife question.

I don't know if you would know this at all but it did cause some hoopla amongst my Cornell fans....

What type of dog does Chris Cornell and family have?

{Sorry if this is goofy {another dog!} but it just popped into my mind and if you don't know, I'll tell you. Then you will know if it ever comes up.}

Those are lovely photos. I love photos from that era.

I don't know, but if you find me a picture of him and his dog I can probably tell you what breed it is.

I lost the link to the shots {they were up in Canada and it had on a little sweater}. It is a Chihuahua. Can't remember if it was a mini one or not. If I find it, I'll post it.

I thought it would be good for your list. ;)

Going to be hard to find on the 'net, as he was in a band called Temple of the Dog.

Ha, that is true, Jen. This was more recent, actually.

Hee hee, but, when you put it like that, thinking of a little Chihuahua as being the 'dog' in the temple of the dog? I think in those days he had big dogs like shepherds.


{okay, my searching skills are horrible...can't find it at all....}

I had to attempt this.

Cornell's pets in 1993
That's the best I found, using terms like "celebrity pet".

I can't believe you found that!! Pomeranians, eh? So, the Chihuahua isn't so much of a stretch.

Thanks for finding that. :) {in my circle, that gives me some points :D }

Just got an email from an already disgruntled Valentino fan. They do not like the cover art. Butthead, if you're unhappy with the inside, fine, but the cover? Poohead!

Let me guess....

They were offended by the cigarette right?

Nope, just did not like the image, would have preferred one of the other choices I had posted previously. Butthead, it's beautiful! And, the real point is, judge the content, that is where the dominos of criticism will fall.

Um, I think the phase "Never Judge a Book by its Cover" became so common because many people do just that.


Then, of course, there's the human analogy ... but the literal interpretation has to count for something.

I think you should just put a crayon scribble on the front cover.

And I liked CP's designs - they were wonderful!!!

It would be nice if everyone bought your book hoping to be charmed. Human nature being what it is, I bet there's a good chunk of your prospective audience who will buy your book hoping to find fault and think to themselves that they could have done it better. Their money's just as good.

Can't please everyone on the internet, that's for damn sure :)

Okay, little update time, things are moving along swimingly. For me, the classic procrastinator, it's going okay. The downside with blurb is text insertion, that part is a PITA, a real PITA, it reformats and screws with your head in every whihc way. So the bulk of text is going in at the end and this will be time consuming to make sure it's not screwed up. I will also need to PDF the entire book so I can index it, this will also be a PITA. But I refuse for it not to be indexed.

In the middle of getting some images in place I decided to make a change to the interior design a bit, an improvement. I may also remove the background design and keep the pages a slight tinted color or not and keep them white. Not sure. Keep in mind the design layout is very simple and clean not too much in the way of gee-gaws. Blurb has some limitations and a lot of their "themes" just do not match my vision. So I kept it simple.

Once I get a PDF draft of some of it this weekend, I will see if I can extract a few pages for posting here for opinions. I only have adobe reader at home so it makes PDF editing impossible. I'm using cutePDF to do the conversion (suggested by the gurus at blurb) so if anyone knows another non-acrobat PDF generator, I'd love to hear about it. Freeware, that is.

The first run of promotional postcards came back from the printer. If anyone wants one PM me an address and I will mail one. Do not feel obliged I'm just putting it out there if anyone has a remote interest. The second postcardf will be done later in the summer, with actual ordering information and pricing. Kind of exciting to think I am almost done with this and it will be available.

The only bad thing is, and I do not know if it is really a bad thing, the book is going to be a bit larger (page count) than I'd anticipated. This will make it more expensive price-wise, so I am debating whether or not I add the $5 on top of the blurb price so I make a bit out of this. Goodness knows I will never get rich or never make back any of the $$ this project has actualy cost. That said, I do not want to put it out for nothing except blurb to make dough. If I sell 100 copies I will be happy. I'll cross this bridge when I do the final upload of the book to blurb.

I'm also debating on spending $$ for an ISBN number, it will cost about $125 and I also have the copyright application to think about. That's cheap ($45) and I can file it myself. I need to see what I actually need to send for the manuscript, if a PDF proof will be sufficient.

Oh, and the last bit of very cool news is the Valentino family will be donating an image or two from their collection for use in my book. While they have a book of their own coming out in 2010 sometime (which I am very excited about) it's like a benediction to get their approval on my project and to have them offer a rarity for me to use. :D

What program are you working in?

TRES cool !!

Will the promo postcards feature the cover design? :)

Yes, they do and you get the cover credit on the copyright page and in the acknowledgements.

BTW, can I send you another photo to play with for the back cover? I'm hoping you might be able to duplicate the tinting of the cover shot.

I might also send you a little photoshop project if you are up to it. ;)

I'm using the blurb software called booksmart. To do their books you need to work in their software. Text text boxes on the pages work in much the same way as MS Publisher (sh!tty) which I am used to from when I put out the RV Newsletter.

Basically you pick from the page layouts they have, and they just upgraded the software, I downloaded the new version last night. I see I might be able to edit the layout of the pages, which can be cool or a headache. Not sure yet. If it is going to allow me to enlarge the photo spot on the page, or move them around, this will be a good thing. Blurb provides many options for layout of the photos, but only a few I can really use because I do want to caption most of the photos.

YAY on all counts. :D Contact me regarding your PDF woes, too...

I will send you email tonight with goods for fixing. :snap:

Thanx for the update!
:)

Sample for final layout
 

Okay, except a slight change to the cover art, here is how it's going to be looking.

Attachment 1201

Attachment 1202

Attachment 1203

Attachment 1204

Attachment 1205

When can I order my copy?

It's lovely! I particularly like the dingbat on each page, nice touch. Oh, and the cover's pretty sweet too ;)

Katiesue, MWAH!

I have a lot of work yet to do, it should be ready by just before Xmas.

Sorry for the crappy cell phone pics, as I said, excited and must share. It's very cool to have something tactile to hold in my hand. The layout looks good, the image reproduction is great, the DJ is nice and heavy, the size is fine (10x8).

A lot of work to do and my proofreader is busy!

Ja!

I just want to try out one more version with a different font. CP has been too busy to send me the blank canvas.

I hope I'm in the acknowledgements as being an inspiration, a friend, and a really nice guy from downunder.... :D

Awesome. Seriously.

It's beautiful! I can hardly wait to see it IRL!

Very cool!

Awesomeness!

It is BEAUTIFUL!!! I can't wait to own one!

That looks amazing!

Snow, I'm so damned proud of you right now I can hardly stand it. It's beautiful!!!!!!!

Yowie! You made a book! Congratulations!

Gorgeous! WTG!

Looks great! Who's the guy on the cover?

Seriously... do we have a tentative release date?

:-)

From the Acknowledgements:

"No good deed goes unpunished, so they say. All my friends and acquaintances as well as various co-workers and bosses put up with me during this lengthy process deserve the lion's share of kudos. Fortunately, most of them did not have to witness the horrid spectacle of me writhing on the floor trying to form words on a blank canvas or screwing up my eyes trying to decide which photos to keep and which would not make the cut. They did, however, have to endure my endless prattle and musings about Valentino for years and years, and I am happy to say they survived the ordeal and I hope have forgiven me my excesses and I can still call them friends.....(bunches of names you might recognize and bunches not).....I must also give a shout to all of my friends at the Lounge of Tomorrow for their unfailing support, virtually and literally. Their support buoyed me up during the darkest hours."

On the front cover end flap of the DJ, Jen gets a special credit for the cover art design. :D

Kevy & Susan are in the portion under photo restoration. :D

It's some schlemiel who made old creaky movies.

Tentative before Xmas is what I have. I've got the ISBN # and I hope by the end of October I will have it pretty well finalized, except the editor reviewing the text. Then will come the sticker shock of the price. Since, after seeing the sample, I've decided to scrap the PB edition and just do a HB (the HB is only a few bucks more than the PB). At approximately 200 pages, it will retail for close to $60. I do not expect to sell too many at this price in this economy. But, this is the limitation of self-publishing. I won't earn any $$ for this effort, really, but I'm not doing it for $$.

It's not a done deal, but, I've been invited to do a book signing at a certain venerable bookstore (Larry Edmunds) on Hollywood Blvd. I'll let you know if this does, in fact, happen. ;)

Even though we never finished that project?

Do you still need us to work on that? Would be happy to, it just fell off my radar for a while.

This is huge!

Post the date as soon as you can? I will do my absolute best to be at your signing.

I'd love it if you can. Listen, I know you are busy and it's not like I've paid for any of your hard work, so I totally appreciate what you have done. Anything else is gravy!

Looks awesome! How neat to see my work on a real book cover! :D

I sent that to you a week ago - let me know if you didn't get it.

I didn't!!

rudyfan1926 email???

Oh, and CP, it is absolutely stunning in person, really!

here are some better pics I just posted on my website

VSM for using the word "schlemiel"!

I can't wait to get my copy!
:)
Do I make the check out to Snowflake, Donna or Rudolph's gal pal?
:D

I sent it to a diff rudyfan email. Ok, forwarded.

The book looks gorgeous, D. :) Can't wait to get my copy.

Thanks CP! Got it!

Also, thanks to everyone here on LoT for being so supportive, virtually and in other cases literally.

It's pretty exciting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

We're here to be your brassiere.

This is so exciting! I do hope that I don't miss when you post your book signing!! I know someone who would LOVE to come with me, biggest Rudy fan I know {besides myself, that is!}

Congrats!

O-kay. Been a while since I updated and the projected Xmas completion date came, and, quietly went. To make a long story short, too much chi was sucked out of me by some insane (and I do mean insane) drama having to do with all of the sheer weirdness that are some of the factions of Valentino fans. My energy level sank and all through December I could not even look at the book. So the book sat, and so did I. Believe me, there is nothing more strange than fans of dead movie stars, I've spent the last several months silently screaming "Jane! Get me off this crazy thing!!!" I've now been able to put that all aside and on ignore, thank God. But, a crazy does have a giant red target on my back.

Well, the last few weeks have been very busy for me. I am, at this moment, PDF printing the semi-complete book for proofing/correction/layout adjustments and possible editing of any images. Thanks to everyone for all the suggestions on how to overcome the pdf freeware issue. Silly me, a 30 day trial download of Acrobat 9 is working peachy-keen.

If I do say so myself, I think the book looks really nice. While I originally thought I'd have 150-200 images tops, it looks like the final product will be 300-350 photos! The book file itself is huge, just shy of 3Gb. Once I get the guts (words) input, that may take it over the top. The next hurdle will be uploading the behemoth to blurb. I've already contacted them about the book size and they've assured me we'll find a way to get it uploaded.

In the end, blurb upped the price of HB again and in this cruddy economy I decided to opt for the PB edition. The boon for that was I was able to increase the actual page count and lower the price. It's still going to be more expensive than your average PB book of this ilk. I'm at the mercy of blurb with this. Their base price is $50.95 and I'm tacking an additional $2 as my commission. Not much, and in fact, I will have to sell 3 copies to make $1 as blurb also charges $5 month for having the book in their store. Ah well, I never was in this for the money or the glory.

That said, later this year, for the real Valentino geeks, I will offer a large scale blurb HB edition at a hefty price, signed, numbered and limited edition of 50 copies. That will take years to sell.

To make a long and drawn out story short. The PB should be done, live and on sale by March. :)

Now, I appreciate all the support from everyone on LoT and I want to say right now. Nobody, and I mean nobody is obliged to buy one. I'm not posting here trolling for sales. It's a niche book and I've always said, if I sell 100, I will consider it a job well done.

At this moment, the book signing at a certain Hollywood bookstore will probably be in late April to coincide with the TCM film festival. I will not be attending that (the expensive film fest), I can't afford it, alas. I'll post more about that once the details are ironed out.

Anyway, once this is all done, what am I going to do with all my spare time and the hundreds and hundreds of photos I've got? Maybe I'll treat myself to Disneyland, I think that's the ticket!

I for one can't wait to have a copy. I've been following your progress and I'm so happy you're almost to the end. Hurray!

I'm SUPER excited to own a "first edition"!

It's finished, it's uploaded and it's for sale!
 

Rudolph Valentino The Silent Idol

The preview widget may not work yet. I've ordered the first 10 copies for my book signing at the SF Silent Film Festival. I'm in discussions for a possible event at Larry Edmunds in August.

Nobody here is obliged to buy, it's not exactly cheap. But, without your help and encouragement, this would not have made it.

Thanks!:snap: :snap:

It works now.

If I order one, how do I get it signed?

We are SO excited for you, and the book will have a special place in our film bookshelf. Will you sign it for us??

I may well be doing a book signing at Larry Edmunds in August. Hoping to hear from them this week to schedule it. Then I'll be happy to sign one.

After all of this, I think I owe myself a trip to Disneyland.

Of course! :blush: :blush:

I assume this is in Southern California?


ETA: Answered my own question.

:)

I'm so happy I could play a small part in your publishing adventure. Way to go!

When the $AU exchange reate cost came up, I was pleasantly surprised. We definately need to arrange a signed copy.

Bear, you and Stoat need a vacation. I suggest you fly to LA for my Saturday, August 21, 2010 7:00 pm book event at Larry Edmunds. It's now been confirmed I will be signing copies of the book then. It would not be the same without you two being there.

Anyone else in LA area who wants to show up for the event is more than welcome! :D

Book signing! Yipee!

Yay! We will be there!

Great!

In you all forget, I just added it to the calendar. :blush:

No obligations to show up or buy, though.

I'm so there!

OMG! I am almost halfway to my "I'll be totally satisfied if I sell 100 copies of this thing" 48 copies out the door. I can't believe it, the book is 6 days old.

:eek: :snap:

I'll hold it in my hands tomorrow, my copies arrive by Fedex. Hope it's as nice as the sample copy I ordered last year.

That's damn good for your first week! Bravo!

What a coincidence - Edward Small's 1951 production of "Valentino" has just started on the telly. I need a TIVO. :(

Wooo hooo, Snowflake! You're on your way. :snap:

I just received my copies. OMG! It's beautiful.

The photos are a little darker than I thought they'd be, otherwise, it's spectacular if I do say so myself!

:snap: :snap: :snap:

Yay! I hope we can make the August event!

Can you post ordering info or a link, Snowflake?

Yes, 3894, I can! As I said, no obligations to anyone.

My book is here

It's also 4th row down on the blurb best sellers page!

My copy just arrived. It's beautiful. I know what I'm doing now for the rest of the day. Congratulations Snowflake!

Gorgeous. You'll sell a bundle of these, Snowflake. What a marvellous-looking man. And you cracked me up with that back cover!

I know you mentioned Amazon before. Will you be able to sell it there?

Blurb does not yet have distribution, so I may submit it myself. The problem being Amazon's pricing and how much they discount/take a cut. I'm investigating this option. Hopefully I will be able to soon, and increase sales!

I have, in my hot little hands, one fine copy of a glorious book!

Ooh, thank you Lisa! Glorious, eh? :blush:

What.A.Hoot

I just googled the title and found my book at Barnes & Noble.

Link here

They missed my middle initial and linked me to another author, with hilarious results.

sure its not one of your secret lives?

Our copy has now been purchased and is being shipped to the Author for signage on the 16th July. :cool: :cheers: :snap:

Damn! them's some nice pecs !! :evil:

That's what another friend said, who knew you were an African American romance novelist? Damn your makeup is excellent.

O-KAY..............:D

The book event at Larry Edmunds is going to happen on August 21st. I just talked to the owner and we're good. I'm providing the books and in this case, I will lose money on the deal. I can also tell you it won't be more than 15 copies on hand unless I can pull a fiscal rabbit out of my hat.

Anyone who wants to come is more than invited!

I'll be there, and spending my last ($ ?? ) on your cool book.

Bless you :iSm: :cool:

Retail is $52.95 It's not cheap, but I've had zero complaints on cost from anyone whose bought one.

I hope to make it but I already have a copy - am I allowed to bring it?

Don't see why not. Just make sure they know it's your copy.

Hmm, decisions.

On the one hand, I'm thinking we should order one now so as not to risk the 15 selling out.

On the other hand, it would be good to buy one at the store and support them for supporting you.

On the other hand, they DID make it difficult on you and are making you eat the costs.

And on the other hand, where did all these hands come from? And why is there so much blood in my backpack?

So, D, would it be better for us to buy and bring our own copy? Buy a copy from you there? What should we do?

I'd say go ahead and buy it from Larry Edmunds. It will show them there is a demand for it and hopefully they'll keep stocking it after August and Cinecon in September. In the long run it will be good for it to be available in the bookstore.

I'm working with my agent to possibly submit the book (now that it's done) to Chronicle Books and/or Da Capo Press to see if they'd like to pick it up. It would be a cheaper edition, I'd stand to make a little $$ on it and it would then be available on amazon and elsewhere. Could be a good thing. Who knew this self publishing thing could be so time consuming and something of a headache? ;)

Okay, I'm soon to be available on amazon.com with a hitch

http://www.amazon.com/Rudolph-Valent...0420649&sr=1-3

I registered with amazon advantage to list my product. Amazon demands a 55% discount on your product. I'm waiting on their first order which I hope is only a couple of copies. Then, once they've ordered and I've taken my lumps on those two sales, I can "suspend" availability of the product and I will list them myself under new/used at list price. Amazon will still get a small cut, but it won't be anywhere close to the 55% discount.

The upside is this (I hope) will increase sales or make them steady to a few copies a month. The downside is, I will have to keep some around the house tying up ready cash.

Now, if anyone who has a copy and would like to give it a review on amazon, I'd be further in your debt!

Seeing my cover on Amazon is craaaaazy. :D

It's gorgeous!

Do you have the rights to sell them at other shows on your own? I ask because at the Hollywood show I went to some people were selling books and such.

If perhaps someone where there who worked with him you could be next to them or just promoting the book on its own?

I don't know. I have not a clue how this all works.

And...the show wasn't very crowded. If it cost a lot to have a booth it may not be worthwhile.

Oh sure, it is my book. Waiting on my copyright registration as we speak.

I'll be signing at Cinecon and that will pretty much be it for film festivals. I do have some contacts at the Library of Congress and hope to get an invite when the Packard Campus schedules a Valentino film. I'm more than content with a couple of sales a month via blurb direct or via me on amazon. It's such a niche book and hopefully for Valentino fans, an evergreen. Unless blurb goes belly up or is acquired by someone else.

Well, you have one review already.

OMG! You're so right! :D

Out of stock on Amazon.
??

Yes, they have not ordered any from me, yet.

Once they do, I will fullfill the first order, then the book will be "suspended" and I will offer them direct from me under the "new/used sell yours here."

As I mentioned before, amazon demands a 55% discount, which means I pay blurb full price and then sell it to amazon for about $29 and then they sell it for $52.95. Not sure what I will make on the deal for those that are fullfilled via amazon.

I'll take far less of a financial hit doing the sell yours here link than letting them sell it. It's good to have it up there.

As CP said, just seeing her cover there is craazy, it is! :snap:

So, should we advertise the Amazon link?

I'm guessing we should wait. If too many people order from that link, she'll have to take the 55% hit on too many copies. Wait until she can list her own copies.

Incidentally, this has finally taught me why some products show up on Amazon like that ("unavailable" but with the "new&used" links active).

and 1 out of 1 people found the review helpful ;)

Okay, it's official! :D

Attachment 1497

CRAP - we're in Vegas for a friend's wedding that night.

Damn it!

Sorry, I'm otherwise indisposed... ;)

Lashbear, you have a special copy coming soon in the mail!

OMG! On top of the overturning of Prop 8 today, I just found the following review posted on a silent film website. No, I do not know the reviewer, nor did I pay him! I'd love to give him a mega hug, though! He totally GOT the book on every level.

Fantastic Review Here

:blush: :D

You should be proud - what a great review !!!

BTW: It lists a lot of situations, but I have one question (seriously, which is rare for me ;) ): Do you have any pic/s of Valentino at Hearst Castle?

I've got pics several of RV at Marion Davies' Beverly House in 1925. He never went to San Simeon as it was not receiving guests until 1927. Ditto for the Ocean House in Santa Monica, not finished until after he passed away.

Give CP some time with Photoshop and she can probably create one!

OMFG! Leonard Maltin reviewed it!

That. Is. AWESOME!

wow!

OMG! Awesome!!!!!

:snap: :snap:

The part that got my little ego racing was this:

Hey, I've finally crossed the line from Valentino crazy to a Valentino scholar.

It was a fabulous thing to wake up to an email from Maltin telling me he'd reviewed the book and to find this.

Thanks for letting me share this with you, I could not be prouder and never thought anything like this would be happening.

Great stuff. Congratulations!

Congratulations!

Way to go Snowflake!

:eek:

Wow.

For the first time in ages, I have saved a webpage onto my computer.

Sounds like getting a big publisher behind the book is getting more and more likely.

Well, I printed it!

From your keyboard to some publisher! That would be great! :D

Buttons busting with pride for Donna!

Have you considered entering your book for an Ippy award or perhaps to the Writer's Digest self-Published Book Awards? (That one has cash prizes, though it's done for the current year, but you'd be eligible for the next time it rolls around.)

Not as awesome as getting a major publisher contract, but clearly your book would qualify, and would stand out from the herd. (And a high profile rave review already to boot!)

Congratulations!

Now that you have a personal connection with him could you pass on to Leonard that I find him vaguely creepy and ask him to work on that? That isn't to say he's not a perfectly nice man (he was quite gracious both times I've met him) but in photographs I find myself averting my eyes.

Maybe shaving would help.

WOW!!!! :D

:snap:

I am SO excited for you!

Ha! I've had more facetime with Maltin's wife Alice than with Maltin himself. I did not get a chance to speak to him at the SF Fest at all in July.

Maybe he needs a new photographer?

In any case, a congrats from you Alex is a big deal, too! Thanks!

OMG! What a wonderful review he gave and of course it was all well deserved. Congratulations!

I'm with Alex on this one.

Maltin is the biggest movie dork alive. The creepiness can't be helped.


(she said fondly)

I actually am on the verge of shedding a tear of joy for you Donna (being at work is all that is preventing an actual tear). You should be proud of the work you accomplished. I feel honored to call you my friend.

Stoat and I are both totally chuffed, and proud to say that we both knew you before you were famous. ;) :D :cheers: :coffee:

Is she famous enough that we can start mooching off her yet?

Shhhh! ixnay on the oochingmay

"oochingmay" is my new favorite word

Bwahahahahaaa. I'm not famous enough.

Also, not rich enough to be oochingmayed. This entire project is still very much running in the red. Absolutely in the black when it comes to positive feedback, way in the red for any hint of profit.

Kevin Brownlow is actually reading it, he emailed me with a found typo! :cool: You know, with the 8-10 people, excluding me, who read and combed through the damn thing, I am shocked at how many little nitpicks are in there. I'll be revising the file after Labor Day and uploading a corrected version.

2 copies are up on amazon to be had and we'll see how long they sit there.

Ooh, does that mean that, like baseball cards, anyone who as the "error" version will see the value of their copy skyrocket?

No, I think like the Chrysler "K" car, devaluation begins immediately.

I wished I had been able to proof read it for you (no way I could have: no time). I am cursed with finding typos and errors.

I could poof read it for you.

There are plenty of guys here who could do that.

You should have had Not Afraid proof it for typos. What were you thinking??





:p

I did.

Slight SNAFU and should be in the vent thread
 

Well, blurb f*cked up the latest order of books. :mad: There was a printing error and the replacement books will not show up until mid-next week.

So, for the event tomorrow I will have 10 copies on hand. :(

I have no idea how many people will be at the store and I'm sick to death that people are going to show up and come away with nothing to show for it.

I know LSPE was planning on buying a copy at Larry Edmunds. Anyone else?

My only advice is to get there early, or not. I'm furious and there is nothing I can do about it.

I will be in LA again over Labor Day weekend with the other 10 or more books.

If you decide it's not worth the risk to show up I'm going to be totally OKAY with this. The last thing I want to do is waste people's time on a Saturday night when you can be doing something else.

Is mercury retrograde or something, it's been this kind of a week for me. The good part was not getting laid off, the bad part was now I am so overworked I'm going to have to start working late or weekends to keep up.

Oh good, I can use that as my excuse.


Truth is, I have a scheduling conflict that's preventing my attendance .... and well, i so can't afford a copy right now anyway. Severe cash flow problems at the moment. So more copies for others!

We are still planning on showing up, we'll take our chances (Theo's schedule means we'll be there early anyway). Besides, we can get a book any old time, it's more about seeing you!

I already have my copy so I'll be there!

We will get a book another time - for sure. We hope to be there to support and check out the cool books and stuff at the store!! We can always get one signed by you another time!

I so very much wanted to be there...have to work a full shift.

When you raise a toast, I'll be there in spirit!!

So since things start at Theo's usual bed time, we have no idea how long we'll be able to stick around, it'll be up to the kiddo. We are planning on heading to Hollywood & Highland beforehand, hopefully around 6:30 for a quick bite to eat if anyone would like to join us. Whether that means food court or one of the actual restaurant remains to be seen.

Is anybody else heading there from the valley? I'm stuck rideless at the moment :(

Where in the valley? We'll actually be in Sherman Oaks before heading over.

I'm heading out soon. Will call you if I get to Hollywood & Highland early enough. No idea what traffic will be like.

Though our visit seemed extremely brief it was awesome to show up and see everyone.

Seeing the book in the tree flesh was amazing, but giving Snowflake a hug and saying congrats and thank you in person was the best part.

What a wonderful evening!

So bummed we missed it, but scheduling conflicts prevented our participation (we actually had four things to be at that night!).

WOW! Thanks to everyone from LoT who showed up, showed support and even bought or brought books. It was GREAT to see each one of you and give and get hugs. It was a fun evening (for me) and I hope for you too. You saw me in full geek mode.

Twas great to meet and see Theo at last in person, though I never got the chance to hold him and truly make an introduction. Great to meet Mindy (and be hugged by Borneo, where you stay hugged). To see Momma CP and Poppa GD, ABG, Katie Sue, the mousepods, Lindyhop, CoasterMatt, Goonie, NA and Euro...God, am I forgetting anyone????? It was beyond fabulous for everyone who was able to show up, did. Means a LOT to me.

Got to also mention that I saw CoasterMatt's tester book of his Disney Photo Impressions and it is GORGEOUS.

It was a fun time, hopefully I did not sound like an idiot. I also put in an sppearence at the annual memorial thing. I was not looking forward to that fearing (1) stagefright and (2) it's just not my thing. I was proud to say I suffered no nerves whatsoever (and I have a fear of public speaking) and the whole thing was fun, interesting and nicely done.

All in all a fabulous weekend for me. Thanks to all of you for being part if it, too! :snap:

Aw, crap. Had it marked on my calendar for this Saturday, and just made arrangements to make it.

Pardon my scrambled brain which led to a scrambled schedule. :(

However, I know there will be more future signings, since the book is taking off, and will continue to sell like crazy. So, I will be there for the next appearance.

I can't remember what we were laughing about, but, here's a report on the Larry Edmunds gig. You will recognize the LoTer getting her book signed.

I feel all famous :) It was a wonderful event and I'm glad you had such a great turnout. I really enjoyed the presentation.

I wish we could have shown up in time for the presentation. It was a miracle of baby-management that we were able to be present at all. There was just no way to have been there without stopping to feed Theo (and ourselves) first :(

KS: when did you cut your hair so short and did it turn all gray? And what is with that green shirt and gray sweater?

VKBM

SNORT!

I was there too, but when i saw you'd sold out I came back home.

It also occurred to me, now that you're another LoT Author, should we call you 3895?

Please fire up that good old LoT mojo if you don't mind. A copy of my book is going to be submitted to the Univ. of California Press for consideration very shortly. If (and this is a helluva big ol' IF) they decide to pick it up for publication, I might actually see a check, money, semolians, beans (i.e., profit of a sort) for this enterprise.

I'm trying not to jinx it nor get my hopes up. This is a longshot but would be very cool.

It's also not the least bit academic, but pictures are nice, too. I will bet it would sell way better than the Doug Fairbanks book they published a couple of years back and they paid that author $20,000 for it.

Good luck!!!

Good, positive mojo headed your way! I'm sure it has a great chance considering the wonderful reviews it has received so far, Good luck!!

Spreading the mojo!

Doing my Super Publication Mojo Sharkflip Dance for Donna!

That's been outlawed in some states hasn't it?

This should be in the vent thread, but better to put it here.

Bad news: blurb is upping the price of the book as of September 30 and it will increase to $60.

Possible good news: if this gets picked up by another publisher, this will be moot and the PB edition will be collectible.

If you want it, have not bought it, might want to do it before 9-30 as the possible good news is such a longshot.

:( :mad:

There's a peanut butter edition?

Seriously, are they raising pricing on all books or just yours?

One other thing to look at: your goal was to sell 100 books and you have already exceeded that by close to 50%. Your book is a tremendous success and you should be proud. Anything else from here on out is gravy!

Across the board on most books. It's all based on page counts. The smaller books (by number of pages I think up to 40) are not changing. The HB editions in some sizes are not changing (not honey butter Kevy, hard back) ;)

I'll re-upload a corrected edition of the book on October 1. There were some edits to be made and I've also since learned the name of a previously unknown person in a couple of the photos. :)

I'm extremely happy with the sales, how can I possibly complain? I never though 100 of them would sell, not at this price. If the sales slow down, I can live with that. As you pointed out, I've sold well over 100 copies. For a book that is word of mouth, I think it's pretty good. With the price increase I do expect Larry Edmunds to stop carrying them, they're not making much profit on them.

I also need to keep positive that the efforts to get another publisher to pick the book up will bear fruit. If not UC Press, I'm all set to pitch it to Chronicle Books and I may even pitch it to Rizzoli. There are a couple of LA publishing houses that might be interested, as well. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Rather than starting a new thread, I wanted to post here a story about a different company than Blurb (the outfit that Donna used) that promoted self-published books. Seems that they are not as reputable as Blurb.

State files more complaints against vanity publisher

Snowflake, I just KNOW this is going to bear fruit for your publishing career, in one awesome way or another. It's already such a smash!

Thank you Heidi.

To give you an update, the emails back and forth between the UC Press editor and myself have been very positive. She'll have a copy of the book this week and we shall see how it goes from there.

If this miracle happens, there will be rewrites as they will want more text. I guess I should not have been so generous to send almost all of my research paperwork to NY to the Valentino family biographer. :blush: It's okay, it's not hard to find the stuff I utilized. We need to get past step one and get something in writing.

At least all the images used are hi-res and on my external. I'll be backing them up on DVD as well!

What bear fruit might look like.

Snowflake and Valentino at the Hollywood Heritage Barn
 

It's my pleasure and a real honor to announce that Board of Hollywood Heritage has invited me to do a presentation on my favorite silent star Rudolph Valentino. I will be preparing a shortish Powerpoint presentation and there will be a screening. Film is tba at this point.

I understand it will be the second Wednesday of the month, May 11th. Mark your calendars!

This should be fun! :D

I know you're all really surprised I'm stepping so far outside my comfort zone...

High-five to Snowflake!

YAY!

I didn't know you like Valentino - this is a surprise to me.

A Big Hurrah to Snowflake from your favourite Bear-Fruit ! (thanks, Cheeseman ! :p )

Hey - the commodore and I should get together for a Cheese & Fruit Platter !!.

You go girl!

Yay Snowflake! :cheers:

You rule. :snap:

SO AWESOME!!!!

We have our calendars marked, marked, marked - we'll be there!

May 11th Hollywood Heritage Barn Event
 

The barn event is definitely ON in May. At their website it's still listed as an upcoming event with no details. The event is (sadly) not free, but $10, proceeds go to the Heritage Museum which is a good thing.

The evening will have about a 20 minute powerpoint presentation I'm working on Valentino Behind the Screen and there will be a Valentino film (tba). I'll have books to sign and expect there will be a Q&A, too.

Lastly, blurb has just updated their booksmart software and it now allows me to actually change the size of the book (HOORAY). This will save endless hours of recreation of a new book in the large, true coffee table size. Won't be cheap, but it will be a nice 11x13 HB image wrap, signed and numbered edtion of 50 copies. $150. If anyone wants to be on the list for a copy, shoot me a message. Don't worry, I won't care one way or the other, my LoT friends have done more than their share!

Change of Date for Heritage Barn Event - May 18th
 

So, they got it wrong or changed their minds....

Attachment 1611

So which is it? Changed date or wrong date on the flyer?

Changed to May 18th, sorry!

&#%@()@^@!!!

They screwed it up, yes. The real supposedly correct date of the barn even is May 11th.

Watch this space for further cockups!

I know that this is not the publisher that Snowflake used, but it seemed like the best place to post this (without starting a new thread):

Hinesburg police uncover alleged publishing fraud
The whole story

The bad guy's web site

That is sickening.

And to put a more positive angle into this thread:

John Locke is First Independently Published Author in ‘Kindle Million Club’

The story (ironically, in a printing trade magazine)

I'd love to kindle mine, but the formatting of it does not work well with photos. blurb is hinting at iBook publishing, and for distribution (we hope SOON).

Sorry for using your thread for the story: I was just piggy-backing a story about a self-published book success story.

In this polarizing time, it's good to see Americans educating themselves on some of the philosophical underpinnings of the republic.

Not the same John Locke. (Which is good, since the old public domain Locke can be downloaded for free from many places.)

Kevy
No worries!

It's the write place to put it!