Open Letter from Author to Simon-Schuster

[Sil_liS]

Originally Posted by MrsJoseph

I highly doubt that he was actually speaking to a client that way - and if he did the part of the story he left out was the part where he lost that person as a client.

It was towards the employer, not a client, and what I quoted before was followed by:

And he starts to dislike that, and I say it again, but louder. And then he offers me equity in his company worth something like $180,000 to $360,000 if I implement all the ideas he’d been demurring on.

Jesus. Where was all this when I was being nice?

[MrsJoseph]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

It was towards the employer, not a client, and what I quoted before was followed by:

I read the entire thing. It looks like he's in consulting - which would be clients and not really "employers" in the way we typically think about it. Typically you don't offer employees stakes in the firm - employees are usually offered raises or bonuses.

I still think the letter is a combination of what he wanted to say and what he actually said. You don't have to agree but that is the way it looks to me. It reminded me of a guy bragging to a group of guys about his prowess.

[abookreader]

Given my own experiences with people rant and brag like that, let's just say I take anything that comes out of their mouths or is put onto their blogs with about 500lbs of salt (plus a grain). I know nothing about him personally, I've just run into more than my share in the business world and I can just hear the echoes in my head of the people that he sounds like. The TV pitchman description is right on the money, but hey -- I love my Sham Wow.

I guess Simon and Schuster must have seen something in his qualifications to offer him that advance but for the life of me I don't know what. Talk about a common mistake in the arcane publishing model, they are often known for just choosing handfuls of whatever and throwing it out there to see what succeeds. It seems like they are trying to clone that 80/20 guy though and more than a bit of his "Philosophy" seems to reflect that person's model from what I could see.

No matter, I'm not really likely to ever buy his book. I really don't care that he has traveled to umpteen different places to see how "they" do "things." But best wishes of success for him.

And given that he is such a envelope pusher and innovator, I would think that his 2nd book would be prime for self-publishing. He could use whatever cover and money back scheme he wanted then.

[NicholasV]

If that guy is one of the few people that actually can actually make a full-time living from writing, it is a sad addition to a grow data-set proving how severely society has dumbed down. Are there really enough people synced to his wavelength for him to connect with a large enough audience?

To me he seems like an unexceptional fellow with a big case of diarrhea of the wrist.

[TGS]

Originally Posted by MrsJoseph

I read the entire thing. It looks like he's in consulting - which would be clients and not really "employers" in the way we typically think about it. Typically you don't offer employees stakes in the firm - employees are usually offered raises or bonuses.

I still think the letter is a combination of what he wanted to say and what he actually said. You don't have to agree but that is the way it looks to me. It reminded me of a guy bragging to a group of guys about his prowess.

I agree, and bits of it were quite funny...witty even.

[BuddyBoy]

A $65K advance, for an unknown author's first book? An author who's a "businessman" who considers himself a star because he's helped one of his client earn "20 grand" (!) that he wouldn't have otherwise?

Ok maybe I'm a curmudgeon and a snob, but seriously, this guy sounds deluded. Granted, I've been away from publishing for a looong time, but this strikes me as someone's fantasy gotten out of hand.

Oh, no doubt the industry needs a shake up to bring things to the forefront, but if the concept of waiting six weeks for the "immediate" advance or deposit for a job seems unreasonable enough to warrant that kind of rant, I'll venture to say the author hasn't done a lot of paid consulting for big corporations. Or medium sized ones either.

[Sil_liS]

Originally Posted by MrsJoseph

I read the entire thing. It looks like he's in consulting - which would be clients and not really "employers" in the way we typically think about it. Typically you don't offer employees stakes in the firm - employees are usually offered raises or bonuses.

He considered himself an employee of the guy:

I called out one guy who has always been difficult that I worked for

Originally Posted by MrsJoseph

I still think the letter is a combination of what he wanted to say and what he actually said. You don't have to agree but that is the way it looks to me. It reminded me of a guy bragging to a group of guys about his prowess.

The letter is what he is actually saying to S&S CEO Carolyn Reidy. It's not something that only his friends will read about. The story from the letter is supposed to show how despite being brilliant people don't see that until he is being rude about it.

I did like some of the comments on the blog:

Your rant is severely diminished by your repeated use of the word “bitch”. And you don’t do much for your credibility by misspelling “Schuster”.

Maybe someone who is an artist more than a businessman can write better, and come up with actual words instead of a gratuitous herd of profanity. A little pepper seasons the stew. Too much makes it inedible. Strong, effective writing doesn’t drop f-bombs all over the place, unless your intent is to sound like an amped-up 14-year old.

This is incredibly long and more than a little self-absorbed. There are classier ways to do this. You sound like you think you’re God’s gift to marketing, but you really come off sounding like a bit of an ass no matter how shitty Simon and Schuster have been to you. Some subtlety would do you nicely in this letter. You implicate a lot of people and you could cost them their jobs.

Dude, you realise that any potential client seeking your marketing ‘skills’ will Google you and find this rant where you show that you cleary have no concept of marketing, no respect for the people you work for or with and are generally going to be too much hard work?

Not very smart for a guy working in marketing. I for one wouldn’t hire you now.

So…the devil is in the details. Amazing how perspectives are changed when the details are handled well. Prompt communication, timely payment, etc. But you also need to consider that S & S may not be totally inept either. You’re a first time author with some potential. Publishers of this size weed out authors like you by doing a project and seeing how it works out. You will not get the same treatment as Stephen King, although it sounds like you feel you should. S & S is not stupid, and they will naturally gravitate towards working with people who show the most promise, and who are energizing to work with. No one likes a know-it-all, and only the best of the best try to push it. What you did with this post was to try to gain publicity for your book, and did it in a classless way. If S & S feels you have potential, they will ignore this because authors tend to be a little self-absorbed. If they think you’re more trouble than your worth, who knows?

[MrsJoseph]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

He considered himself an employee of the guy:



The letter is what he is actually saying to S&S CEO Carolyn Reidy. It's not something that only his friends will read about. The story from the letter is supposed to show how despite being brilliant people don't see that until he is being rude about it.

I did like some of the comments on the blog:

YMMV. I do work for my clients but they are not my employers.

Look, he's a manic depressive bi-polar who claims he really enjoys his manic stages - which also he claims can last for weeks or months at a time. Have you ever had to deal with someone like this? Do you really believe that he's managed to hold down a job that requires you to be front and center on a daily basis? I have a manic depressive bi-polar uncle and in my experience the answer is no. He sounds completely unmedicated which makes us trying to dissect what he wrote quite funny.

[BuddyBoy]

Well, S&S deleted his book and author page, and Amazon has gone from pre-orders for a May 1st 2012 delivery to "notify me when this book becomes available" with a publication date of December 2020.

[JGB]

Originally Posted by Catlady

But would you or your colleagues post a very public rant the way he did? The fact that he published that diatribe online suggests that he lacks a filter in face-to-face business dealings as well.

His letter read like the sort of thing you're supposed to write to get rid of anger, and then tear up. But instead he put it on view for the whole world. This is not a rational person.

THis.
I certainly would hire anyone in this thread over him. Much as I love a good rant, I found myself thinking the entire way through these three things.
1. This man must be hard to work with.
2. No wonder he needs an editor, he should really have had one for this letter.
3. He needs to check his medication dosage, and or get some.
I was in a long term relationship with an extremely bipolar girl for a couple of years, this reads exactly like rambling rants, on a swing between moods. Having learned from experience, She was the most amazingly charismatic , truly wonderful to be around when she was ok, but sooner or later the crazy inevitably came out. I toughed it out for as long as I could, but eventually I had to walk away to save myself.

IF the people he has mentioned by name come out to back him up I'll give him more credit, until then, this reads very much like the kind of strange truths I was subject to when I left my ex.

[CWatkinsNash]

Originally Posted by MrsJoseph

YMMV. I do work for my clients but they are not my employers.

Look, he's a manic depressive bi-polar who claims he really enjoys his manic stages - which also he claims can last for weeks or months at a time. Have you ever had to deal with someone like this? Do you really believe that he's managed to hold down a job that requires you to be front and center on a daily basis? I have a manic depressive bi-polar uncle and in my experience the answer is no. He sounds completely unmedicated which makes us trying to dissect what he wrote quite funny.

As a bipolar "artist" myself who has (and still does) work in business and who has been "front and center" for extended amounts of time - it can be done, but I sure as hell wouldn't want to do it the way he's doing it. He's cashing in on his mania, and I guess more power to him if that's how he chooses to operate, but I shudder to think of how many disasters and burned bridges litter the landscape behind him, and the road ahead of him looks bleak.

Once the letter got to the part about the cyclothymia, it became a really sad thing to read. It isn't funny to me, I can't feel indignant about his ego, and I can barely spare any thought regarding the publisher - that's just the venue for the meltdown. It's just really, really sad.

[Daithi]

If you look at the bottom of the page he lays out his complaints succinctly.

But here’s my basic message:
*Your industry is f*****slow
*Your industry disrespects authors
*Your industry under-equips and disrespects editors
*Your industry is lacking basic modern technology
*Your industry uses draconian contracts with artists which destroy goodwill
*Your industry is conservative about trying new things despite being in a deathspiral (this is the most confusing one to me)
*Your industry doesn’t foster a good enough collaboration among basic functions like editing and marketing
*Everyone knows this, and thinks it’s okay “because that’s how publishing is”…
*…but it’s not okay, and we all know that deep down…
*…so, do something about it before it’s too late.

I would add to this list that--
*Your industry gives $65,000 advances to complete loons.

[abookreader]

I'm not sure why this guy continues to fascinate me-other than the horror factor

But
Simon Schuster responds by sending him a letter telling him to delete his blog post or they will sue for damages in excess of his advance (I guess as detailed in his contract?)

http://www.sebastianmarshall.com/why...earing-a-shirt

He responds by video, shirtless. Apparently this is supposed to clever, fun and "sticky." Uh, since I'm posting about it I guess he has a point.

http://www.sebastianmarshall.com/the...lishing-cartel

And then, in further violation of his contract he is going to spend a whole week writing a book to be self-published on Amazon.

What’s in the book?

Essays about how to live on principle, become stronger, and actionable steps to take on you on your path to victory.

http://www.theoneweekbook.com/

Anybody want to volunteer to send Carolyn Reidy a nice shot of whiskey? I wonder how often she has to deal with stuff like this?

[MrsJoseph]

Originally Posted by abookreader

I'm not sure why this guy continues to fascinate me-other than the horror factor

But
Simon Schuster responds by sending him a letter telling him to delete his blog post or they will sue for damages in excess of his advance (I guess as detailed in his contract?)

http://www.sebastianmarshall.com/why...earing-a-shirt

He responds by video, shirtless. Apparently this is supposed to clever, fun and "sticky." Uh, since I'm posting about it I guess he has a point.

http://www.sebastianmarshall.com/the...lishing-cartel

And then, in further violation of his contract he is going to spend a whole week writing a book to be self-published on Amazon.



http://www.theoneweekbook.com/

Anybody want to volunteer to send Carolyn Reidy a nice shot of whiskey? I wonder how often she has to deal with stuff like this?

That is rather funny, to be honest...in an ironic kind of way.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

Yeah, but he wastes way too much time getting to them. I gave up on the letter about 15% through.

^^^^^^^^^ This... ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I read the first section and skipped to the end. Way too much krap in between.

and from today:

http://www.sebastianmarshall.com/the...sters-contract