New Year, new book

New Year. New book. Well, old book really.

Much to my dismay, the consensus of response from agents and publishers to INSIDE THE WEATHER CHANNEL has been that they don’t see a big enough market for it to be commercially viable. They acknowledge The Weather Channel has a large following, but don’t feel that would necessarily translate into big sales for a book about the channel. It’s too much of a niche piece, they say.

Unfortunately, that’s something I can’t overcome by “better” writing. So sadly, I must stuff the manuscript back into a drawer and pull out an “old” work. (Actually, most writers don’t stuff stuff into drawers anymore. In the digital age, they cram it into electronic files.) I will, however, continue to occasionally post excerpts from INSIDE THE WEATHER CHANNEL on this blog.

The “old” work I’m resuscitating is EYEWALL, a novel I’ve worked on in the past and feel good about. Even in its original form it won an award, and several professional authors liked it a lot. Over the past few weeks, I’ve completed a second major rewrite of it and think it’s an even better book now.

I’ve reorganized it to get more of the action–of which there’s a lot–up front, added an epilogue and completely recast one chapter. I like it. And even though I know very well I’m swimming upstream as a first-time novelist in a suck-o economy, I believe I can find a publisher for EYEWALL.

And this time around, I won’t concentrate exclusively on agents–who act as the palace guards for big publishing houses–to help me find fame and fortunate. (Oh, come on. I’m kidding. I’ll be happy to see a paperback with my name spelled correctly on it.)

I’ll try a select few agents, but I also plan on contacting some smaller, independent publishers directly, and using some contacts I’ve developed in the film and TV industry. If nothing else, EYEWALL is extremely cinematic.

Yeah, I know it won’t be easy. But for a New Year, one needs a new resolution, or at least new resolve.

Photo: A Hurricane Hunter penetrating the eyewall of a hurricane.

1 Comment

  1. Frank G on April 27, 2011 at 4:36 pm

    Hey Buzz…
    Keep on plugging away..I'm sure persistence will pay off. As for “Eyewall” I think you should develop it into a reality series with scantily-clad women beating each other up and stealing the others' boyfriends. That's where true art lies in the 21st century (although I'm sure a sputtering airplane trapped in a hurricane could have its moments–the scantily clad women fighting over the joystick or control stick or whatever it is that maneuvers the plane would play well to the average entertainment IQ). Just a suggestion based on my vast knowledge of pop culture. 🙂

    All the best…hope you're doing well! Missing you here on Sundays!
    Frank

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