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I regret to inform you all that I am quitting the ‘official’ LEXX book in its current form.
I’m walking. There are a number of reasons, but they all come down to the fact that I have effectively lost faith in the publisher.
Since I began on this project with the latest publisher in March, they have set five manuscript deadlines and they have missed them all. They have never provided me with a contract, because they claim they have been unable to finalize a contract with Alliance Atlantis. They have, however, asked me to provide a manuscript without a contract. I am uncertain as to whether, given past history, they will be able to finalize a deal.
Even if they do, my concerns are not allayed. I have very serious concerns that they will not be able to access good visual images, or given their previous books, that these images will be reproduced well.
Most importantly, they are attempting to sandwhich four seasons of LEXX into a single slim 160 page volume of 40,000 words. Most other media books in their series are only one or two seasons per book. This leaves a lot of room to explore the particular season as well as focus on the episodes.
In the case of the LEXX book, the overwhelming bulk of the book will be taken up by an episode guide which will allow only 350 to 500 words per episode, which is almost ridiculous in and of itself. This will be a standard no matter whether the episode is ‘I Worship His Shadow’ or ‘Haley’s Comet.’ After this, there will be 1000 words to cover Salter Street and LEXX’s origins from 1979 to the start of photography on the first season. Barely 2500 words to cover CGI, production, design, costumes, sets, etc. Approximately 400 – 450 words apiece for MM, BD, EV, XS, JH. 150 words apiece for the supporting characters. It’s simply ridiculous.
Nothing but what can be squeezed into the 350 to 500 word episode notes about the radical changes in financing, production, storytelling and on screen that accompanied
each year. Nothing on Paul Donovan, Lex Gigeroff, Dave Albiston, Chris Bould or the other creative people backstage.Simply put, it will not be a very good book. My choice is to deliver a crap book or to walk away. The only reason to follow through is that I would have delivered better crap than anyone else. That wasn’t good enough. Fans deserve better.
I have chosen to walk away from this ‘official’ LEXX book
and reconsider my options.with regrets
Den Valdron
I’m sorry to hear that Valdron – I was looking forward to your book to help clarify my own relation to Lexx as a whole. My feeling is that you would have brought distinctive, considered and affectionate insights to each of the episodes and their relation to each other. It is to your credit that you have decided not to deliver a book unworthy of you, the series and the fans. All we can do is wish you the best in your other writing endeavours, and I for one would like to see you contributing to the proposed spin off if possible. Good luck either way.
Hey, don’t give up. I thought it was a really good idea. If you are the first publisher of a guide to the Lexx world, you’ll in all probability go through six editions. Would have done it myself, but you beat me to it. So you’ve got the research, the outline, the official sanction. Just propose it to another publisher. You’ve got a lot of places to choose from since Lexx is on in so many countries.
Dont give up now. Wouldnt all that work be a waste. Release it in its shortened state and there may be demand for a bigger book. Its all money in your pocket for the work youve done!
Real disappointed to hear about the raw deal you got, Valdron.
Although, I wonder if ANY book would be better than no book, at this point?
If you can get a company to publish ANY book about Lexx, that could open the door for future, better books about Lexx.
For one thing, it will require the company to acquire the rights to publish said book, making it easier for them the publish more books later. That first step of getting the rights is probably the biggest hurdle to get a company to take.
Secondly, if the book does sell well, that is a BIG incentive for the company to do more books. Companies like sure bets, and don’t like taking risks.
Now, I know it almost sounds like your book was being set up to fail. They intentionally publish a book that, by its nature, is not the best it could have been. Ergo, the book only does so-so, and the company feels they were justified in not investing more in the project… when really they are responsible for the mediocre success themselves.
Hmmm, sound like I’ve experienced this myself? I have.
Only with two Collectible Card Games I worked on: Aliens Predator and Terminator. The companies making the two games did not do much to promote them commercially, or much to support them after they were released. Not surprisingly, the games didn’t do that well, and the respective companies used that as a justification why they did not fully support them in the first place. Both games are now effectively dead.However, sometimes you just have to go for it. By all means, if you can find a publisher that will publish your work to its fullest extent, that’s great. But if you can’t, I still think that ANY book on Lexx is better than no book. At least you’ll have a foot in the door.
And I’m pretty sure we could rally a campaign to promote the book’s sales. I’ll bet everyone on this board would get one, I know I would.
Have you thought about approaching the company that’s making the Lexx trading cards? Books don’t appear to be their usual thing, but sometimes companies like to try branching out. Dynamic Forces has already expanded their license to make other Lexx products, and seems to be solidly behind the series. May be worth a shot:
http://www.dynamicforces.com/htmlfiles/lexxpress.htmlquote:
Originally posted by sgtdraino:
[QB]Have you thought about approaching the company that’s making the Lexx trading cards? Books don’t appear to be their usual thing, but sometimes companies like to try branching out. Dynamic Forces has already expanded their license to make other Lexx products, and seems to be solidly behind the series. May be worth a shot:
http://www.dynamicforces.com/htmlfiles/lexxpress.html[/ QB]
I’m sorry to rain on your parade, sgt, but if you go to the press release pages of DF, you’ll see that release is sandwiched between posts dated 8/1/01 and posts for 2002. Everything changed for THEM as well on 9/11.
Having been to their offices to help out with the LEXX trading cards, I can tell you they are a graphics art based company. Resin busts and lunchboxes ARE branching out for them. I don’t think book publishing is in their immediate future.
Speaking of the trading cards, I hadn’t heard from Nick or Carl for a while, so I contacted them the end of last month. They haven’t gone to print yet with the base set because they’re still waiting on some of the artist’s cards. Since this is a stricly limited series and they will only produce as many boxes as they have order for, you’d better hurry and get your order in NOW.
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