So You Want to Be a Writer? Part 4

[My fourth and final essay for The Dillydoun Review. A couple of notes – since I wrote this I have become a member of both the SFWA and the Author’s Guild, and my first traditionally published novel “Beyond Tomorrow’s Sun” will be published by Cinnabar Moth Publishing in December 2024]

In my previous essay I said that the next step, after writing something, is to get published. Following that same line, the next step after publication is to get paid. Of course, lots of people write for the sheer joy of writing and are satisfied for their work to be published without ever getting paid. 

I do not fall into that category. 

I want to do this full time for the rest of my life and to make that work, I need to earn a living at writing. Additionally, some of the best writers’ associations, like the SFWA – Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America – require members to be published in paying markets that meet specific criteria. 

After two years, I’m happy to report that this year I managed to turn a small profit. About enough to pay my electric bill for one month, but a profit all the same. That income was small because it was stacked against the losses incurred with my first book.

It may seem strange to think of writing that way, profit and loss, but it’s essential for me because I self-published that first book, and there’s a ton of cost associated with such an effort.  

Of course, I’ve said it before – I made every mistake a new author can make in the self-publishing game, and invented a few new ones. Mistakes cost extra, like sides at a homestyle diner.

There’s nothing wrong with self-publishing and there are a lot of people making very good money at it. But for every one of them there are thousands who never earn a penny from their self-published work.

This may be changing as platforms like Medium and Wattpad offer writers new ways to monetize their writing. For the purpose of this essay, I’m going to focus on a few of the ins and outs of self-publishing novels as compared to traditional publishing, and leave these newer platforms out of the discussion.

Experienced readers can spot most self-published books in an instant, first from the cover, then the layout and font, and of course there’s always the dreaded typos. Enough of those and your novel will look more like alphabet soup than a polished work of art.

Yes, I made all of those mistakes. I created a hideous cover using stock images, chose a terrible  font, failed to properly align my pages and paragraphs, and filled every chapter with the worst of amateurish writing (including multiple typos in every chapter). 

In the end, for me, that was OK. 

It was my first go at a novel and I was in fact an amateur. I got over the embarrassment because after 20 years in the entertainment and media business, I’ve got thick skin that protects me even from my own self-inflicted barbs. Thankfully I had not made any effort to market the book at that point. 

Before I go any further, let’s take a moment to set the self-publishing stage. 

Amazon is the most obvious behemoth in the industry, but it’s not the only one, especially if we’re talking e-books. The digital marketplace for novels is enormous and multifaceted, with Apple, Barnes & Noble, Ingram, Kobo, and others all getting in on the game. This is not an exhaustive list, but its enough for now. 

On the print side, print-on-demand (POD) continues to evolve and grow. Many people still love a bound copy of a book, myself included – I’m a former bookstore owner after all. But the convenience of loading up a lightweight device with a store’s worth of books is hard to beat.

If you’ve written a novel and have decided on self-publishing, like it or not you’re now a player on this stage. If you’re like me, you’re somewhere back in the rigging, or lost in the curtains, nowhere near the spotlight. Gotta start someplace, but before you take the plunge here are some things I learned along the way.

First, publishing your book does not equal selling your book. You need to package that book to look as much like traditionally published books as possible, choose the right platform and format, hire the right editorial services, if you can afford them, and get your marketing game working, including social media. 

Quick note: as a good friend and fellow writer once told me, Twitter isn’t for sales, it’s for snark. Your mileage may vary, but I do believe he’s right about the first part of that statement. Use Twitter to build a following and make connections, but don’t expect it to deliver book sales. 

When I received the box containing printed copies of my first book, the cover art was like syrup of ipecac for the eyes. Yes, it was that bad. Then I started reading and it got worse. The saving grace is that no reader perusing a shelf would have picked up the book and started reading in the first place.

If you’re going to self-publish, do yourself a favor and get a professionally designed cover, or at least take the time to research what a good cover should look like and how to create one. I redesigned mine and while it’s still not great, it will do for now and has garnered a few compliments, so I’ll call that an improvement. Social media is a good place to find talented artists creating amazing book covers. These will set you back at least $500, and the best ones will cost a lot more. However you create your cover, both your e-book and printed book will use it, so make this first impression count. 

Now that you have your packaged product, it’s time to decide where to sell it. This is too broad a topic to cover in one essay, but basically if you go with Amazon and you use Amazon’s free ISBN (International Standard Book Number) and place your e-book in Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited program, you’re done, that’s it. You won’t be able to place your book on any other platform without violating Amazon’s terms, and that ISBN will only be searchable via Amazon. You have to decide if this is OK for you, and clearly there are many writers for whom it’s just fine. 

For me, it was a mistake that still needs correcting. 

I urge you to buy your own ISBN. It’s neither difficult or expensive and I believe it’s more than worth it. ISBN.org is a good place to start.

Because once you’ve done that, a whole world of opportunity opens up. You can publish your book through every e-book and print-on-demand market out there, and you can hire a company to handle that for you. One such company is Draft2Digital. I’m not endorsing them, I am not currently a customer. But as examples go, they’re a good one. They also get a nod of approval from the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) and their “Best Self-Publishing Services” list.

A service like Draft2Digital can take your finished novel and cover art and publish to multiple e-book and POD markets simultaneously. This particular company does not charge any upfront fees and instead takes a cut of sales. If you go this path, do your homework before making any commitment, but its nice to know this type of service exists, especially one that takes some of the risk, and cost, out of the equation. 

This is also true for any editorial services you might purchase. A good editor, like a good agent, is worth their weight in gold. I didn’t bother to ask anyone, much less an editor, to read my book before I published it. Huge mistake. I’m eternally grateful to whatever forces in the universe prompted me to re-read my book before I began marketing it. 

That’s the next piece of the puzzle, marketing. It’s not enough to post your book to social media, unless you’re Stephen King and one tweet can reach millions of fans. But social media didn’t build Stephen King’s catalog into a juggernaut. Old-school publishing, and a bunch of scary movies, did that. 

As with publishing, there are a lot of companies out there that claim they can market your book to their huge social media following. In my opinion, most of these companies are not worth it. They have no idea who is going to see a book promo on their social feeds, and you have no idea if their numbers are legit or their followers are your target audience. Some may be better than others, but if you’re going to use a marketing service, go back to that ALLi list and make an informed choice. I prefer a service that has highly targeted email campaign capabilities, but you may find success elsewhere. 

NOTE: DO NOT PAY for reviews of your book on Amazon or any other market. This is a fast way to get the reviews deleted and your book pulled from the platform. Many companies offer this, and it is true that reviews help drive sales, but any company that charges for reviews puts your hard work at risk by potentially violating the terms of almost every marketplace out there. Don’t waste your money. Instead do book swaps, give-aways, etc, always with the caveat that you seek honest reviews, good or bad. You and your readers deserve honest feedback. 

Which leads me to the next part of this process, ongoing marketing. You can’t market your book once and expect sales to continue on forever. You can light a fire with a single match, but if you want it to keep you warm through the long dark night, you need to stoke it every so often. A great way to do this is to build your own email list. If you’re serious about being an author, you should have a website. If you have a website, you can place links to your site and to your email sign-up page in your ebook. There are low-cost and free services like TinyLetter that provide an alternative to full-fledge email marketing tools and services. If you want to keep readers engaged, keep them in the loop via opt-in emails. When your next book comes out, you’ll be able to market directly to consumers who’ve already shown interest in your work. You can’t get much more targeted than that.

Now, if all of that hasn’t scared you away from self-publishing then I say go for it. As for me, I was spending more time on publishing, sales, and marketing than I was spending on writing. It was costing me money on top of the time as well. 

But I still don’t have a publishing deal because I haven’t put in the effort to get one. After a few ham-fisted attempts at querying agents I realized two things. First, I didn’t know what a good query letter looked like and second, I wasn’t ready for an agent. What I am ready for is a publisher who accepts unsolicited work from un-agented writers. There are more of these out there than you might think! That’s my focus now. I want go the traditional publishing route with my novels going forward, but through a publisher first. If I can make that happen, then maybe I’ll need an agent later and presumably I’ll be ready for eventually. In other words, if a publisher picks up one of my books, and that book sells, it should make meeting a good agent much easier.

Because a lot of what you have to do to be successful as an author, an agency and/or publisher will do for you. They will be taking on the time, effort, cost and risk associated with bringing a new novel from an unknown author into the world. They’re good at it and that’s why they take a percentage, but it’s also why it’s the more difficult path for new authors. We represent unknown risk, and any business that survives for any length of time does so in part by mitigating risk, and publishing is filled to the rafters with risk. 

Whichever path you chose, if you take the time to educate yourself, spend you money wisely, and put in the effort to learn as much as you can about the publishing business, you’ll get where you’re going eventually. When that happens, don’t forget where you came from and the journey you’ve undertaken. There are a lot of successful writers out there and one thing many have in common is a willingness to share what they’ve learned on their own journey. In that sense, we call all be like them, even before we’re one of them.

Best of luck – you got this.

Freelance Marketing Content Creation for eDigital

I was recently engaged by eDigital to help the company with their website relaunch, marketing communication, and blog content. Links to the individual blog posts are below, and you can check out the website while you’re there. They’ve got a compelling product suite aimed at the OTT/VOD/Streaming industry. If this is your area, you might enjoy this content and learn something new about a growth-oriented start-up in the media operations sector.

It’s Not Me, It’s You: Competitive Analysis in the VOD Space

OTT Monitoring with SEREEN.watch

Are You Prepared to Maximize your VOD ROI? Are You Ready for Growth?

Review: Pulse by Edna Buchanan

My second book review for CNN.com, wherein I give my honest opinion about a work of commercial fiction, and manage to miss the point of commercial fiction. Who knew a book about murder and heart transplants is supposed to be light reading? Not me, not then. Now I know. Like I say, learn something new every day.

I really did like the book.

Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Amazon.com. I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

‘Pulse’

(CNN) — There’s a saying known by virtually every writer on the planet that goes something like, “Write about what you know.” Edna Buchanan has taken that advice to heart, writing novels of crime and suspense set in her home base of Miami, Florida. Her latest installment, “Pulse,” is no exception. 

This newest edition of her Miami chronicles revolves around businessman and heart transplant recipient Frank Douglas’ attempts to ‘pay back’ the family of the heart donor. The novel opens at Frank’s hospital bedside, just hours after his life-saving surgery. By page nine, Frank is back home and well on his way to a new life.

But strange dreams, and a nagging sense that there is something he must do, leave the protagonist sleepless and confused. Frank Douglas becomes a man with a mission, determined to find the family of his donor and help them any way he can. But he gets far more than he bargained for and in no time becomes deeply involved in a twisted tale of murder and deception.

The novel moves at a brisk pace, due largely to the sparse writing style and thinly developed peripheral characters. Buchanan doesn’t waste time with unnecessary details, choosing instead to focus on the steady revelation of clues and the progress of the action towards the (unfortunately predictable) conclusion. As I read “Pulse”, I was reminded of the works of fiction in my junior high school library — written with a clear picture of the audience and designed to keep the reader engaged without over taxing the brain.

But that’s one reason the novel was fun — it’s easy to read. Buchanan’s characters are ordinary people caught up in extraordinary circumstances, while the tale she weaves is entirely believable. If you are already an Edna Buchanan fan, you’ll have no trouble digesting “Pulse”. If you’ve never read her work, this may be a good place to start — probably not her best effort to date, but good enough for light summer reading.

Review: Last Days of Summer

I wrote this review for CNN.com in 2000, I believe, right before I left to go to work at a tech startup. It was one of the last book reviews I wrote, for CNN or anyone. I loved this little book. The author, Steve Kluger, has quite a few books published and occasionally Tweets. He also has a cool picture of Fenway Park on his homepage.

Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Amazon.com. I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

Last Days of Summer

Last Days of Summer by Steve Kluger

Buy it, read it, give it to a friend

(CNN) — As a kid, did you keep a scrapbook filled with letters, ticket stubs, clippings, and assorted other memorabilia of your youth? If so, you will readily identify with the style of Steve Kluger’s latest literary endeavor. If not, you’ll wish you had after reading “Last Days of Summer,” a novel in the form of a teen-age boy’s collection of quirky letters, matchbook covers, and assorted other bits and pieces of a childhood lived on the edge of disaster.

Kluger’s protagonist, Joey Margolis, is the most unlikely of heroes. A child of 13 — abandoned by his wealthy father and moved into a tough Brooklyn neighborhood by his indulgent mother — Joey lives life reeling from one mishap to another. He is a child lost without a father and desperate to fill the tremendous void in his life.

But Joey is never at a loss for words. He is intelligent and stubborn — a combination that just as often leads a kid to jail as it does to runaway success. In Joey’s case, you can never really be sure where he’s going, but you always know he’s on the move — or more precisely, on the make.

A constant schemer, Joey manages, through a series of antagonistic letters, to win over an initially stand-offish professional baseball player (who happens to be dating a famous singer). The book is set in 1940-41, and the athlete who would become the object of Joey’s unwanted attention is the hard-hitting and hard-living Charlie Banks.

Their initial correspondence amounts to little more than hate mail, but over time Joey and Charlie come to realize that they are more like the other than either wants to admit. Their story is told through their letters, but much of what the reader comes to know is more implied than expressed. Theirs is a relationship built on hard won mutual trust — and it is that trust that saves Joey Margolis, despite the painful price he must ultimately pay.

This book is captivating. I simply could not put it down, and found myself wishing it had just one more chapter, one more letter, one more moment of youthful exuberance before the carefully constructed world of Joey Margolis came crashing down around him. The lessons Joey learns from Charlie are lessons for us all, and they carry him through what is perhaps his greatest challenge. Buy it, read it, give it to a friend — they’ll be glad you did.

Review: Consilience

My first-ever book review for CNN.com and this is what I drew from the options I had. It was not assigned to me, I chose it. It looked interesting, so I dove in head first.

Some notes on this one: I received a prepublication copy of the book to review, Edward O. Wilson has a couple of Pulitzers to his name, a National Medal of Science, and this book was on the New York Times Best Seller list when it was published (helped no doubt by the write-up in Newsweek).

If you want to know how I really felt, skip to the last paragraph. If you’d like a more academic review of the book, check out H. Allen Orr’s write-up for Boston Review (a shining example of what you can accomplish with a high word limit).

One more thing – someone was kind enough (or foolish enough) to add a link to my review to the Wikipedia page for this book. I did not do it, but I thank the person who did. Now I have to scour the web for other references to me.

Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Amazon.com. I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

‘Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge‘

Consilience by Edward O. Wilson

When you were a kid, did you wander through the woods near your home, observing all the flora and fauna, all the while reviewing their respective Linnaean classifications? If so, you have the foundation for an understanding of “Consilience”. Published by Knopf, this latest work from two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Edward O. Wilson is nothing short of an attempt to form a single, unified theory designed to bind together all forms of intellectual pursuit.

Wilson draws heavily on the natural sciences and philosophy to support his approach, reaching as far back as the golden age of Greece, drawing examples from work by the likes of Einstein and Freud. If you understand the meaning of the title without reaching automatically for your dictionary, you have a head start on the rest of us. In Wilson’s own words, consilience is “a jumping together of knowledge.” Wilson borrows the word from The Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences, written by William Whewell in 1840. Whewell spoke of a linking together of “facts and fact based theory across disciplines to create a common groundwork of explanation.” 

And that, in a nutshell, is what Wilson aims to establish in “Consilience”. That all knowledge and understanding is bound together by some as yet unknown common theory. There is one grand scheme to explain and unite all that we know and can know. The real problem here is that Wilson himself admits it can’t be done. He states unequivocally that consilience “cannot be proved with logic from first principles or grounded in any definitive set of empirical tests.” He states further that “the strongest appeal of “Consilience” is in the prospect of intellectual adventure.” Which is an apt description of the book. It is nothing less than an intellectual journey through time and space. 

Theories dealing with everything from quantum mechanics to incest taboos are brought together, dissected and compared, all in an effort to find some common thread linking all of it together. Wilson draws on so many philosophers, from such divergent periods and places as ancient Greece and Victorian Europe, that at times one feels compelled to rush out and buy the thickest compendium of western cultural knowledge available. “Consilience” is as much a lesson in the history western philosophy as it is a treatise on ontological unification. Reading the book, I was reminded of what it felt like to be hopelessly lost in my philosophy 310 course in college. When he finally makes his point, it is clear and straightforward. But along the way it’s easy to get distracted by the references to unfamiliar figures in history and their obscure (to the casual reader) theories. 

If you are a scientist, a teacher, or a student of philosophy, you may find the book engaging and enlightening. As for the rest of us – don’t read it in bed unless you’re having trouble sleeping.

Interview: Rosamond Purcell

An interview with the author/photographer Rosamond Purcell for CNN.com in August 1999. Unfortunately a lot of the interview was cut and the editor focused on the description of the book to support the photo gallery – their choice, not mine, but that’s what editors are supposed to do, make choices. This interview was in the top ten on CNN.com (for page views) for several days, largely due to the photo gallery. I’d say the editor made the right choice.

NOTE: The link to the photo gallery no longer functions, but the book is still available on Amazon.com.

Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Amazon.com. I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

“Swift as a Shadow: Extinct and Endangered Animals.”

‘Swift as a Shadow’

A Glimpse at the Past

(CNN) — How do you breathe new life into a bag of bones? Or bring beauty to a stuffed bird lying in a box?

If you’re Rosamond Purcell, you do it with light and texture and an eye for composition. These are the essential elements in her new book, “Swift as a Shadow: Extinct and Endangered Animals.” 

What started as an invitation to photograph an unparalleled collection of specimens locked away in a European museum has itself become a thing of beauty. Until recently, the National Natural History Museum in Leiden, the Netherlands, had none of its 11-million-strong collection on public display. 

The museum serves as a repository for specimens from all over the planet. Contained within its closets, drawers and boxes are samples of species as exotic as the Pig-footed bandicoot and as seemingly familiar as Burchell’s zebra. The specimens at the museum are, in many cases, the last and only examples left to us of these once thriving species.

Perhaps the greatest challenge faced by Purcell was how to bring life to something dead, stuffed and essentially artificial. Her approach was dictated by her goal, which, she says, was to “get people to focus on the creature.'”

Her methods may be as unique as her subjects. “I use backgrounds and natural light found right in the museum,” she says. Occasionally, she adds some cloth, bark or paper for texture, but more often than not the image contains only the objects and the minimal light available within the immediate vicinity of the actual specimen. 

In some cases that meant juxtaposing the extinct creature with the harbinger of its doom. The Guam flycatcher, one of nine island bird species wiped off the face of the earth by the invading brown tree snake, is posed before a jar filled with specimens of the snake. “I do arrange everything,” Purcell says, “and I wanted to show what it was that made this bird vanish.” The snakes are believed to have arrived as stowaways on military ships or planes returning from World War II in the Pacific, and in a twist of fate may now be approaching endangered status as well.

Coupled with the images are brief passages, written by the curators of the museum in Leiden, which provide insight into the lives and deaths of these creatures. The Falkland dog, for example, was so tame that in 1690 the captain of a ship visiting the islands took one as his ship’s pet. The animal became so frightened by the firing of the ship’s cannon that it leaped overboard and drowned. A booming market in dog fur in the mid-1800s, combined with increased human habitation and farming in the Falklands, spelled the end of this gentle creature by 1876.

These stories, and the afterword by Ross MacPhee, lend context to the images and take the reader on a virtual journey through a lost world, reminding us that our world was and is a beautiful and fragile place.

Review: The Best Little Boy in the World Grows Up, by Andrew Tobias

Another book review for CNN.com, from November 1998. We’ve come a long way since then.

Interesting note – I had a very nice email exchange with the author after this was published. He was especially amused by the fact that I bought the predecessor to this book for ten cents. Best money I ever spent, that book changed my life. You can read it on the legacy CNN.com or below.

Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Amazon.com. I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

‘The Best Little Boy in the World Grows Up’

(CNN) — Several years ago while rummaging through the dusty back rooms of an indoor flea market I came upon a bookcase filled with yellowed paperbacks. There in the middle of the third shelf sat an unread copy of “The Best Little Boy in the World.”

The author’s name, John Reid, initially caught my attention, since I knew of another author by a similar name. Though I realized the names were spelled differently, I picked up the book and read few pages.

Based on that brief introduction, I paid the nominal price of ten cents and took the book home. That night I read the entire book. It was captivating, enlightening, and unlike any book on the subject I had ever read before. 

It was a personal account of one man’s coming to terms with his homosexuality. I was stunned that it did not end with a suicide, a murder or some other grizzly and depressing conclusion. This was a departure from the norm. Other books on the subject, such as “The City and the Pillar” or “Cruising” invariably acquiesced to the demands of the market place and presented their protagonists as disturbed, psychotic and murderous outcasts, incapable of functioning in any but the most bizarre of ways.

This book was different; no one died, no one went insane, and the protagonist navigated the minefield of personal acceptance and societal rejection with hope and humor. And yet, despite its inspiring message, one could not overlook the fact that the author felt compelled by the time in which he was writing to publish his work under the protection of a pseudonym. 

Over the years, I found myself buying new copies of the book (it has never gone out of print) to give to friends who found themselves in the midst of similar struggles, facing their own challenges. Along the way I had heard rumors of the author’s true identity, but these went unconfirmed for years.

Now, 25 years after the publication of “The Best Little Boy in the World,” the veil has been lifted and the author has laid claim to his work. Andrew Tobias, author of such captivating works as “The Only Investment Guide You’ll Ever Need,” has written a sequel. 

With the publication of “The Best Little Boy in the World Grows Up,” Tobias has acknowledged what so many have already come to know. No more pseudonym, and no more hiding.

And yet, as with so many sequels, this follow-up falls short of the standard set by its predecessor. It is a fine book in its own right, but it lacks the innocence and zeal of the original. Of course, so do most of its readers. We’ve grown up, and times have changed. This new volume reflects the changes experienced by both the author and his audience. And in that sense, it is an excellent update. 

Though I enjoyed this book, it lacked the impact of the first. I could identify with the “The Best Little Boy in the World,” and I felt on some level that I shared his struggle. Which meant that I could share his hope.

But this new book describes a way of life far removed from my own. For the first twenty chapters or so, it is more informative than insightful. While the author’s experiences rubbing elbows with the rich and famous are interesting, and do make for good reading, I was hoping for something more.

When he ultimately turns his attention to the moral and social struggles of our time, I felt as though I was finally getting more of what I had seen in the first book. A man not unlike myself, facing the same issues every day of his life and struggling to make sense of it all. Of course, if this were the sum total of the book, it wouldn’t be working its way to the top of numerous best-seller lists (a feat never even considered possible for the first book).

Maybe I’m just jaded. Maybe I shouldn’t expect so much from a sequel. Here’s the bottom line: if you’ve read the first book, this one is practically required reading (you must know how his life has turned out since college). And if you haven’t read “The Best Little Boy in the World,” you may not care that he grew up and made it out of the mountains.

Review: Walker Evans: Signs

A book review I wrote for CNN.com in 1998. I was fortunate to have attended an exhibit of his work at the High Museum in Atlanta prior to writing the review. The place was packed and you could hardly see the photographs. It helped me appreciate the book and the quality of the printing.

‘Walker Evans: Signs’

Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Amazon.com. I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

Photographer Exposes the Layers of Truth

‘Walker Evans: Signs’

‘With an essay by Andrei Codrescu’

(CNN) — Not long ago the High Museum in Atlanta hosted an exhibit of photographs by Walker Evans. As a collector of archival photographs, I was excited to have an opportunity to see such a large collection in one place. But I went on the last day of the exhibit and had to fight the crowd for even a brief glimpse of Evans’ work.

Now the J. Paul Getty Museum — holder of over 1,300 works by Evans — has published ‘Walker Evans: Signs’, featuring 50 photographs created primarily in the 1930s. It is a wonderful sample of Evans’ work — and far easier to peruse than a traveling exhibit.

Evans grew up surrounded by popular culture and imagery, his father worked in advertising, and his photography reflects this upbringing.

The images in ‘Signs’ are built around Evans’ fascination with things that, on their surface, seem almost mundane. And to the casual observer, these photographs might not have much to offer. For those with eyes to see, however, these works reveal America at a time when the people were only just beginning to become self-aware. What on the surface appears nothing more than advertising becomes, with Evans’ careful composition, nothing less than social commentary.

As Andrei Codrescu points out in his near-poetic essay; “The ‘masses,’ that ideology-laden, bottom-heavy notion of the thirties, underwent a thorough examination by Evans’ camera.” Evans had a knack for spotting the details in a scene that revealed more than a casual glance could ever catch. And it is the details that reveal the subtle truths about a moment in time.

From the streets of Cuba to the crowds of Times Square, Evans captures the essence of time and place, exposing the layers of truth hidden beneath the veneer of popular imagery. Take time to see what at first glance is not obvious, and the experience will be different every time you open the cover.

Review: W. Eugene Smith, Photographs, 1934-1975

A book review I wrote for CNN.com in 1999. One of the best photo-books I’ve ever seen, but it’s a lot more than that.

Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Amazon.com. I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

‘W. Eugene Smith, Photographs, 1934-1975’

Unforgettable book combines art, artifact

(CNN) — “My station in life is to capture the action of life; the life of the world, its humor, its tragedy. In other words, life as it is. A true picture, unposed and real.”

These words, written by photographer Eugene Smith in a letter to his mother in 1936, represent both the high ideals of a young photographer, and the paradox that would threaten to undo him.

Smith, called by one essayist ‘The Arrogant Martyr,’ is perhaps one of the greatest photojournalist America has ever produced. In the years before his death in 1978, Smith chronicled 50 years of life and everything in it. 

From death to Bob Dylan, from the hell that was the war in the Pacific to the human tragedy of environmental disaster, and from the desperation of poverty to the style and beauty of celebrity, Smith’s camera eye captured the human experience one moment at a time. 

These moments have been gathered together into a new compendium, “W. Eugene Smith, Photographs, 1934-1975”. This new volume, published with the cooperation of Smith’s son and the Center for Creative Photography, in Tucson, Arizona, (where his work is archived) represents nothing less than a chronicle of America, and much of the world, in the middle years of this century.

As a war correspondent and pacifist, Smith chronicled the immense tragedy and human cost of the campaign in the South Pacific. He dared to photograph what the censors would never allow to be published during the war — images of the dead, in particular civilian casualties. 

This experience would mark the start of a long battle for editorial control over his work that Smith would not begin to win until his second stint with Life magazine — a battle which would ultimately change the very nature and process of photojournalism.

Smith traveled the world to find his subjects, all the while focused on his goal of capturing “the action of life.” This collection, published by Abrams, retrieves long-forgotten and never-published images from the obscurity of the past, blending images from his Life magazine photo essays with the shocking realities of a war with which many Americans were only partly familiar.

And yet the book is more than a mere collection of images. It is filled with essays detailing his life, his influences, his work, and his endless search for the truth. It is a combination of art and artifacts, well rendered and completely unforgettable. The essays will inform you, and the images will stay with you long after the pages are turned and the cover is closed.

This volume will be cherished not only by those with a passion for photography, but by anyone with a love of history and a need for truth — a truth that carries an emotional impact that transcends the time and space between the viewer and the viewed. 

The Future of Media Consumption, Part 1

Theaters Aren’t Dead – Yet.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the future of media consumption. What are we going to watch, where will we watch it, and what does that mean for content providers, service providers, and content creators.

For some parts of the media industry, the Golden Age is just beginning, while for others, troubled times lie ahead, or have already started. 

But not all that glitters is gold, and not all gloom is doom. 

Let’s start with theaters. 

Theaters, as an endpoint in the distribution of content, are not dead – yet. But recent pandemic-related events may be a harbinger of things to come. 

After spending most of my life in a sort of love affair with the movie-going experience, I stopped going to movie theaters. The notable exception was a visit to the TCL Theater in Hollywood during the TCM Classic Film Festival in 2019. The film was 1989’s “Steel Magnolias.” I didn’t go for the movie – though I enjoyed it. I went to experience a classic theater, and to hear the screenwriter Robert Harling talk about the genesis of the film.

I’m not alone in forgoing theaters. Both revenue and attendance at theaters were down for 2019 – 4% and 4.6% respectively. That’s not the full story – theater attendance was still an astonishing 1.244 billion – yes billion – in 2019. With an average ticket price hovering just over $9, theaters are still big business. 

Which is probably why AMC, followed by Cineworld (parent to Regal Theaters) decided to go to war with Universal and ban that studio’s movies from their theaters after NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell, when discussing Premium/pay video on demand platforms (PVOD), told the Wall Street Journal “As soon as theaters reopen, we expect to release movies on both formats.” I don’t see how this battle helps Regal or AMC, whose stock jumped at the mere potential for Amazon to consider buying them. For the record, we’ve heard this song before. I’ll talk more about Amazon in another post.

Netflix already got into the theater game when they purchased the last single screen theater in New York, the Paris Theatre, last year. Netflix followed that move with the purchase of the “legendary” Egyptian Theater in Los Angeles this year. Netflix isn’t buying a theater chain because they don’t need one. All they need are theaters in which to premier their own films, largely so they can be eligible for Academy Awards. (Although this is another change brought on by the pandemic). It helps that Netflix seems to have a genuine fondness for nostalgic venues.

Ticket prices are up, attendance is down, and people are scared. Right now, and for the foreseeable future, data indicates people would rather watch a first run movie at home then go to a theater. This consumer attitude will persist, even if re-opened cinemas take extra precautions – like limiting capacity to 60% or less. The trend runs against growth in the theater business.

The decline is not unique to the U.S. market. As recently as November 2019, the Chinese box office was predicted to exceed America’s, becoming the largest in the world. With hundreds of theaters already out of business, it’s been a “bitter winter” for the industry in mainland China, while consumers flock to alternatives, like Netflix. (UPDATE: my original post did not include the link to the CNBC article I used as source material for this assertion. My point, although Netflix is not officially available in China, was that Netflix is creating content for, and delivering content to, China and the broader Mandarin language market via a multi-faceted strategy, and viewers who would otherwise visit a theater are consuming content available on streaming services).

After all, when you can release an animated sequel that hauls in $100 million in three weeks, and only cough up 20% to the PVOD platform, the studio’s likely to take that same risk again with future releases. Disney’s decision to release its $75 million film version of “Hamilton” direct to consumer via its Disney+ platform, while based on multiple factors, further supports this notion. 

Money talks, it’s just that simple. 

But the theater experience isn’t dead, and it doesn’t have to die. Like everyone else in the business, theaters need to adapt. It’s too soon to tell if the recent drive-in movie revival will be sustained, but the success of these offerings, right now, is a good sign. People will get off their sofas and go see a movie, if conditions are right. 

Companies like AMC and Regal need to stop fighting with studios and figure out what those conditions are, or should be.

Here are some ideas to kick around:

 – Reduced capacity isn’t just a good idea during a pandemic – it’s a good idea in general. Watch people fill in seats at a theater and you’ll notice something important – people don’t want to rub elbows with strangers if they can avoid it. It’s the same reason no one likes the middle seat on an airplane. We like our personal space.

 – Lower ticket prices. This may be the third rail, but ticket prices have been going up for years – how’s that worked out so far? You don’t have to slash and burn – just offer up incentives like multi-ticket discounts for families or friend groups, or deep discounts for matinees – remember those? And I mean real matinees, not just shows before noon. Get creative! You can make it up on concessions. 

 – Lower prices at the concession stand, and deliver smaller portions. I don’t need a gallon of popcorn and two gallons of soda, or a pound of candy. I quit buying concessions long before I quit going to theaters. When the all-in cost of seeing a movie in a theater hits $25, or more, per person, staying home just makes economic sense. Add this to the logistics of going to a theater, and it’s easy to see the picture developing. 

 – Don’t just think outside the box – get outside the box. Drive-ins may not be the answer, or maybe they are. It’s worth considering, if for no other reason than to gain a better understanding of today’s movie-goer. 

Just some ideas to consider. 

Theaters aren’t dead yet, but they’re wounded. Now is not the time for theater companies to take up new fights, especially ones they can’t win. It’s also not the time to ignore the changing wants and needs of the consumer, not to mention the changing economics of the industry. No matter what, this industry will not come back completely from the pandemic-induced decline. Shrinkage was already happening and will continue, even after the current situation normalizes. Independent theaters and small chains won’t be the only ones to shutter – the big players are going to feel the pain too.

My suggestion to theaters – find new opportunity in the changing environment, and, more importantly, refocus laser-like on the consumer experience.

Because technology is already finding ways to create a shared viewing experience from the comfort of one’s home. Hulu is already testing their “Watch Party” feature, while a browser plug called Scener enables co-watching of Netflix (with potential expansion to HBO) by up to 20 users. Even Plex is getting in on the act with their new Watch Together feature.

Create something that exceeds expectations, and can’t be recreated in the living room, and the current trend could change.

But keep in mind, TV’s are getting bigger, better, and less expensive, every year. 

Up Next – Linear TV Is Going Places 

UPDATE: 4/26/2024 – I decided to revisit this series and see how my thoughts held up over time. In this instance, I’d say I did ok. The War With Universal ended with what I view as a win-win-win agreement, one that benefited both sides as well as the consumer. And it only took three months, so good on both sides for sorting it out. Also, I went to a local theater for the first time in years and all it took was “Barbie” and my sister-in-law. It was a new Showcase Cinema and I was glad to see 1) Lower priced options at the concession stand, 2) Moderately lower ticket price ($13 vs $15) with a Tuesday discount option of $5 for any movie, 3) Big comfortable seats with ample elbow room 4) Absolutely perfect audio, and 4) A full bar, which I did not visit but will in the future, perhaps one Tuesday evening.