Reactions to "Boys of Steel" -- post-presentation

If writing a book on any particular subject is a test of passion, the final exam requires you to be able to give a presentation about that subject for at least an hour...many, many times.

I've now been spreading the gospel about Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman for about a year and a half. I can easily see myself continuing to do it until, well, people stop wanting to hear about Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. That is, hopefully, a point that will not come in my lifetime.

Once you speak on a subject a certain number of times, you start to hear certain comments and questions repeat. Here are some of the ones I find most compelling:

• People in their seventies or older telling me that they remember having a copy of Action Comics #1, but their moms (always the moms) threw it out. Had they kept that debut appearance of Superman, it would have been worth at least half a million dollars today, and several of the 100 copies known to still exist have sold for more than a million. Don't fault the moms. Moms know a lot, but how could they have predicted this?
• People who haven't read a comic book in decades, if ever, telling me that they find the story of Superman's creators fascinating. (I don't mean my telling of it—just the story in factual terms.) This makes sense. I'm not a "fan" of, say, spelling bees, but upon hearing rave reviews for a documentary called Spellbound, I saw it—and loved it. The point is we should not be drawn only to subjects but also to stories.
• People seeing the story through different lenses. To some Jewish people, it's about overcoming prejudice. To some businesspeople, it's about moral obligations of companies. To some children, it's about the love of storytelling. To Clevelandites, it's about hometown pride. To all kinds of people, it's about the importance of persistence.

If a mere forty pages generates this diversity of reaction, no wonder I look forward to each new speaking engagement.

Reactions to "Vanished" -- from people in it

Excerpts (quoted with permission) from a nephew, a friend, a former wife, and a father:

Brian Ruess ("I Leave No Trace: Nature Lover Everett Ruess"):

“It is excellent. Frankly, it is one of the best tellings of the Everett story I have read, and my 12 and 14 year old children enjoyed it as well.”

Marshall Marrotte ("Play That Song Again: Musician Henry Grimes"):

“I loved the book and all of the stories were interesting. The Henry Grimes info was spot-on and well written.”

Margaret Hadwin ("The Golden Tree Killer: Woodsman Grant Hadwin"):

“What a great book for kids…”

Mike Klamecki ("Very Harder Than I Thought: Kindergartner Hannah Klamecki"):

“Hannah read it first. She said reading her story made her feel 'wiggly' but she thought that it was very accurate. I found her story in your book to be very well researched. As one who has shared this story numerous times in private and in public I liked the way you laid it out. I liked the intro to the characters that went right into the situation. From there on there is a good balance of staying with the developments of the story and going back to talk about my dad and Hannah's relationship. I want to thank you for mentioning my church and the prayer vigil they had which was of huge importance to us. I also want to thank you for mentioning the fire chief and the deputy by name.”

I must publicly thank all of the above for being so generous about this project. Interestingly, I don't mean with respect to research as I first connected with each of them only after the book was finished. But they have all taken the time to read it and respond, and surely for some, revisiting the experience was difficult on some level.

Never stop looking for whatever it is you want.

Ocean's Four

Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman was nominated for a Rhode Island Children's Book Award.

Whether or not it wins, this has already been good fortune for me. The nomination led to Hanaford Elementary in East Greenwich, Rhode Island inviting me to speak for two days (six student sessions, one teacher session).

They sold a lot of books:

They also held a contest related to my background:

The winner received a signed copy of one of my books. This was especially sweet because she happened to be one of the students who had not already bought a book.

I was then further honored to be invited to three other schools in the Ocean State (Wheeler in Providence; Elmhurst and Hathaway in Portsmouth). Each visit was wonderful in its own way. Elmhurst even had balloons:

Six degrees of super-ation

My public posting of some of my research on the stories behind Superman (Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster) and Batman (Bill Finger) has resulted in a fun variety of people contacting me.

Here’s a list off the side of my head, which is a spot reserved for information that may be of interest only to me:

• various people (often college students) interested in writing a book, play, or screenplay on these subjects
• a lawyer who represented the Siegel family (I didn't get in trouble)
  
• a producer for Warner Home Video (seeking info on Finger for a short documentary to be included on the DVD of a Batman animated film)
  
• the son of a longtime editor of Superman comics
• a producer for the PBS show History Detectives (regarding a claim that a man other than Finger or Bob Kane created Batman)
  
• a talent I can mention by name—fellow Shusterite Craig Yoe, author of Secret Identity: The Fetish Art of Superman's Co-Creator Joe Shuster (just to introduce himself, good chap)
  
• an executive producer for a late night talk show
• a co-producer of a PBS documentary series on superheroes
  

Speaking of information of interest only to me, I’ve already used the title of this post on this blog, but within an earlier post. It has since called out to me for marquee treatment.

How you found me: part 5

This is the fifth totally true installment of some of the wackier search terms that have led people to this blog and I’m grateful to (if not sometimes perplexed by) every one of them:

• Marc's blog look what my son did
• peppy things to say during a text
• what is called if a person is born with 5 and half finger
• nonfiction book for young readers with a subject of shoes
• writing a non boring autobiography
• writing a fun semi biography book
• picture books for old people
• permission to keep rabbits in apartments New York City
• what would a 17 year old son of a nobleman wear
• why did Nickelodeon Magazine get so small
• Bigfoot activities for primary grades
• Aquaman graphics for a Honda 150F
• cartoon of a metal boy
• things you don't wanna hear

If I taught creative writing, and I was twisted a different way, I might challenge students to use all these phrases in a single story, organically.

How do you gift wrap an author visit?

A friend from college who works in administration at a school recently hired me to speak there.

He also suggested that we do something no other school in my six years of author visits has: donate one of my presentations to a nearby underfunded school.

In other words, my friend’s school would pay for a certain number of presentations but give one to another school, where I would present the same day.

Especially right now in this period of extreme crisis for Haiti (among too many other areas in the world), we can thankfully say it’s not hard to find examples of generosity. But it’s always nice to encounter a new form of it.

I’ll surely mention this again in the post I’ll inevitably do after the visits, but that’s repetition I don’t mind. This idea deserves all the exposure it can get.

Manners (or not) of speaking

Fairly often, I go hunting. Not for quail or the remote but rather for people connected to a subject I’m writing about—and sometimes the person himself.

At times, this requires cold calling. That can be unpleasant—no matter which end of it you’re on. Otherwise it would be called warm calling.

But it really shouldn’t be unpleasant for the one answering, especially if the caller is not selling something.

It seems obvious to me but experience shows that it bears repeating: if you don’t want to be interrupted during whatever it is that you’re doing, simply don’t answer. The phone is for your convenience, not mine. I’d rather try again (and again) than be spoken to as if I’m annoying you over a matter of 20 seconds.

Either way, I’m just asking if you are the person I’m looking for, or if you know that person. And before that I’m asking if it’s a bad time and I’m identifying myself quickly and clearly. I’m easily verifiable, courtesy of Google. I am not the IRS or your ex’s lawyer.

So why are you often gruff, evasive, or downright rude? What has made you instantly suspicious of anyone you don’t know who calls? You’re an adult. By now you should have learned that even strangers can have good intentions.

I realize it may not matter to you if I find a certain person. But you should know that the person I’m looking for will almost certainly be perfectly fine being found. In fact, some even benefit from it. If you can help with that, why wouldn’t you?

The comments that I find the most antagonistic:

“Who’s this?” – Making this more frustrating, it’s usually asked after I introduce myself by first and last name and profession.

“What do you want?” – I am getting to that. It is, of course, why I’m calling. But please either wait till my second sentence or at least ask this in a more polite way (“Sorry to be quick, but I have only a moment. May I ask what this is regarding?”).

“I’m not going to tell you anything” – The Internet has forced us all to be more vigilant in protecting our privacy. But don’t pull up the drawbridge until you know who is approaching. You and I are just talking. I’m not sucking intimate details out of your head through the phone. I’m also not asking for social security numbers or locations of tattoos.

Me, when I’m answering a call from a number I don’t recognize, I’m (mostly) patient and polite. Even with the weekly calls I get for an office at Pace University, whose number is one digit different from my cell. And even with the few telemarketers who apparently disregard that I’m a charter member of the “do not call” list.

I imagine most people never get a call from a writer doing research. And those that do, unless you’re trying to keep the lid on a scandal, remember your manners. If you’ve ever read a nonfiction book, you should appreciate what it takes to get the story as accurate as possible.

Bill Finger's yahrzeit

Thirty-six years ago today, Bill Finger, the uncredited co-creator of Batman, died at age 59.

Though Batman is by reliable accounts the most lucrative superhero in history, not to mention one of the most iconic fictional characters of the 20th century, it seemed that almost no one in pop culture noticed the passing of his prime architect.

DC Comics did run two tributes, one in an oversized reprint and the other in something akin to a fan magazine, Amazing World of DC Comics #1:

But it is safe to infer that neither of these was widely seen.

And neither answers questions that still rage at comic conventions, online, and in the minds of Batmaniacs everywhere.

Where did Bill die? How did he die? Where is he buried?

Those questions and more (Bill's real name? Bill's family? Bill's handwriting?) will soon be answered.

On 12/10/09, I received an e-mail from a Canadian student. Here is part of it (posted with permission):

Bill Finger's story is one of the great untouched tragedies with strong narrative potential.

It's remarkable that Jerry Robinson, Sheldon Moldoff, Charles Sinclair and others who worked with Bill are still living well into their 80s. It's like all the stars are aligning to tell Bill Finger's story.

Like Batman, Bill Finger was a creature of the night, so that is a fitting (not to mention touching) way to look at it. Most stars are visible only at night.

Until soon, the same could be said about Bill Finger.

Superman was on the warm horizon

This following articlette is from the 12/7/33 issue of the Torch, the student newspaper of Glenville High, the high school of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the creators of Superman, the world's first traditional superhero. How tingly is that second-to-last line? In hindsight, it should have been the last:

Glenville High School, sometime between 1933 and 1935; 

courtesy Western Reserve Historical Society

Glenville High stairwell and strangely abandoned bag, 1934 

(the year Siegel and Shuster graduated); 

courtesy Cleveland State University archives

the school's original sign, now on the floor in a room at its current location

"365 Things to Do Before You Grow Up"

Imagine a book for young people as different as you can from the one that's been the subject of several of my last few posts:

Did you come up with something like this?


ages: 7 to adult
gist: Go sled bowling. Race elevators. Plant pennies. And 362 other funconventional activities for families.
cost: $6.95 (some sandwiches cost more!)
good for: anyone who ever gets bored
not good for: people looking for instructions on how to build a terrarium

This is the first (and still only) book I wrote that I resold to another publisher after it went out of print. The timeline:

2000 wrote the original (titled 365 Adventures) for Dutton (Penguin) in conjunction with Discovery Kids
2004 resold it to Sterling
2010 book out (odd delay for a book that was already written; it's okay—I didn't push)

Here is the original cover. Which do you like better?

Gone but not exploited

One of my goals in writing Vanished: True Stories of the Missing was to include a diverse range of experiences.

Here are the capsule summaries of the seven tales in the book:

• 2002: a resourceful second grader was kidnapped in her poor Philadelphia neighborhood
  
• 1925: a British explorer vanished while searching for a fabled city in the Brazilian jungle
  
• 1997: an outdoorsman in British Columbia never arrived at his trial for cutting done a rare golden spruce
  
• 1969: an accomplished jazz musician went missing after selling his beloved, damaged double bass
  
• 1934: a 20-year-old free spirit, seasoned hiker, and avid correspondent lost contact with his family and friends while exploring the Utah desert
  
• 2007: a 5-year-old survived a river boat accident only to find herself stranded alone in the woods
• 1944: an internationally renowned children's book author went down over the ocean in his self-piloted military plane
  

This group struck a good balance of gender, ages, races, settings, time periods, and circumstances.

And since it was to be a book for all ages, but marketed primarily to kids ages 8 and up, another of my goals was really more of a responsibility.

Any story about a person who vanishes is going to have a certain level of creepiness. But in this case, none could progress to the worst-case scenarios of sexual abuse, torture, or murder. And that was more than fine by me.

Here are some (often unpleasant) things I learned, confirmed, or inferred in trying to choose which stories to include:

• Few women and children who disappear (and are then found) escape unmolested. (Note: This and the next bullet are based only on the stories I came across; I didn't do any actual statistical analysis.) In Vanished, two of the seven stories focus on females and two focus on children. Curiously, they are the same two. (No other stories of vanished children that I came across were usable, most for reasons already stated—either they involved molestation or the children didn't survive.) The only case I found in which (a) a woman disappeared, (b) the woman was not victim of abuse, and (c) the story was otherwise appropriate for my audience was Amelia Earhart, and I didn't want to include her since she is already widely known.
• Few children who are missing for more than a couple of days are found alive. Both of the children with stories in Vanished (the girl survivors mentioned in the previous bullet) were gone for under two days.
• Few adults who are missing for more than a couple of days are found alive. However, this does not mean they are dead. It means only that they haven't been found. Unlike most children, adults sometimes disappear on purpose—they want to start new lives. Generally speaking, the longer someone is missing, the more captivating the story about his rediscovery. But in the time I had to research, I found almost no stories of people missing more than a week and then found alive. Only one story in Vanished fits this description. Most missing persons stories fall under one of the other categories: people who are missing for 1-3 days and are found alive, people who are missing for 1-3 days and are found dead, people who are missing for longer than 3 days and are eventually found dead.
• Stories of people lost in the woods or going down in planes, while all deserving of individual respect, do start to seem the same. These seem to be two of the more common ways to vanish, but in terms of narrative, they often follow similar courses. If every story in Vanished involved one or the other, the book would likely become monotonous.
• Stories of people disappearing in the wild seem more common than stories of people disappearing in cities or towns. Somehow, they also seem more nerve-racking. Perhaps this is because it seems as though it's harder to find someone in the wild. Only two stories in Vanished took place in urban areas, though I would've liked to have found more.
  
• The topic allowed for drama more easily than I expected. Yes, "missing people" is a grabber—upon first hearing it. However, when trying to execute it, I anticipated that it would be hard to build suspense because the focus of the story is, well, missing. If that person was never found, I would not be able to set any scenes from his point of view once he vanished. And I anticipated that the grief patterns back home would start to read the same. Yet I realized that it was natural to create tension in the buildup to a disappearance and I was (from an authorial perspective) happy to find how many forms the grieving took.

Finding the "Vanished"

Vanished: True Stories of the Missing is newly out from Scholastic Book Club. That means it's available exclusively from Scholastic, in one of two ways: by ordering from those wispy catalogs they send home with elementary school students or by calling 800-724-6527, then prompt 3, then prompt 1.

In other words, unlike most of my other books and most new books in general, this book has virtually no ongoing exposure in the physical world or online.

Yet this week I began to get a notable number of blog hits from people who've searched "vanished marc tyler nobleman." Aside from me telling them, the only way they could know the book exists is if they saw it in that book club catalog. I'm sure it's already obvious to you, but it took me a moment to figure out what was going on.

The first catalogs featuring Vanished shipped recently, so these hits must be parents and/or students looking for more info on the book than a single line of copy and a cover thumbnail (actually closer to a pinkienail).

And if not for this blog, finding info on Vanished could've been like looking for some of the people profiled in it—a longshot. And such a lack of info could discourage a sale. But thanks to the searchiness of a blog, the book has been given a wider lease on shelf life.

The week in school visits and surprise vomiting

On 1/5/10, approximately 12 hours after returning from a trip overseas, I had my first author visit of the new decade, conveniently located in my current hometown.

photos © Elaine Ubiña and courtesy Elaine and Greenwich Country Day School
too-baggy jeans courtesy Levi's

Two days later, I was the guest author at another nearby school's literacy event kickoff.

Both went well despite the mild pull of jet lag at the first—and the lack of a barf bag at the second.

Toward the end of that presentation, a boy in the front row stood up...and threw up. Multiple times. Though this was a first for me at a school visit, it was far from the first time I've been in the vicinity of elementary vomiting. We all remember the sawdust patches covering up the smell.

It was an evening talk so his grandfather and mom were there. Of course they took good care of him.

I hadn't considered the possibility of this circumstance before and it proved to be one where I couldn't say much of anything.

I was on a microphone before a room of people. If I called attention to this poor boy's predicament, it could embarrass him further. Yet if I ignored it and kept on going as if it wasn't happening, it would be insensitive. I clumsily strode the line between the two.

I suspect his classmates will remember what happened to him far longer than they'll remember anything I said or did. And even so, I suspect that he'll be fine. But perhaps, right now, he's wishing they made sawdust patches for memories, too.

"Vanished" in "Great Moments in History"

Vanished: True Stories of the Missing appeared in its first Scholastic Book Club catalog.

First page!

Top row!

Okay, listed second, but still:

First page! Top row!

(And for the accuracy-conscious: three of the seven people profiled in the book actually were found.)

Those of you not in elementary school can order the $4.95 book by calling Scholastic at 800-724-6527, pushing prompt 3, then prompt 1.

Jerry Siegel in Word [sic] War II

For what will most likely be my last post of 2009, I'll take an approach common this time of year: looking backward and looking forward at once.

As for looking back, here is a scan of a photograph a friend recently forwarded, asking for any background I might know about it:

A Stars and Stripes photographer took it and it is his son, Tony Ebert, looking for information. The photo was labeled "Siegel and Green 'Super GI" and dated 12/1/44. Superman co-creator and original writer Jerry Siegel (the darker-haired one in the photo) was drafted in 1943 and didn't ship overseas. Though I do have a few more details about his military service in my research notes, I don't believe I have much if anything on his work for Stars and Stripes. (It wasn't an aspect I planned to include in Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman.)

Unfortunately, my friend did not save Tony's e-mail address. I wanted to contact Tony before posting this, both simply to talk but more importantly to ask permission. I did contact everyone I found online with his name, but as of yet have not heard back from the one in question. Hopefully I still will, and in the meantime, I decided to post the photo with this explanation. If I can't find the right Tony, perhaps this way he can find me.

Please do not repost or publish this photo without including some form of this explanation, and check back here for a possible update, if I get one.

As for looking forward...in my last post of 2008, I teased that 2009 would be the year of a Bill Finger announcement. I was close. I think it will instead come in January.

Searching for the “Vanished”

My book Vanished: True Stories of the Missing is newly available, and with a slightly different subtitle than shown here:

As of now, the book is available in one of two ways: by ordering via the Scholastic Book Club or by simply calling Scholastic directly. (If it does well, it may then become available in stores.)

I’m told that these are the three book clubs in which it will be offered to start:

• The Arrow (grades 4-6), January 2010, which shipped to schools in early December
• The “special offer” history-themed catalog, January 2010
• The TAB (grades 6-9), March 2010

To order directly:

• Call Scholastic at 800-724-6527, push prompt 3, then prompt 1.
• Using a credit card, order item #514472; price $4.95.
• Wait by your mailbox nibbling on your nails.
  

The 118-page book consists of seven true and often terrifying text-only stories. Here's how I found family members and other key figures mentioned in each (to send them a copy):

Erica Pratt, second grader—“Escape from the Basement”

The event occurred in 2002, so Erica is now roughly 14 years old, and still in Philadelphia. She lives with her grandmother, whose name is somewhat common. I couldn’t quickly find a phone number for her grandmother so I searched for other relatives with less common names. I found one—a cousin—on Facebook. He kindly gave me an address to send a copy. Erica’s grandmother has been contacted enough times about this that she chose not to speak with me directly, which I understand. However, through the cousin, the grandmother did thank me for the book. I also sent a copy to a kind woman I quoted; she said Erica would be an inspiration to others. I found her on Facebook.

Percy Fawcett, explorer—“The Real Indiana Jones”

Percy disappeared in 1925, the story in the book that dates back the furthest. Even though I’m sure there are descendants, I didn’t invest the time to try to find them.

Grant Hadwin, woodsman—“The Golden Tree Killer”

John Vaillant, author of the compelling The Golden Spruce, kindly told me the city where Grant’s ex-wife was living, last he heard. (She and Grant had divorced about six years before he disappeared.) A search of the Canadian white pages instantly confirmed she’s still there. I left a message, figuring I would not hear back. But she did return my call and was most kind. I also sent a copy to the Council of the Haida Nation, since the Haida people play a prominent role in the story.

Henry Grimes, musician—“Play That Song Again”

He was the easiest. He has a site and I’d already contacted him through it during my research. His manager kindly vetted my draft for accuracy. I also sent a copy of the book to Marshall Marrotte, the man whose impressive detective work led to him being the one who rediscovered Henry after more than 30 years.

Everett Ruess, nature lover—“I Leave No Trace”

Luckily for me, Everett’s story made the news this summer—75 years after he disappeared. Bones had been discovered which matched certain traits of Everett’s. However, after testing, the family learned that the bones are not his. I found the family spokesperson (whose name was in some of the articles) on Facebook.

Hannah Klamecki, kindergartner—“Very Harder Than I Thought”

Her father is a pastor and I reached him via his church. At the same time, I found her mother on Facebook. They have kindly reported that Hannah (now about seven) was thrilled to see her name in a book. I spoke with her father. He's the first person I've written about (in a work already published) whom I've then spoken to. (Most I've written about so far were gone before I started.)

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, aviator/author—“Pilot, Poet, and Prince”

He’s the most famous name in the book so this is not his first time. For that reason, and because I believe most of his family is in France, I didn’t do more than e-mail the (French language) site dedicated to him. I haven’t heard back. But I didn’t write in French. C’est la vie.

my cousin—"About the Author” (last page)

Read this to learn the “Vanished” story from my family.

Book fair checklist: author – CHECK; Sharpie – CHECK; books – uh...

On 12/4/08, I had the honor of appearing at the annual holiday book fair of the Union League Club of New York. It was first described to me as the “mother of cool book fairs.” It's open only to club members and their guests. We’re told the money goes to its scholarship foundation.

It’s the first and still-only book fair for which I’ve had to wear a tie.

NOTE: Photos are from 2009 fair. However, sometimes accuracy is irrelevant.

Past members of the Union League Club include Ulysses S. Grant (post-presidency) and Theodore Roosevelt (pre-presidency), plus two lower wattage presidents. Non-president alum include cartoonist Thomas Nast and philanthropist J.D. Rockefeller. Neil Armstrong and Margaret Thatcher are honorary members.

None of them came to the book fair, but in fairness, everyone’s crazed during the holiday season, and some of them are dead.

Last year it was so easy to participate. The Union League asked me, I graciously accepted. Smooth signing.

This year proved to be a bit trickier.

They invited me on 11/16/09 for the 12/3/09 event. The relatively short notice wasn’t a problem in terms of my schedule. It was a problem because it became even shorter notice…without notice.

That was because my affirmative reply went unanswered, as did my two follow-up e-mails. Finally, on 11/30/09, the member who’d invited me checked in with me, and it turns out he had not received any of my replies.

The Union League was still willing to have me and I was still eager to be had. But I was the easier part of the formula. (I don’t charge for expedited shipping. I just take Metro-North.)

The harder part was the books.

Rule #3 for authors: when you promote, you must be flexible. (Rule #1: you must write good books. Rule #2: you must promote.)

Therefore, given the tight window, I volunteered to find a way to get my books there myself.

The sponsoring bookstore, my old reliable Just Books in Old Greenwich, Connecticut, could not get them in time. So I called my other best (bookstore) friend, Books of Wonder in New York, but they also could not. (Part of this depends simply on how many books are available from the distributor.)

Then I called a Barnes & Noble, somewhat arbitrarily the one at 555 Fifth in New York. I was relieved when the Events and Special Projects Coordinator said I called the right place—for some reason, that city location apparently can get books faster than any other. They were able to get both titles I wanted, Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman and What’s the Difference?, which happens to be published by Barnes & Noble. To comparison shop, I also called Random House and was indeed able to get the Union League a better deal on Boys of Steel.

The Union League even trusted me with the digits to order the books myself. Another first.

Then all I needed to do, according to the member who invited me, was “show up and have a drink.”

And hopefully sign enough books to justify their kindness.

Without speculating on that, I can objectively report that What’s the Difference? sold out and Boys of Steel sold at least as many, even though it was offered last year. I also displayed a “sneak preview” copy of Vanished: True Stories of the Missing (due 1/10), which multiple people asked to purchase.

When I was a kid, my League was Justice, not Little. It’s still Justice, but now also Union.

Superman for $130

As widely recounted, including in Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster transferred all rights to Superman to Detective Comics for $130.

Here is a copy of the agreement. It shows the signatures shot 'round the world.

The date is hard to read but according to Superman: The Complete History, it would have been sometime between December 1937 and February 1938.

You all had my job

One or both of my jobs may seem atypical, but you all have had them, too.

We all start off as writers and cartoonists (cartooning, of course, comes first). Only the reckless few stick with it beyond lower elementary (cartoonists) and college (writers).

In other words, in our youth, we all scribble. But the relative majority of us never experience doctoring, or financial consulting, or astronauting, or just about any job besides the one we have chosen (or the one that we unintentionally settled into).

Authoring is not only one of the few "jobs" everyone gets some practice in early on but also one of the few jobs that many who are accomplished in other fields will eventually come back to, often in a biographical capacity.

Pro athletes write tell-alls. Politicians, chefs, CEOs, and dog whisperers do, too. But few of them also record a song, perform with the ballet, star in a movie, or formulate a perfume.

The only one of the popular and/or fine arts that almost everyone in the public eye (or so it seems) dabbles in at some point is the writing of a book.

The ever-increasing draw of the "non-famous" memoir (and its cousin the blog) means that more than ever fame is not exclusively the catalyst of writing about oneself but also, if done well, the result.

With so many non-"professional" writers (whether famous or civilian) getting published, it may seem to dilute the specialness of writing. Yet it also speaks to the survivalist urge to commit words to paper.

To some, writing is an exercise in vanity. To all, it's a shot at immortality. But to true writers, it's actually akin to all of those other endeavors that most never get to.

Writing is like composing a melody in that a certain flow of words can compel the reader and even the writer himself to dance (if only in their heads).

Writing is like performing before the camera, only the writer plays every role.

Writing is like engineering a fragrance, hoping to attract others by beauty great or terrible, yet intangible.

Writing is the best of all words.

That is something that remains special no matter how many give it a go.

The last issue of Nickelodeon Magazine

Number of years in print: 16
Number of years I freelanced for Nick: 7
Number of times I tried to break in before I was given the chance: 3
Number of months that took: 12
Number of final issue: 159
Number of the page with a tiny excerpt from one of my pieces: 29 (about pirates)
Number of kids disappointed that this is it: tens of thousands including some you know
Number of Nick Mag staff who will go on to even greater greatness: all of them

Show of hands: who thinks Nick should convert its sixteen-year inventory of content (most of which is already in compact form) into iPhone apps?

Yes, it certainly was, even from way out where I sat.

Sherman's Marc

On 9/21/09, I kicked off the school (visit) year in Sherman, Connecticut. It was the first school where I announced the sad news of the end of Nickelodeon Magazine. Other than that, it was a spirited way to begin an aspect of my job that I love dearly.

The local paper, The (Danbury) News-Times, kindly covered it and this week finally got around to running the story (posted here with permission):

A reunion of one

As I mentioned in my 11/18/09 post, I returned to my alma mater Brandeis University to participate in a "Meet the Majors" panel. It was the first time I'd been there since 2001. It was five months too late for my fifteenth reunion.

Aside from a handful of professors I knew, it was a reunion of one. Realizing that the students I was passing had not been born when I was a college freshman, I felt like I'd been flung in a catapult. I'm always nostalgic; revisiting my former schools intensifies it. In going through my mental file, and some physical and digital ones, too, I rediscovered many things that made me smile. Some have something to do with the raison d'être of this blog.

Here is one, from a 2006 issue of the Brandeis alumni magazine. I have written many puzzles in my career. To my knowledge, this is the only time that I have been a part of one, and brace yourself for a misspelling:

Clue L: "Art form of Mark Tyler Nobleman '94, et al."

Answer: not slam poetry.

Fair, school, panel

On 11/14/09, I was one of the authors benefitting from the great planning of the annual Connecticut Children’s Book Fair, held on the campus of the University of Connecticut. Attendance seemed brisk to me although apparently not as strong as last year’s.

Each author was assigned a kind helper and a dedicated table at which to sign:


It was at this table where I signed the smallest book I've ever signed, perhaps one of the smallest I've ever seen. And I was told this is volume 9:


We were also assigned a 30-minute speaking slot. Mine was at 4:30 p.m.—last of the day—so I feared a small audience, but the turnout was a pleasant surprise. It really shouldn’t surprise me. After all, I’m just the opening act for Superman.

The UConn Co-op bookstore asked me to sign an ambitious stack of books...

...most of which I did actually write.

The authors attended a lovely reception and dinner in a most authorly of settings—the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center. Literally right in the middle of it, amidst books and exhibits and other things that don’t mix well with red wine (if it’s spilled, that is).

Between the reception and dinner, we were treated to a tour of the storage facility. The Dodd Center is an archive of invaluable materials including original art and documents of children’s book authors and illustrators. We got a look at some pioneering (and now well protected) art by Richard Scarry:


Onlookers include authors Hans Wilhelm and Lois Lowry.

We also heard something that astounded, seemingly, the whole group. A person owns any correspondence he receives, but he may not reproduce it without permission. In other words, he owns the actual physical papers but not the words on them. So an author may freely donate letters from his editor to the Dodd Center but would have to get approval to publish them.

The book fair didn’t resume until 10 a.m. the following morning, but many of the authors saw each earlier than that.

Much earlier.

The hotel in which many of us stayed had a fire drill at 2:15 a.m. It was the first time I’ve seen other authors in pajamas.

We spilled out in the chilly, drizzly night, and once it seemed clear that it was not a life-threatening emergency, photos were taken (the following ones courtesy of Diane deGroat):

Here's my back:

Here are some of us after we were cleared to go into the bar but not yet back to our rooms:

The next day, I spoke at a Massachusetts school for the first time:

That evening, I spoke at my alma matter, Brandeis University, for the first time (as an alum). I was one of two graduates on a “Meet the Majors” panel. I told the students that if they are interested in 
 

• hanging out with people in aprons
• signing large stacks of books
• signing potentially no books
• speaking to people who like books
• speaking to potentially only one or two people who may or may not like books
• eating in non-cafeteria academic settings
• touring temperature-controlled repositories
• evacuating hotels for dead-of-night alarms

then American Studies may be right for them.

The order of Amazon reviews

On any given Amazon page, every square pixel is a sellhole. No matter where you are on the site, it feels like you're only one click away from a "place order" button.

So I was all the more surprised to find a chink in that force-to-buy field. (And before I proceed, let me state that I am routinely impressed with Amazon's innovations and experiments.)

A book's Amazon home page includes a section called "Editorial Reviews." At the bottom of that section is a link "See all Editorial Reviews." Here is that page for Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman.

Boys of Steel had the good fortune to earn starred reviews from three publications. On its "See all Editorial Reviews" page, you can scroll to a one-line excerpt from each of those reviews (submitted in that tidy format, I believe, by the publisher).

In other words, good marketing—short, bolded, positive.

However, the review listed first (and therefore visible before clicking "See all Editorial Reviews") is longer and not starred. While it does come across as positive, and while I do greatly appreciate it, actually only its last line is subjective; the rest is summary.

So I asked Amazon what I thought was an easy question with a win-win answer: Would you please move those three starred review excerpts to the top so customers will see them on the book's home page? (Many customers, I'm sure, don't click through to "See all Editorial Reviews" and instead go straight to the customer reviews.)

I felt my request was clearly expressed, yet at least four Amazon reps either misunderstood or gave me misinformation.

One said we cannot edit or delete any reviews; I clarified that I'm asking only to rearrange them.

One duplicated two of the starred reviews and inserted them above the original three. (It may be the only time in my career I can point to five starred reviews in a row, so I won't quibble.)

One did say, essentially, no problem, but then did precisely nothing.

Finally one told me that, if I understood correctly, the publisher needs to enroll a book in the Advantage program before the author could make such changes.

This request had already taken too much time and I didn't want to bother my publisher with such a small issue. However, because I figured it would be a one-time procedure, I did ask.

Random House kindly looked into it and reported back that we can't change the order.

This means Amazon told me to involve the publisher even though Amazon knew (or should have known) that the review order must stay as is (almost certainly due to contracts certain publications have with the site).

What this seems to say is that Amazon prioritizes doing what's best for a review publication over doing what's best for the products to be reviewed (and sold).

Above I mentioned that every Amazon page is packed with sales tools and incentives. It can overwhelm a customer, and the more incentives they add, the harder it is to focus on any one of them. Yet here is an obvious one that they dismiss.

I realize that, for many books, simply leading with excerpts from starred reviews is not going to stimulate a dramatic spike in sales. But it will most likely make some difference, and certainly have more of a positive effect for any particular book than negative effect for any particular review publication.

Spontaneous interview about Bill Finger

At the Southern Festival Books in Nashville on 10/10/09, the Bill Finger Appreciation Group kindly did a brief, off-the-cuff interview with me that touched on Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman and my research on Bill Finger. They were kind to let me post it here as well: