Writing about writing.

So all the talk of how difficult it is to track book sales has really hit home over the last couple of days… It’s been a hectic, thrilling, exhausting few days.

Two years ago, I took a somewhat blind stab at trying to interview one of my favorite music writers. And now, I’m working with him. The whole interaction has proven to me that you can build helpful contacts and that you can locate generous mentors if you do things the right way. Too many times, aspiring authors complain about how publishing is all in who you know. Too frequently, new writers complain that the only way to get anywhere is to have a famous last name. I’ve done a fair share of that kind of bitching myself.

But now I know that by always doing good work, by being sincere, and by being respectful yet confident, anyone can make contacts and find mentors in publishing. You don’t have to live in New York. You don’t need an Ivy League education or an Iowa MFA. Anyone can do this.

The big announcement is that I wrote portions of Neil Strauss’s Rules of the Game and edited a month’s worth of interactive website materials so it could be crammed it into a slime volume of printed materials.

After I originally interviewed Neil back in the fall of 2005, we stayed in touch. He liked my work, even when it was critical. In late summer and early fall of 2006, I posted notes about him selling a television pilot and about how his Motley Crue biographer The Dirt was named one of the top music biographies. But then I stopped posting news items and writing book reviews about Neil’s work. By that point, we were friends and colleagues and it didn’t seem right to try and objectively critique his books. 

Since then, it’s been an entertaining, educational experience. I got to see inside a fascinating community and meet people from all over the world. As a writer, I got to work with a five-time bestseller. And as an industry observer, I experienced first hand what happens when publishing companies experience high profile, and very public, leadership changes.

Rules of the Game started trickling out into stores late last week, and then was officially released yesterday. I also got my British edition from Cannongate in the mail yesterday. Just in the last week, I’ve gotten a good look at how promotions happen, how important shelf-placement is, and just how obsessive Amazon rankings can make you.

This isn’t even my book or my preferred subject matter and yet the last several days have been completely engrossing. If this is what it’s like when my name isn’t on the spine, I can’t imagine the nerves, excitment, frustration, exhilaration, exhaustion, and anticipation that will accompany my own books. This stuff is business as usual for a bestseller like Neil, but it’s quite a wild ride for me.

I’ll have many more stories about this whole experience in the days to come. For now, it’s back to check those rankings…