Bill Stephens's Blog – April 2007 Archive (4)

I just became a co-agent on a project. I don’t know if agents often invite clients to share in commissions when they bring good stuff to them, but mine did. I didn’t refuse the offer. The whole story of how I became a co-agent is worth reading on www.publishersmarketplace.com/members/billstephens…

Someone in the film industry asked me to do a “pitch and a “treatment” for my novel, Horizons Past ( http://www.horizonspast.com ). He has a couple of ideas to try to get it into development as a movie. I had some notion of what a pitch is, but I’d never heard of a treatment. Fortunately, he gave me some examples and illustrations to follow. But I decided to buy Writing Treatments That Sell, by Kenneth Atchity and Chi-Li Wong to…

Last week I experienced a side of writing/publishing/marketing I never knew existed. My mother-in-law, Rita Kerr, asked me to accompany her to an adult education class entitled “Writing, Publishing & Marketing Your 1^st Book (or 7^th)” offered by a local school district. It was quit an eye opener to learn the author teaching the class claimed to make $250,000 per year self-publishing and…

Peter Matthiessen came to town two weeks ago for a reading and a literary luncheon. This was his second visit sponsored by Gemini Ink of San Antonio, Texas. He gave a writing class during his first appearance over five years ago, which I attended. Afterward we had a short visit about the Aransas Wildlife Refuge and about fly-fishing for Redfish on Texas' Laguna Madre flats. I sent him a letter confirming some of our thoughts on a possible visit.

I was quite amazed when I…