Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Coming soon to a theater near you

As I've mentioned before, I'm co-editing a scholarly edition. It's to be the first volume in a multi-volume "complete works" published by a major press, and the work we're editing is the author's best-known. It's well-beloved and frequently taught, but there's never been an edition that adequately addresses the work's multiple versions and composition history. If we do it right, ours will become the standard critical edition.

Fucking impressive, right? That's some hot shit right there!

Our contract confirms my self-regard: there are pages and pages itemizing our royalties for hardcover, paperback, e-book, online, and book club versions--modest percentages, but not when you expect to sell millions--concluding with a paragraph that details where the really big money comes from:
All Other Subsidiary Rights not mentioned above (including without limitation Anthology, Quotation, Mechanical Reproduction, Serialization, Broadcasting, Television, Dramatic, Film, Video, Microform, Digest, Strip Cartoon Picturization, and Merchandising Rights).
Book club sales? I say yes.

Film adaptation? Totally.

T-shirts, lunch boxes, and action figures? No doubt.

But the idea of a strip cartoon version is just silly.

8 comments:

Renaissance Girl said...

I have for some years cast that film in my mind.

Doctor Cleveland said...

Careful: you don't want to accidentally rule out hieroglyphics. They're poised for a comeback.

Veralinda said...

I actually believe the subject of your edition would be a pretty wonderful cartoon figure. And I say that with, as you know, the highest regard for said gentleman.

What Now? said...

Ooh, can't wait for the lunch box!

Congrats on the Very Big Deal.

Dr. Koshary said...

The T-shirt could easily become the latest must-have hipster gear. Probably more cash in a sexed-up film adaptation, though. I'd be pretty tickled to see either one.

Jeff said...

Congrats on the book! And hey, maybe the Sci Fi Channel will call you. Are there any giant mutant animals in this work? Could there be?

Michael Bérubé said...

In my first book contract there was a clause in which I effectively signed over the rights to the libretto.

I still regret agreeing to that.

Flavia said...

Jeff: giant mutant animals? It could happen! Have your people call my people.

Michael: no libretto clause in mine. Shit. That's where they're screwing me.