Black Market Publishing
A New Independent Publisher
Brings the Lives of Hard Rock Artists to Print
Interviewed by Keith McDonald
Black Market Publishing is a new and different publishing company
that will deliver authorized and unauthorized books from legendary rock
stars that include such heavy metal heavyweights in the likes of Nikki
Sixx, Lita Ford and Ozzy Osbourne. These releases are not "tell
all" books that we have become so familiar with, yet writings that
tells the truth behind the artists. These releases are expected to hit
bookshelves in stores near you in early 2002. I had the opportunity to
speak with founder/biographer Jake "Editor in Black" who
filled me in on his new company. You can access their website at www.blackmarketpublishing.com.
How did you get started in the publishing business?
By default really. I am a biographer, and some of the books I've written
were
getting quality offers, like the Marion "Suge" Knight
biography, which I finished this summer and will be out in November via
Amber Books. But others, my agent and I were shopping around and getting
only weak indie offers on, or commercial publishing companies who wanted
to
talk and talk and talk but never get anything on paper, and my rational
suddenly became why not try to circumvent the red tape of majors who
want to
do development deals but tie up the book's release for a year too long,
and
start an independent publishing company which deals exclusively in hard
rock/heavy metal, hip hop, and alternative film star biographies.
How difficult was it to get your books into stores?
We are currently in negotiations with a handful
of what we feel are the most qualified and energetic indie distributors
in
the industry, all of whom have a commonality in that they all are fans
of
the genre we are representing. That has to be there, otherwise it
doesn't
translate when they are selling buyers on the idea of taking a chance on
stocking our titles. We will have that process wrapped up in a couple
weeks, but the response has been fantastic so far, well beyond what I
had
initially envisioned in the shopping process. As far as getting our
titles
into Tower Books or Virgin Megastore, those types of record/book
outlets,
is a no-brainer. The stakes are somewhat higher with chains like Barnes
and
Nobles and Borders, but those are the two biggest chains in the country,
and
they both have very healthy music biography sections, so we are very
optimistic toward their willingness to carry our titles. Beyond that,
for
example with Mom and Pop outfits, its just a lot of legwork selling them
on
the title's potential for sales, and most importantly, and this applies
to
all of the above, the publisher has to be able to guarantee the demand
will
be there, not through words, but through monetary actions, booking ads
in
the conventional rock and metal publications like Metal Edge, securing
reviews in those types of magazines, online, keeping the newswires up on
what is happening, targeting the band's official websites, fan sites,
and of
course mailing lists, which are invaluable tools of promotion for new
titles. Certain bands have rabid fans, like Kiss, who will buy anything
affiliated with the band.
What new releases do you have coming out? Where can we find them?
In terms of current titles slated for 2002, we have "An Education
in
Rebellion: The Biography of Nikki Sixx", "Diary of a Mad Man:
The
Unauthorized Biography of Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne", "The King
of New York:
The Biography of Notorious BIG", "American Badass: The
Unauthorized
Biography of Kid Rock", and possibly an authorized title from Lita
Ford.
For 2003, we are looking to release titles on Pam Grier, the Beastie
Boys
and Run DMC (jointly, as part of one biography), John Mellencamp, Too
Short, Scarface, Tom Waits, and possibly the Brat Pack, focusing on the life of
John Hughes, and potentially featuring interviews with Anthony Michael
Hall,
Ally Sheedy, Molly Ringwald, Andrew McCarthy, Emilio Estevez, Judd
Nelson,
and the rest of the gang.
How did you get the information about these artists? Was it
difficult?
It really depends on the project. If a biography is authorized, it is
typically much easier to secure interviews from other celebrities, as
well
as the subject themselves. In a situation where you are dealing with an
unauthorized biography, you have to rely largely on interview material.
In
terms of securing interviews from peer artists, it really is an
individual
situation, some are more willing than others, a lot of musicians for
instance are on tour much of the year, so it becomes more logistical
than
anything else, in securing their participation. Usually e-mailing
questions
is the most preferred method, but phone interviews are best because you
have
a record of the entire conversation. Of course meeting in person is the
most ideal, but rare most times. There is a lot of trust involved. We
try
to assure everyone we interview for biographies, authorized or
otherwise,
that we have honest intentions when we sit down with them. Some are very
eager, some aren't. Sometimes you get someone who the subject really
pissed
off sometime in the past, and they are eager to talk all day. But
because I
don't allow unnamed sources for our books, typically, the latter type
are
harder to come by because they don't want to talk trash on record about,
say, Suge Knight for example, or the Notorious BIG.
Are these authorized or unauthorized books?
A bit of both really. With the Nikki Sixx biography, for example, the
title
is technically unauthorized, but I have interviewed so many people who
at
some point played a fundamental role in his life, that I am telling much
of
his story through their words, rather than solely via previously
published
interviews, etc. We have talked to Lita Ford, who was Nikki's girlfriend
for 4 years in the early 80s, Tom Werman, who produced three of the
band's
biggest records, John Corabi, who was Motley's front man after Vince
Neil
left the band for 5 years, Lizzie Grey, who was Nikki's songwriting
partner
and band mate in London, his group preceding Motley Crue. So I have
tried
to chronicle his life story as true to life as possible. There is too
much
crap out there in the way of unauthorized, tell all biographies. I try
to
really only tell the truth with the stories we put out through Black
Market,
so for example, we break one of the key rules in journalism in that I
rarely
if ever rely on "unnamed or anonymous" sources, which could be
any nutball
off the street, like Matthew Tripp for example with Nikki's bio, the
clown
who tried to sue Motley in the 1980s claiming he was Nikki for like 4
years.
I have had a load of those types come crawling out of the woodwork in
the
course of researching the Sixx book, all with a million stories I cannot
verify, and many of whom aren't willing to be quoted on record. I won't
do
it. The biggest challenge to securing an authorized biography with most
rock personalities is that the whole process is usually a big pissing
contest. Your typical band won't commit to let you shop a title to
publishers as a green-lighted, authorized title until they have a
guarantee
of some kind of obnoxiously large advance from the publisher. The
publisher, in turn, won't agree to volunteer any potential advance
numbers
until they have the band's committal that the title is authorized. You
make
no headway that way, because no one wants to trust each other. The
band's
lawyers don't make things much easier either, because they have so many
provisions in any agreement that it becomes nearly impossible to tell an
honest story. That was what was so unique about Motley Crue's authorized
biography The Dirt, in that the band told a no-holds barred story, and
that
is rare. Also, the book sold 100,000 in 2 months, and was a New York
Times
top 20 seller for three weeks. It demonstrated that there is a proven
selling demographic for that niche, which gave me the idea in the first
place to start a publishing house that catered exclusively to that
audience.
I know, for instance, that an authorized Poison biography would sell
fantastically well because I would market it solely to their proven fan
base, which you could map out based on their summer tour. VH1 would eat
up
a promotional special, and the band could promote the book on the road.
Also, you could sell the book on tour at concession stands, along with
T-shirts, and if their was a major publisher behind it, just reserve a
portion of proceeds from the tour sales and kick it back upstairs. As
far
as our other titles coming in the immediate future, we will have a
healthy
mix of authorized titles, as well as those titles where we will have to
proceed on an unauthorized basis careful to preserve the integrity of
the
title via impeccable research, insightful interviews, and skillful
storytelling.
What is the idea behind these books?
Our philosophy is that we don't seek to tell all, rather to tell the
truth.
So, for example, as I mentioned earlier, we tend to try to steer clear
of
these unnamed sources, who can say anything they want about someone and
not
have to be identified. I don't have a single interview in the Suge
Knight
title that isn't cited, and that is harder to secure, especially with
Knight
where people were afraid in many cases at first to talk on record. We
managed to get around that hurdle. That speaks more to the point of your
question, that the essence of our approach is that we circumvent as much
red tape bureaucratic bullshit as possible. People, namely a lot of the
larger publishers, have these review boards that have to vote titles up
or
down for publication, and they most times are made up of people who
because
of their age and other cultural considerations have no idea how a Poison
title will fair in the market, so they vote it down. They won't take a
chance on a band who has a proven hundred thousand-plus sales
demographic.
What does a 50 year old man really know about how an Ozzy Osbourne title
will sell? Our role is to try to bypass all that crap in favor of
putting
our money where our mouth is, putting the books out to retail in modest
pressings, 2500 to 5000, and let the fans speak for themselves. People
think hard rock and metal fans are all burn-outs, and that is total
bullshit.
'Dude, you bang your head so you can't read.' That is the reception we
have gotten from a lot of major publishers, so I am not pulling that
impression out of the air. Let these bands and their fans have a chance
to
connect in a totally new medium, that is what Black Market is about.
Will you do only hard rock and heavy metal stars, or others as well?
We are focused principally on hard rock and heavy metal stars, but also
will
be venturing into hip hop's arena with the Notorious BIG title, as well
as
potentially with a Too Short biography I would love to personally
co-author.
We are also beginning work on a Pam Grier biography, but the priority of
that title's release will depend largely on whether we can secure her
participation for an authorized biography. But coming out of the gate,
we
are seeking to establish our reputation as a hard rock/heavy metal
publisher
principally.
How many books do you plan on releasing per year?
We plan to start out slowly, the point of this venture is quality over
quantity. I would rather sell a healthy 5000 copies of the Sixx title at
retail, and press based on reorders, rather than put out 10,000 and get
half
those back in returns a year later. We will begin with approximately 4
to 5
titles in 2002, and expand in 2003 ideally to between 6 and 10 titles
annually. Again, we are not interested in flooding the market. Black
Market is designed to carve out a niche for those readers who are
principally interested in reading about hard rock, metal and hip hop
stars,
so where you might only have 10,000 fans who would buy a Lita Ford
authorized biography, that meets our sales criteria, and is actually a
fairly good showing for an indie title.
Will your books be available around the world or just here in the
U.S.?
We are in the process of exploring distribution offers vs. a straight
licensing deal. We would prefer to lean toward a licensing situation
because we aren't large enough to handle a full-scale European release,
in
terms of relationships with buyers, etc., but I would like to work
something
out along those lines, i.e. distribution, with a solid Canadian
distributor.
The books will be out around the world though yes, principally in
Europe,
and possibly, in some cases, in Japan and Australia.
What's the future for Black Market Publishing?
Ideally, we will within two to three years have established a niche for
ourselves as the premier independent publisher of hard rock, heavy
metal,
and hip hop biographies in the new millennium, provided some fantastic
opportunities for alternative writers/ biographers to have some real
shots
at getting new product out there, and please a lot of music fans who
want
this material but can't usually get their hands on it because of all the
corporate red tape. There is a healthy sales demographic for this
market,
it just has to be developed commercially, which we hope to do. Feel free
to
visit us online at www.blackmarketpublishing.com
to receive regular
updates
about our releases, or to learn more about the company. Anyone who
wishes
to inquire about submissions can e-mail us at hardrockbooks@hotmail.com
as
well. Thanks again for the opportunity.
Web: www.blackmarketpublishing.com
E-mail: hardrockbooks@hotmail.com
Black Market Publishing
Attn: J. Brown
168 Second Ave, Ste 372
New York, NY 10003
©2001 Metal Rules!!