How to use your column to solicit new deals

So Otto Penzler's been a very busy boy of late. Not only does he run his bookshop, put his head together with former publishing bigshot (and Random House UK consultant) Anthony Cheetham to create a new imprint with Hutchison, but he still has his weekly column at the New York Sun. Granted, hardly anyone reads the paper, but it does, on occasion, offer up some interesting items.

On February 16, Penzler waxed rhapsodic about Andrew Klavan and his current project, the Weiss & Bishop P.I. novels:

Those of us who read a lot of mystery fiction, not to mention people who watch cop shows on television and enjoy crime movies, have become very used to the notion of the odd pairing of partners, be they official members of a police force or private investigators.

In what passes for creativity, writers have matched disparate demographic types to the point that there is virtually no odd couple, no matter how far-fetched, one could imagine that hasn't been tried....

...It is the abundance of these cliched couples that makes Andrew Klavan's mismatched private investigators, Scott Weiss and Paul Bishop, such a rich reading experience. Fully realized, these fascinating tough guys have their strengths and, oh boy, do they ever have their failings. They made their debut in "Dynamite Road" and are, happily, up to their eyeballs in some really bad stuff again in "Shotgun Alley" (Forge, $24.95, 301 pages).

Although Mr. Klavan has won the Edgar Allan Poe Award, made the bestseller list with "Don't Say a Word" and "True Crime" (both of which were filmed, the first with Michael Douglas and the second with Clint Eastwood), and been described by Stephen King as "the most original American novelist of crime and suspense since Cornell Woolrich," he has not yet become a household name. Perhaps time will correct this injustice.

So it amused me to no end that barely one week later, this deal goes over the transom:

Author of DON'T SAY A WORD Andrew Klavan's two new suspense thrillers, the first continuing his Weiss and Bishop series, to Otto Penzler at Harcourt, by Robert Gottlieb of Trident Media Group (world English).

Can we say "full disclosure," boys and girls?

Never mind this other  bit from the Book Standard article I linked to:

In the future, Hutchinson will be seeking world rights to all books it publishes under the Otto Penzler name. In addition to publishing in the Commonwealth states, Hutchinson hopes to put in place relationships with international publishers to release the books in other countries, Cheetham says.

So if that's the case, why didn't Hutchinson get first crack at world rights instead of Harcourt? Oh, my brain is hurting so much right now...

Comments

[Stuart MacBride]

Well, it’s got to be said, nepotism & cronyism aside, Andrew Klavan does kick ass. True Crime was excellent. If you haven’t tried it yet – do!

[Lorna]

Didn't Otto Penzler sell the Manhattan bookshop (to a handful of folks who work(ed) there) and buy/start-up? MB-West in Brentwood, CA? Prolly wrong. Usually am!

I love the Bishop and Weiss books. I thought Shotgun Alley is as good, if not better than Dynamite Road.

[Sandra Scoppettone]

I didn't know about the Klavan series. But I'm amazed at his name choice because Paul Bishop is, or was, a crime writer. Anyone know what happened to Paul?

[Andy Jaysnovitch]

I find it interesting that Otto Penzler uses the words, disparate, odd couple, and mismatched to describe detective teams. If my feeble memory serves me correct, once upon a time Otto was partnered with Chris Steinbrunner in the Mysterious empire that he now rules alone. If ever there was an odd couple, that was it. I once opened a door mistakenly in Chris' house and found myself facing a wall of books in a room literally packed floor to ceiling with review copies. Not a sight that you'd see with Otto. Chris was the nicest, kindest guy you'd ever hope to meet and one wonders what the Mysterious empire might be like today were it not for Chris' all too early passing in 1993. He was definitely the "full disclosure" type and I can't help but think about how much I miss him every time I see Otto's name in print (like every other day!).