Comments on: The author background check: Cautionary notes

By: Book Publishers

Book Publishers — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 07:56:10 +0000

In light of ‘a million little pieces’ and the freyman debarcle on oprah I think more and more publishers are now doing checks even at the agent level, there was another too with riverside not so long ago.

By: The Author Background Check (Or: Why We All Freak Out About Blog Followers and Comments) | Anne Riley

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 13:05:50 +0000

[...] reading this post by editor Alan Rinzler about how carefully editors and publishers research an author they’re [...]

By: Alan Rinzler

Alan Rinzler — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 17:22:39 +0000

Mike,

Many fiction writers rely on personal publicity in today’s market, and do need to appear presentable, interesting, engaging, and authentic, however idiosyncratic they may be otherwise.

Bad behavior is no longer so popular these days! In my experience, novelists get no more leeway than anyone else when publishers consider their ability to self-market.

By: Alan Rinzler

Alan Rinzler — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 17:21:04 +0000

April,

Yours is probably an extreme example but good advice nevertheless. Publishers need all authors — not only those with common names — to be clear early in any proposal or manuscript cover letter, about who they are and who they are not. Thanks for the reminder.

By: Inspirational fodder for the creative mind « Right The Writer

Inspirational fodder for the creative mind « Right The Writer — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 20:45:02 +0000

[...] The author background check: Cautionary notes – This is article contains common sense advice that can not be reiterated enough for job seekers, professionals, authors and anyone else who counts on their reputation to make a living. Sure the Internet gives us the sense of anonymity, but we are not really anonymous, especially when we post something that has our likeness or name on it. I remember a conversation I had with someone who wondered why I did not comment on controversial posts that they had made, to which I replied, “I have clients and potential clients that can find me on the ‘Net. I comment on that, they disagree with what I said, and I have a lot of explaining to do.” [...]

By: Jessie Mac

Jessie Mac — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 10:54:58 +0000

Really appreciate the post, Alan. My name is quite popular too so I can understand how April feels. Like Mike, I would like to know if it’s the same with fiction writers, especially if the writer is also an actor but using a stage name. I don’t have YouTube as Jessie Mac but I have a showreel as Maye Choo. Would the acting side play a part or not?

By: PacRim Jim

PacRim Jim — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 05:53:41 +0000

Unfortunately, there are only two people in the U.S. with my real name—and I’m one of them.
I guess I can either keep my mouth shut or keep my mouth shut.

By: Mike Schnabel

Mike Schnabel — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 22:37:33 +0000

I can see where this is extremely important with regard to self-help and nonfiction works, however, many of our greatest purveyors of fiction have not been, shall we say, pillars of moral and ethical behavior. And to complicate things, many have been rewarded for behaving badly and proving that it is possible to live outside the rules most people have to observe.

Some aspects of our self-presentation are certainly important (BookScan info. website hits, etc.). After all a publisher needs to know if a prospective author is effectively marketing themselves, not to mention how honest that author is, but if everybody needed a lily-white image to get published, we would now be deprived of some of our greatest authors. I’m curious as to how this info is processed with regard to fictions writers and if that differs from how it is looked at with regard to non-fiction and self-help authors?

By: April Brown

April Brown — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 15:17:34 +0000

There are over 5,000 people with my name in this country. A Google search shows everything from a respectable auction house owner, writers, teachers, and convicted criminals. While my name is an extreme example – use caution with Google, do a name search to see how many people actually have that name, and determine if the information listed on Google is really about, of from the person you are checking up on, and not someone else entirely.

By: Matthew Frise

Matthew Frise — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 18:02:56 +0000

Mr. Temple: I’m sure Mr.Rinzler would agree that one should live correctly. As an editor he is giving practical advice, not moral advice (certainly a good thing to give as well, but not something we usually turn to editors for). I welcome it.