I was lucky. I bought my copy of Black Wings Has My Angel in
the mid-1980's from the Book Barn in Decatur, IL. This was
back when the Book Barn was located in a refurbished barn. I
later gave my copy to a gent from Chicago. He later called me
and mentioned going on his honeymoon in San Francisco,
visiting the Creative Arts offices (lucky bride), and giving
the same copy to Barry Gifford. Later, Creative Arts/Black
Lizard bought the rights to Black Wings, and then Random
House bought Black Lizard. I assume the rights transferred
over to Random House, but that Random House didn't see the
book as having much profit potential. I think Random House
was interested in the Jim Thompson titles and the idea of
using the Black Lizard imprint as a way to market Hammett,
Chandler, and other authors already in their backlist. I
assume the option to publish lapsed which leads us up to
where we are today.
There is a niche market for Black Wings. But is it a big
enough niche for Hard Case? It wasn't a big enough niche for
Random House and I assume they were given the book for free.
In the past other publisher have kick around the idea of
reprinting some of these old originals, Carroll and Graf
reprinted Harry Whittington's You'll Die Next! I have always
theorized that this was a failed test balloon, since no other
titles followed.
Is it a big enough niche for Stark House? A combined edition
of the books Black Wings Has My Angel and Wettermark would be
great! Two great reads for the price of one.
What about Gryphon Books? They have recently reprinted Harry
Whittington (One Got Away, Married To Murder, Satan's Widow,
and Vengeful Sinner), They have also published William
Campbell Gault's Man Alone which was written in the 1950's
but couldn't find a publishers until Gryphon Books released
it in 1995 (Cover art by Bruce Timm!, introduction by Bill
Pronzini!). They also did a collection of Spillane shorts:
Primal Spillane: Early Stories 1941-1942. Would you be
interested in a Gryphon Books edition? Gary Lovisi has kicked
the idea of publishing Black Wings in the past. You could
visit their website (http://www.gryphonbooks.com
) and give Gary some encouragement. I would also be happy to
forward e-mails to Gary, if you liked.
Take care, George the Librarian
--- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "Jeff Vorzimmer"
<jvorzimmer@...> wrote:
>
> Charles,
>
> While your intentions seem to be noble, I think
you're overlooking some
> points and glossing over others. To turn a profit,
any profit, after
only a
> year or so in a niche market such as this is
fantastic. And in order
to do
> this you've admitted that you have had to select
titles you think
will sell
> and with which you have exclusivity by contract.
That business model
seems
> to automatically exclude works in the public domain,
which is
unfortunate
> since there are a lot of works in the public domain
that deserve
reprinting.
> It is also unfortunate for the heirs of these
writers, who I'm sure
would
> rather have their deceased fathers or husbands or
grandfathers
remembered
> than receiving small checks from you every six
months.
>
> It seems as though you're doing a greater disservice
to Mary Chaze
by not
> giving "Black Wings" a legitimate paperback reissue
than Moynihan is
with
> his POD reissue. Your reasoning also sounds somewhat
disingenuous.
If you
> were actually to the point of negotiating a deal
with Mary Chaze and
you ran
> across the Blackmask edition, wouldn't your reaction
have been--A) She's
> made a deal with someone else or B) It's in the
public domain and I
don't
> want to have to compete with lots of other potential
publishers. Are you
> telling us that you got to that point with Mary
Chaze and it never
came up
> that the copyright had lapsed? You still seem to be
unsure about it.
>
> Let me say, Charles, that you are underestimating
your readership.
They are
> a large, but in some ways, a tightly-knit group, who
are shopping
not only
> for certain writers, but also for certain
publishers. You have built
up some
> brand loyalty and there are a lot of people who are
introduced to
writers
> because you republished them. Given the choice, most
readers on the
list,
> I'm sure, would buy your paperback of Black Wings,
rather than the
Blackmask
> edition, especially if we knew some of the proceeds
were going to the
> author's widow and we could get it at our local
bookstore.
>
> I hope you're not ruling out books simply because
they're in the public
> domain. I for one would like to see more Charles
Williams, for
example, and
> a lot of his early Gold Medal books are in the
PD.
>
> Jeff
>
>
> > > I don't think anyone is getting
rich
> > > reprinting old paperback originals.
I
> > > don't think Charles Ardai of Hard
Case
> > > or Greg Shepard of Stark House
is
> > > getting rich.
> >
> > True enough. Last year we turned our first
profit, a staggering four-
> > figure sum.
> >
> > > The authors of Black Wings Has My
Angel,
> > > My Flesh Is Sweet, and the various
Gold
> > > Medal and Lion Book originals may be
gone,
> > > but their families are still here.
Mary
> > > Chaze, Elliot's wife, is still
alive.
> >
> > She is, indeed. I was talking with her last
summer about (among
> > other things) the possibility of our reprinting
BLACK WINGS HAS MY
> > ANGEL, something she has never allowed anyone
to do. It was looking
> > promising -- but then I thought to do a search
on Amazon.com just to
> > be safe and discovered the Blackmask.com
edition. I had mixed
> > feelings when I saw that; on one hand, I was
glad that the book was
> > available again after so long, but on the other
I felt bad that I had
> > to go back to Mary and tell her I could no
longer make the offer we'd
> > been discussing. But we would never publish an
edition of a book
> > that another publisher has just reprinted a few
months earlier -- so
> > in this case Blackmask's edition literally was
the direct cause of
> > Mary Chaze not getting a check I would
otherwise have written. Of
> > course, to be fair to Blackmask, if it's true
that the book really is
> > in the public domain, we'd have had no reason
other than a charitable
> > impulse to write that check; and hell, if I'm
feeling so charitable,
> > nothing's stopping me from writing it now, book
or no book. So I'm
> > not trying to paint them in shades of black and
myself in radiant
> > white.
> >
> > But I will say I didn't feel good about the
whole thing.
> >
> > --Charles
> > ------------
> > Charles Ardai
> > Editor, Hard Case Crime
> >
> > --- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "George Tuttle"
<noirfiction@>
> > wrote:
> > >
> > > A question for all: It maybe legal, but is
it ethical?
> > >
> > > BlackMask.com reprints public domain
editions (they don't pay the
> > > author or surviving family for the rights
to publish) of classic
> > noir
> > > fiction writers like Elliot Chaze, Day
Keene, Wade Miller, John
> > > McPartland, Lionel White, Charles
Williams, Charles Willeford, and
> > Jim
> > > Thompson. It's probably legal (Authors are
often not good about
> > doing
> > > the paperwork required to extend copyright
protection). But is it
> > > ethical? Shouldn't the families get
something? They may not be owed
> > > anything, but wouldn't it be
nice?
> > >
> > > It was one thing when BlackMask.com was
reprinting old pulp
> > magazines.
> > > It seemed more victimless. But this new
wave of reprints does not
> > seem
> > > right. The authors of Black Wings Has My
Angel, My Flesh Is Sweet,
> > and
> > > the various Gold Medal and Lion Book
originals maybe gone, but their
> > > families are still here. Mary Chaze,
Elliot's wife, is still alive.
> > > There were several kids. I met some of
them when I work at the
> > public
> > > library in Hattiesburg, MS. I assume Al
James, Day Keene's son is
> > > still out there. Jim Thompson has two
kids: Michael and Sharon.
> > Bruno
> > > Fischer also has two: Adam Fischer and
Nora Ernst. John McPartland
> > had
> > > two wives: the one he was married to when
he died and the one he
> > > forgot to divorce. I think Ida was the
name of the later and the
> > > estate heir. I think there was also a
daughter. Charles Williams
> > has a
> > > daughter Alison. Lionel White has a
daughter, January.
> > >
> > > And then there is Wade Miller(the writing
team of Bill Miller and
> > Bob
> > > Wade). Bill Miller died many years ago,
but isn't Bob Wade still
> > alive?
> > >
> > > Publishers like Hard Case Crime and Stark
House Press give us an
> > > opportunity to say thanks to the authors
of these books. It may be
> > too
> > > late to thank them while they were living,
but we can thank their
> > > kids, in a token way, when we buy a Hard
Case or Stark House
> > edition.
> > > I don't think anyone is getting rich
reprinting old paperback
> > > originals. I don't think Charles Ardai of
Hard Case or Greg Shepard
> > of
> > > Stark House is getting rich. I doubt if
BlackMask.com is getting
> > rich.
> > > We are dealing with principles here, and I
don't understand the
> > > principle that BlackMask.com is advocating
for. I think they are on
> > > the wrong side of this issue. I know David
Moynahan of BlackMask.com
> > > has posted on this site before I would
welcome his point of view on
> > > this issue or for him to correct any
misconceptions I have. I also
> > > welcome others for feedback on this
issue.
> > >
>
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