Friday, May 11, 2018

JUST SOLD ITALIAN LANGUAGE RIGHTS TO THE RAPIST AND THE BITCH THANKS TO MAURO FALCIANI



Hi folks,

I often have beginning writers ask me how to go about getting published. I give them all the usual advice which I won’t repeat here as it’s mostly yesterday’s news, but I just sold several of my novels because of a little-known method.

All you have to do is get a respected bookseller to proclaim your talents to publishers. That’s exactly what just happened to this happy camper.

My Italian amigo, Mauro Falciani, owner of the Mucho Mojo Club in Italy has been a fan of my work for several years. He owns one of the coolest independent bookstores in Europe. At one time, it was located inside a nightclub.




MUCHO MOJO CLUB


For several months, he’s been singing my praises to Italian publisher Odoya Edizioni, who recently purchased the bankrupted publisher that published Harry Crews, Neil Smith, Carl Hiassen, Victor Gischler, Derek Raymond, James Lee Burke and many others, and last week Mauro emailed me to inform me that the publisher wanted him to find 3-4 strong authors to publish each year and that I was the first name he gave him. He said the publisher wanted to speak with my agent as soon as possible.

I contacted my agent, Svetlana Pironko, who knew the publisher and they quickly made a deal for the Italian rights to The Rapist, to be followed shortly with a deal for The Bitch, and they’ll be looking at other work of mine.

Now, Mauro wants me to come to Italy around Christmas to appear at his store and he’s talking to the folks at Odoya to see if they might sponsor such a trip.

So there it is—a little-known way to get books published! Of course, booksellers like Mauro aren’t on every corner but they are out there! And, publishers respect their advice.

Thanks, Mauro! You rock, mate!

Here’s the email Mauro sent after I told him the deal had gone through…

I’m very happy and fierce , my friend!!!
You have done so much for the MUCHO MOJO CLUB and so it was natural for me
to do the same for you! 
If you want, it will be great from you to write down a facebook post and tell the
whole thing from the beginning. Writers have to know that this crazy thing called mojo
works. Write all and mention me, my bookshop, the MUCHO MOJO CLUB!!!
I talked with the publisher, if you’re good we will make you come to Italy, all paid
in time for Christmas when I will have Joe Clifford, published right now in Italian!!!
What you think?
Mauro

Well, I think I’d be absolutely delighted, Mauro!

Blue skies,
Les






5 comments:

EA said...

Congratulations, Les. Well deserved. Elaine Ash

Les Edgerton said...

Thank you, Anonymous!

Joe Clifford said...

Road trip!!

Les Edgerton said...

Hey Joe! That sounds great, mate!

Robin Gregory said...

So happy for your success, Les! This is the way it used to happen. In the old days, booksellers actually read and discussed books. They took pride in helping authors. Now one must be on the NYT bestseller list to get any attention. Congratulations! The Rapist is a disturbing, elegant, seamless confession (or plea for redemption?) of a prisoner who is as much incarcerated by mental illness as Authur Fleck is in Joker. It deserves to be studied, discussed, and remembered.