Tag Archive | Scarecrow Press

So My Book Is Out Already?

Hey, remember when I said the hardcover version of This Music Leaves Stains (a.k.a. the booky-wook I wrote about the Misfits) was coming out in March? Well, according to the powers that be at Scarecrow Press, they “got lucky” during production and were able to release the book early. Like last month early. Valentine’s Day, to be exact. No one from Scarecrow hepped me to that, but I ain’t mad. Just caught a little off guard.

As noted before, the hardcover edition of This Music Leaves Stains is meant to be purchased in bulk by libraries and educators. Thus, it boasts a rather steep price tag ($40-55). I think I wrote a really great book but not one worth fifty bones. If you’re bursting at the seams to read this thing and wanna go to Amazon right now to pick a copy up, hey, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but please be aware a softcover version comes out in Autumn that’ll retail for around $25. I encourage the majority of you to wait for what (if I were a record store in the 1980s) I’d call “the nice price.”

Pictured: the free copies of the hardcover Scarecrow sent me last week. Soon these will be gone, autographed and sent to various friends, family members, and garden gnomes I’ve befriended over the years. See how nice and shiny they are? Thank you, Scarecrow Press.

January 11, 2013

In Which I Reveal The Title & Cover Of My Book

For the past two years I’ve spent the majority of my free time furiously working on my first book, a biography of punk rock legends the Misfits. Even though I signed the publishing contracts in January of 2012 it’s only been in the last few months that the whole thing has started to feel real. What tipped it, I guess, is settling on a title and a cover. Now it can be revealed that in October/November of 2013 Taylor Trade will release in softcover This Music Leaves Stains: The Complete Story of The Misfits by me, James Greene, Jr. Retail price should be about twenty-five bucks.

Funny thing: if you were to look up This Music Leaves Stains right now on Amazon.com, you’d find a listing for a hardcover version coming out in March via Scarecrow Press priced at fifty bucks. As was explained to me by the Rowman Publishing overlords (the company what umbrellas both Scarecrow and Taylor Trade), this is the “library” edition of the book, the edition institutes of learning and knowledge like to snap up with all their fancy edu-ma-cation money. I think I wrote a really great book, but I don’t think it’s worth fifty bones. So my advice is ignore what’s on Amazon right now unless you’re a library or someone who has flagrant disregard for the value of all currencies.

So I bet you’d like to see the cover, huh?

Thanks to the graphic peoples at Scarecrow/Rowman for whipping this bastard up. It is based on a design yours truly assembled. The photos of the Misfits themselves, though, were taken by the talented and generous Kevin Salk.

Extra special thanks to family, friends, and regular readers who have supported me during this whole nutty endeavor. I love and appreciate you all. Couldn’t have arrived here without you. Stay tuned for more news—thinking up nifty promotional stuff and considering actually asking Bernie Casey to read the audiobook. Who knows what might happen!

August 29, 2012

JG2 Misfits Book F.A.Q. Part Two: Electric Boogaloo

Q: What’s going on with your book?

A: I turned in the first draft of the manuscript to the publisher, Scarecrow Press, a couple weeks ago. They’re gonna get back to me in a month to let me know what parts they think suck and what parts they think are good. Then I guess I’ll bust out a second draft, see if they like that better.

Q: So when the heck will this thing be out?

A: Next year some time. No clue what “quarter,” as they say in the industry.

Q: What’s it called?

A: I’m still pleading the fifth on this one. I don’t want to make any public announcement until I’m one hundred percent certain I’ve got the perfect title. As of this writing, I’m only about eighty-five percent certain.

Q: Will it be available on Kindle / Nook / other e-readers?

A: I’m not sure. I would hope so. If not, you’re just gonna have to read it the old fashioned way.

Q: Will it be available as an audio book?

A: Only if I can get someone really cool to read it, like Bernie Casey. Bernie Casey’s into the Misfits, right?

Q: Will there be pictures?

A: Yeah, but not many. It turns out photographers usually want money for the exclusive right to publish their work in a book. Being a freelance writer living in New York City, my financial situation makes Fred Sanford look affluent. Thus, I could only obtain a handful of (admittedly awesome, high quality, and sorta never-been-seen-before) photos of the Misfits from their glory years. That’s okay, though, because it’s supposed to be a book anyway. If I write it all good-like, you’ll be able to envision perfectly what all these talented cretins look / looked like.

Q: Wait a minute, you’re still poor? What happened to that big shit advance from the publisher? Did you gamble it all away or lose it at a gas station or something?

A: There was no big shit advance. Scarecrow Press is an academic publisher. Academic publishers don’t throw wads of cash at you upfront—instead, they give you creative freedom, and you acquire revenue later from sales of the book. If this thing sells x amount of copies, I get y amount of dollars. I’ll admit I was a little bummed when I found out I wouldn’t be receiving a massive check with a stupid amount of zeroes off the bat. However, I wouldn’t trade the artistic autonomy I’ve had so far for any amount of lettuce.

Q: Are you gonna do readings or a tour when the book comes out?

A: Yeah, probably. I never got to tour when I was a struggling college musician of negligible talent, so I’m looking forward to spending maybe a week or two sleeping on people’s floors and feeling disoriented in cities I usually never visit like Boston and Pittsburgh.

Q: Something something Danzig’s cats.

A: I know, isn’t it crazy that a famous person has house pets? Seriously though, I bet one of those cats is named Mordecai.

January 10, 2012

JG2 Misfits Book F.A.Q.

Or “Everything You’ve Ever Wanted To Know About The Misfits Book I’m Writing That I Can Tell You At The Moment.”

Q: What qualifies you to write a book about the Misfits?

A: I’ve been an obsessive fan of theirs for fifteen years, and I’ve been known on occasion to string together sentences that aren’t peppered with totally outlandish or corny jokes. Because I care enough to try and make it the greatest book about the Misfits ever?

Q: Who’s publishing it?

A: Scarecrow Press.

Q: What’s your angle?

A: This book will tell the complete story of the Misfits while also examining the impact the band had on rock music at large.

Q: Are you gonna write about the stuff they did without Danzig?

A: See above. “Complete story.”

Q: Have you tried to interview Danzig yet?

A: I have reached out to every individual I’m aware of with known relation to the Misfits. The only other thing I can say about that currently is in the year I’ve been working on this book, only one person has flat-out refused to talk to me, and it wasn’t Danzig.

Q: When’s the book gonna be out?

A: I don’t know yet. I still have to write most of it.

Q: Can I get a free copy?

A: No.

Q: What’s the title gonna be?

A: I don’t know yet. Probably not Buff Dudes From Jersey Make Cool Music or The Fantabulous Brain Eaters of Bergen County.