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Two D.C. newspaper novels, two covers: ‘The Rules of the Game’ and ‘The Solomon Scandals’
November 28, 2008 | 4:09 am
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By David Rothman
The cover of the D.C. newspaper novel by Leonard Downie, Jr., former executive editor of the Washington Post, isn’t officially online yet at either its Random House/Knopf page or the one at Amazon. Does the p-catalogue show it? I don’t know. Nor if a final version exists. But here’s what I found when I evilly clicked on “Cover Not Available.” Good job, Knopf. I’m just curious if you deliberately kept the cover under very loose wraps to drum up publicity. Whatever the case, I bit. Good luck with the book.
Meanwhile Twilight Times Books has locked up the cover for The Solomon Scandals, my own Washington newspaper novel, and I’ll reproduce it below.
Trade paperback and e-book versions of Scandals will go on sale in the next few weeks. Just out of curiosity—though I can’t make any promises—what would you think of being able to buy the trade paperback and get a free e-ebook version without DRM? This would jibe with the belief of many TeleRead community members that you shouldn’t have to pay for the same book again and again in different formats. I agree. Other suggestions welcomed!
Stone vs. Rothman on copyright
I’m now drafting a Scandals Web site—minus, I hope, the usual marketspeak that characterizes book promo. For a start, I’ve bravely agreed to let Jonathan Stone, my reporter protagonist, interview me. The results aren’t always pretty. Jon’s first question, at least in the current draft, is: “Why’s Scandals copyrighted in in your name? It’s my newspaper memoirs.” I’ve pointed out that these are actually just faux memoirs imagined by moi, but the persistent Stone just won’t stop.
Now being auditioned for the Scandals site: The spiffy Carrington WordPress theme, which, alas, looks chaotic in Internet Explorer 7. Alas, I can’t afford to do the site just for fellow Firefox, Opera and Safari fans. I’ve written Alex King to see if his people can make Carrington more IE-friendly.
Technorati Tags: Leonard Downie,Len Downie,newspapers,journalism,Washington Post,D.C.,fiction,novels,Carrington theme,WordPress
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I don’t know how much influence you have over how the book is sold or distributed (I know many publishers like to have control over these types of things) but if The Solomon Scandals paperback comes with a free e-book that can be downloaded immediately, I’d be willing to buy the book. I don’t really know what it’s about, so I’d have to look at price and content first but that would definitely be a bargain worth having for any book.
Spider, I don’t control sales or distribution, but Twilight Times Books will at least consider my suggestions for The Solomon Scandals. Lida Quillen, the publisher, is eager to experiment. List price is to be $16.95. Below, minus the actual links, is a draft of what I’ve written for the book site. Thanks. David
The Jonathan Stone-David Rothman Q. & A.
Q. Why’s Scandals copyrighted in your name? It’s my newspaper memoirs.
A. Er, faux memoirs. Look, Stone, if I hadn’t imagined you, you wouldn’t even have been born…or have worked for the Washington Telegram…or written up an IRS-CIA building collapse with hundreds dead…or lived through those quirky sex scandals…or the corruption and blackmail from the Oval Office…or the gossip columnist’s suicide…or the death of the sharklike editor in a car bombing…or your Hollywood directing career or—–
Q. Thanks, but I’ve already read my book. Now what about the talking Afghan Hound at the Cosmos Club. Sure it doesn’t detracts from my dignity?
A. But you’ve been dead a half century or so. Scandals is set mainly in the 1970s but looks far beyond. Besides, Afghans are dignified. I didn’t put in this detail in the book, but Thackeray II speaks in a wonderful baritone with a mid-Atlantic accident. I wish he could do my radio interviews for me.
Q. For latecomers, who’s this guy Solomon? And what’s he doing on my book cover with a building in his hand?
A. He’s the king of the landlords leasing office buildings to the General Services Administration, the government’s real estate agency. You’re investigating him. Is he based on someone in real life? Read on [link].
Q. So people will know, just how real is the Washington Telegram?
A. Very authentic in many of the details. I worked on a daily newspaper for several years, and, beyond that, I benefited from the advice of James Polk, a Pulitzer winner for his Watergate coverage for the old Washington Star. I did my share of investigative journalism at the General Services Administration—I looked through 400 leases.
You’re a lucky son of a bitch. For plot purposes, I sped up the Freedom of Information process for release of the documents. I spent weeks and weeks and weeks at it in real life. The CBS Evening News even used my case as an example of government obstinacy, and I ended up having to lobby for myself on the hill when GSA tried to charge me to pay thousands of dollars for the papers I wanted. Thanks, Sen. Kennedy and staff. That’s the level I had to go to. Oh, to have it as easy as you did, Stone.
Just keep in mind the S word, satire. Despite all the details, the Telegram in many ways bears about the same relationship to actual newspapers as the Union Broadcasting System in Network did to CBS, ABC or NBC. That said, the Telegram is closer to reality than either UBS in Network or the Daily Beast in Scoop. It broaches a number of genuine issues, such as the influence of business and government on the contents of newspapers and TV networks.
Q. So, Rothman, you’re anti-media?
A. Just the opposite in many ways. I hate to see investigative reporting cut back by the current ad drought. Talk about ways to make newspapers wimpier! I wonder if many newspapers today would have given you the time to check out Seymour Solomon. Yes, you had your tangles with George McWilliams, the sharklike editor; and he was of mixed mind—about your investigating his pal. But at least the Telegram had the money and spent it.
Money. That’s the real issue here. I’m not sure what the solution is. Just how much downsizing can newspapers do? And you can’t just say good-bye to paper editions—not when Net-related parts of newspaper contribute so little revenue. Perhaps technology such as e-readers will save newspapers—both in terms of individualized paper editions, and in terms of terms of better gizmos for reading them. See this YouTube video [link] showing a new device from Plastic Logic. The Kindle and similar gadgets are just a hint of better machines to come.
Q. But isn’t investigative reporting happening on the Internet. Look at Josh Marshall’s site [link].
A. Do you really think bloggers and the rest will have the same resources as the old media? Yes, small guys broke stories like My Lai. But I’m talking about sustained efforts. I don’t think that foundations like the Sandlers’ [link] can bear the entire burden, and just as with regular newspapers, donors will have to isolate their private interests from the activities of the editors and reporters they’re financing [link]. Nothing against good nonprofit efforts. The Fund for Investigative Journalism gave me grants to poke around GSA. But it wasn’t enough for permanent, day-to-day vigilance. At the local level let’s hope that media like VoiceofSan Diego can take off.
Q. So did anything come of your investigations?
A. Actually yes, as my story about the late Sen. Abraham Ribicoff [link] shows. Here’s a member of a GSA-related committee who invested tens of thousands of dollars in a CIA-occupied building leased through GSA. And he hid behind a trustee and denied having any government-related investments. Then he continued his business relationship with the landlord involved on other properties. Jim Polk followed up on NBC News and in the New Republic.
In addition, a congressional investigation resulted into the case of Missing Cafeteria—where a $500,000+ cafeteria went AWOL from the office building housing the headquarters of the Environmental Protection Agency. The lease called for one. But it never materialized. The owner was a well connected Maryland Republican who moved in Spiro Agnew’s circles. I broke the story in Federal Times, and Bettina Gregory picked it up for the ABC Evening News.
Of course, as is often the case, no one got punished—-just as no one does for a building collapse in Scandals. On the positive, GSA at least got a good scolding for being so lax about including the names of all partners in leases involving partnerships. It promised to do better. Would that I have time to follow up to see if the bureaucracy kept its word.
Q. So what do you think of GSA these days?
A. I love GSA [link to my writeup on the agency]. Again and again over the years, the scandals keep coming—and helping your memoirs transcend time.