Gary K. Wolf's Blog

Never give up!!!

 My first book contract was with Doubleday.  Four science fiction books, any subject Iwanted.  I wrote and published the firstthree (Killerbowl, A Generation Removed, The Resurrectionist.)  For the fourth, I wanted to write somethingcompletely different. Something that incorporated my boyhood loves, cartoons,comic books, and noir mysteries.  Aftertwo years of research and writing, I produced Who Censored Roger Rabbit?

 I sent Who Censored Roger Rabbit? to Doubleday as the finalbook in my four book deal.  To my greatsurprise, they rejected my work.  Thismarked the first time in my writing career that I have ever gotten a reject.

 I asked my editor why she had rejected what I thought was mybest book ever.  She said personally, sheloved the work.  However, the book was sounlike anything I had written before, unlike anything anybody had ever writtenbefore, that she felt compelled to send it to The Marketing Department.  Theywere the ones who rejected it.

 I called the head of The Marketing Department.  I asked him why he had rejected my work.  He said that unfortunately there was nocategory for it on the bookstore shelves. It wasn’t a traditional mystery, not really a general novel, not achildren’s book, not true science fiction. He said they couldn’t sell my book.

 I asked him what he would do if somebody today gave himAlice In Wonderland, or Gulliver’s Travels, or The Wizard of Oz?  He thought for a moment and said, “I couldn’tsell those either.”

 I was heartbroken.  Itold my agent that if I couldn’t sell this book, I didn’t want to be a writeranymore, because this was the kind of story I wanted to write.  He told me not to worry.  That we would find the book a home.

 He started sending the book to other publishers.  Sometimes to multiple editors at thesame  publisher.  Along the way, Who Censored Roger Rabbit? gotrejected 110 times!!!  Always for thesame reason.  There was no category forthis on bookstore shelves.  Although afew publishers came up with another reason to turn me down.  They thought nobody would understand a storyabout a private eye and a talking rabbit.

 In those days, rejects came by mail.  My wife took to calling my daily trip to themailbox the Daily Disappointments because I would always come back with 1, 2,3, once even 6 reject letters.

 On the 111th submission, the book crossed thedesk of an editor at St. Martins who had just published a major best seller forthem.  She was given a vanityproject.  She could publish any book ofher choice.  She chose Who Censored RogerRabbit?  Although, when she showed thebook to the President of the Company, he reneged.  He said he knew he had promised she couldpublish any book, but she couldn’t publish this one because he couldn’t sellit.  She stepped up to the plate and said,“Publish this book or I quit.”

 They published the book, although in very smallquantities.  Less than 5,000 copies.

 The book was incredibly well reviewed and swiftly sold out.

 A few months later, I got a call from Disney asking if I’dbe interested in having them turn my book into a movie.

 The rest is history.

 Who Censored Roger Rabbit went through 16 printings inpaperback.  There has been a book clubedition, a limited collectors’ edition, an audio book, and finally a reprint.

 When I wrote the sequel novel Who P-p-p-plugged RogerRabbit?, 16 publishers bid for the rights to publish it.  All of them had rejected the first book once,6 of them had rejected the first book twice, 2 of them rejected the first bookthree times.

 The lesson here?  Ifyou believe in what you’re doing, never give up.  Sooner or later, you will succeed.

 If you want to read the book that so many publishersbelieved they could never sell, or that readers wouldn’t understand, gohere.  Read the book and see for yourselfhow wrong those publishers were.

 https://www.amazon.com/Censored-Roger...

 

 

 

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Never give up!!!

 My first book contract was with Doubleday.  Four science fiction books, any subject I wanted.  I wrote and published the first three (Killerbowl, A Generation Removed, The Resurrectionist.)  For the fourth, I wanted to write something completely different. Something that incorporated my boyhood loves, cartoons, comic books, and noir mysteries.  After two years of research and writing, I produced Who Censored Roger Rabbit?

 I sent Who Censored Roger Rabbit? to Doubleday as the final book in my four book deal.  To my great surprise, they rejected my work.  This marked the first time in my writing career that I have ever gotten a reject.

 I asked my editor why she had rejected what I thought was my best book ever.  She said personally, she loved the work.  However, the book was so unlike anything I had written before, unlike anything anybody had ever written before, that she felt compelled to send it  to The Marketing Department.  They were the ones who rejected it.

 I called the head of The Marketing Department.  I asked him why he had rejected my work.  He said that unfortunately there was no category for it on the bookstore shelves.  It wasn’t a traditional mystery, not really a general novel, not a children’s book, not true science fiction.  He said they couldn’t sell my book.

 I asked him what he would do if somebody today gave him Alice In Wonderland, or Gulliver’s Travels, or The Wizard of Oz?  He thought for a moment and said, “I couldn’t sell those either.”

 I was heartbroken.  I told my agent that if I couldn’t sell this book, I didn’t want to be a writer anymore, because this was the kind of story I wanted to write.  He told me not to worry.  That we would find the book a home.

 He started sending the book to other publishers.  Sometimes to multiple editors at the same  publisher.  Along the way, Who Censored Roger Rabbit? got rejected 110 times!!!  Always for the same reason.  There was no category for this on bookstore shelves.  Although a few publishers came up with another reason to turn me down.  They thought nobody would understand a story about a private eye and a talking rabbit.

 In those days, rejects came by mail.  My wife took to calling my daily trip to the mailbox the Daily Disappointments because I would always come back with 1, 2, 3, once even 6 reject letters.

 On the 111th submission, the book crossed the desk of an editor at St. Martins who had just published a major best seller for them.  She was given a vanity project.  She could publish any book of her choice.  She chose Who Censored Roger Rabbit?  Although, when she showed the book to the President of the Company, he reneged.  He said he knew he had promised she could publish any book, but she couldn’t publish this one because he couldn’t sell it.  She stepped up to the plate and said, “Publish this book or I quit.”

 They published the book, although in very small quantities.  Less than 5,000 copies.

 The book was incredibly well reviewed and swiftly sold out.

 A few months later, I got a call from Disney asking if I’d be interested in having them turn my book into a movie.

 The rest is history.

 Who Censored Roger Rabbit went through 16 printings in paperback.  There has been a book club edition, a limited collectors’ edition, an audio book, and finally a reprint.

 When I wrote the sequel novel Who P-p-p-plugged Roger Rabbit?, 16 publishers bid for the rights to publish it.  All of them had rejected the first book once, 6 of them had rejected the first book twice, 2 of them rejected the first book three times.

 The lesson here?  If you believe in what you’re doing, never give up.  Sooner or later, you will succeed.

 If you want to read the book that so many publishers believed they could never sell, or that readers wouldn’t understand, go here.  Read the book and see for yourself how wrong those publishers were.

 https://www.amazon.com/Censored-Roger...

 

 

 

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My latest podcast in which I explain how I came to write Jessica Rabbit: XERIOUS Business. Give a listen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnRej...  
 
To buy the book, and find out what I'm talking about, go here.  https://www.amazon.com/Jessica-Rabbit...

 

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Incredible artist Andy Prisney did the cover artwork for my new novel Jessica Rabbit: XERIOUS Business. Here's Andy's tribute to jazz!!! Alongside what he did for me. What a talented guy!!!

If you want a piece of Andy's artwork for yourself, go here. It comes attached to the front of my book!!!

https://www.amazon.com/Jessica-Rabbit-XERIOUS-Business-Roger-ebook/dp/B09ZHXZRLG/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2G0W6H7JQMFLT&keywords=XERIOUS+Business&qid=1651830976&sprefix=xerious+business%2Caps%2C99&sr=8-1 

 

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My latest five-star review!!!

5.0 out of 5 stars

A wonderfully looney novel

Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2022
Verified Purchase

Jessica Rabbit: XERIOUS Business is the latest novel in the Roger Rabbit universe and it serves as an origin story for how Jessica Rabbit became the woman that she is.

It was a delightful, fun novel that is as over the top and looney as you would expect from the author's previous works. The prose read very cinematically. The action. The characters. The looniness. It is all so silly, and not without heart. You will enjoy this novel if you are a fan of heists, action, and any of the other Roger Rabbit works.

To the author - thank you for this latest installment!

To get your copy, go here!!!

https://www.amazon.com/Jessica-Rabbit-XERIOUS-Business-Roger-ebook/dp/B09ZHXZRLG/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2G0W6H7JQMFLT&keywords=XERIOUS+Business&qid=1651830976&sprefix=xerious+business%2Caps%2C99&sr=8-1
 

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Hey, gang!!! I just got a new supply of hardcover and paperback copies of my new novel Jessica Rabbit: XERIOUS Business.

Buy a copy directly from me now, and you'll get my autograph, a personalization if you want one, a neat drawing of Jessica done by the book's cover artist Andy Prisney, and a zillion simoleons!!! All this for $20 paperback, $40 hardcover, plus $10 shipping. Such a deal!!!

Email me at gkw@garywolf.com for details.

 

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My latest 5 star review on Amazon for Jessica Rabbit: XERIOUS Business!!!

5.0 out of 5 stars

A Wickedly Funny Page-Turner

Reviewed in the United States on June 26, 2022

Ever wonder how Jessica Rabbit became the sultry icon we know and love today? And how she fell for Roger? And where the heck did Toontown come from anyway? It's all here in XERIOUS BUSINESS, a wildly inventive, clever, laugh-out-loud, action-filled page-turner that will keep you up all night. The engaging story is about how mousey Jessica Krupnik became secret agent Jessica, who later, when paired with her partner Robbe, battles to keep criminal mastermind The Klown and his minions from poisoning everyone and taking over the world. This is one of Gary K. Wolf's best books, and it will be a delight to both new readers and hardcore fans alike. So grab a glass of chilled carrot juice and get ready for a wild, Looney ride!

To get your copy, go here!!!

https://www.amazon.com/Jessica-Rabbit-XERIOUS-Business-Roger-ebook/dp/B09ZHXZRLG/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2G0W6H7JQMFLT&keywords=XERIOUS+Business&qid=1651830976&sprefix=xerious+business%2Caps%2C99&sr=8-1#customerReviews

 

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 How The Book Jacket Came To Be

 

I had been trying unsuccessfully to get a good image for the cover of my new Jessica Rabbit novel, Jessica Rabbit: XERIOUS Business.  I didn't want to use an existing image.  The Jessica of the novel is not, at least at the beginning, the Jessica which everybody knows.  

I need something that could convey the idea of Jessica without showing the current Jessica.  I couldn't find an artist who could give me what I was looking for.

Then, from out of the blue, I got an unsolicited drawing from a fan.  A wonderfully modernistic rendition of Jessica. This was obviously Jessica and yet totally different from the classic image.

 

 

The fan, Andy Prisney, sent me the image and asked if I would be interested in posting it on my Facebook page.  I told him I would do better than that.  I would put it on the cover of my Jessica Rabbit novel.  Making Andy a very happy fan!!!

Which goes to show you struggling artists out there.  Keep plugging.  You never know where you'll find your success!!!

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 How Jessica got her look!

Even though I wrote the novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit? which introduced Jessica Rabbit, I'm a writer, not an artist.  I saw Jessica only in my imagination. I had never seen her for real, never drawn her.  Because that's a skill I don't have.  Luckily, Oscar-winning animator Richard Williams had that skill in abundance. He sat down with me and together we drew the Jessica which had previously existed only in my mind.  Dick exaggerated her proportions - the teeny tiny waist, large chest, larger bottom - so that other animators would know that she hadn't been rotoscoped.  That's a perfectly acceptable animation technique in which animators film a live action person and then draw over the photo.  That could not happen here.  There's no real person with Jessica's impossible proportions. Nobody we could possibly have filmed in live action and traced over.  Dick did a magnificent job bringing my wishful thought to life.  Jessica, as I saw her and as Dick drew her, is now regarded as one of the premiere sex symbols of all time.

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 Hey, Toontownians.  Welcome to my new blog, Rabbit Tales!!!  Over the next couple of weeks I'm going to be talking about a lot of Roger and Jessica Rabbit stuff.

As you all know, I created the character of Jessica Rabbit, widely regarded as one of the foremost sex symbols of all time.  I based her on some real women that I fantasized about in my youth: Rita Hayworth, Betty Grable, Lauren Bacall, and Veronica Lake, the woman with the peek-a-boo hair style.  Those were my real-world inspirations.  My fantasy inspiration was Tex Avery's Red Hot Riding Hood.  If you don't know who or what Red Hot is, check out one of her cartoons on You Tube.  You'll see Jessica's Grandmother strutting her stuff.

Tomorrow, we'll talk about how Jessica came to look like she does.

In the meantime, if you want to read Jessica's origins story, and find out where Toons come from, check out my novel, Jessica Rabbit: XERIOUS Business, on Amazon.com.

https://www.amazon.com/Jessica-Rabbit...

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