In this post, former literary agent Mark Malatesta interviews novelist and TV anchor Jim Brown. Mark helped Jim get offers from multiple publishers when he was a literary agent, including a six-figure advance, and a two-book deal. Today Mark is an author coach and consultant who's helped 400+ authors of all genres (fiction, nonfiction, and children's books) get literary agents and/or traditional publsihers. This interview (available as both audio and text) is 59 minutes. During the interview, Mark Malatesta asks Jim about how he became a writer; and his best advice for authors about how to write, publish, and promote a book.
Jim Brown Interview with Mark Malatesta
Jim Brown is the author of the 24/7 and Black Valley, both pubished by Random House, and other novels for fans of suspenese, mystery, crime, thriller, and horror fiction. Jim is also an award-winning journalist and three-time winner of the Associated Press Best Newscast Award who's broadcast for BBC, CNN, NBC, ABC, Fox, and CBS.
Pt 1 - Mark Malatesta Interview with Jim Brown
Mark Malatesta: Hi everyone. I want to welcome you to this call—Jim Brown's friends, fans, groupies, and stalkers—and anyone else who might have wandered onto this call by mistake. My name is Mark Malatesta. I'm a former literary agent and [former] AAR member, and founder of Literary Agent Undercover, [a division of The Bestselling Author], helping authors of fiction, nonfiction, and children's books get a top literary agent, publisher, and book deal.
Today I'm hosting a fireside chat with Jim Brown. Not the famous football player, but the famous mystery, suspense, and thriller author, and TV anchor. During this interview you're going to discover the story and inspiration behind Jim's first two books, 24/7 and Black Valley, and how Jim got published by Random House (I'll give you a hint, he didn't sleep with an editor); the reason Jim's always so funny (was he born that way, or does he work at it?); why you should never call Jim during the middle of the day; how McDonald's is partly responsible for Jim's success as a novelist; writing tips from Jim; and how you can sell your book (or book idea) to a major publisher.
Jim Brown is an award-winning journalist, and three-time winner of the Associated Press Best Newscast Award. Jim is a TV anchor who's worked with NBC, ABC, Fox, and CBS. Jim's also broadcast live for CNN, been featured in a BBC documentary, and reported from inside the Oregon State Penitentiary for the execution of Jerry Lee Moore. As a crime reporter, Jim has covered serial killers and other maniacs, which resulted in him being threatened, and even shot at. But, he's proud to say, he's always gotten the story.
Jim got a lot of media coverage when his first two novels went to auction and he got a six-figure offer. Bestselling author Harlan Coben has called 24/7 "a finger-burning page-turner that you won't be able to put down." Bestselling author Tess Gerritsen has called Black Valley "ferociously creative" and "utterly terrifying." Bookreporter.com has called Jim's books "freaking brilliant." And bestselling author John Saul has called Jim, "a rising star in this new golden era of suspense fiction."
I call Jim my friend. He's one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet, he's witty, and he's good looking. So, welcome Jim, are you there? I'm so glad we're finally doing this.
Jim Brown: I am too, Mark. Yes, I'm here.
Mark Malatesta: Alright, well, I'm so glad you're here, and I want to cover a lot of things with you, but I want to make sure everyone knows all the parts of you. There's the TV news anchor, the novelist and, of course, the part of you that's host of the Behind the Book TV show.
Jim Brown: Thank God you didn't mention the fourth part.
Mark Malatesta: Yes, I was going to make a joke about that, but that's another interview. Let's get started with TV. How did you get started in TV?
Jim Brown: It was chemistry, and I don't mean like magic. It was actually chemistry class. I was in my high school chemistry class on a hot spring day, and the teacher asked a question. I didn't know the answer, but I never let not knowing what the answer is stop me from answering. So, I started talking about a chemical term, and I went on and on. When I finished, the teacher applauded and said, "That's the biggest bunch of hooey I ever heard." The next day she said, "You know, if you can [unintelligible] that well, you might as well get paid for it. I set up an interview for you at the radio station."
Mark Malatesta: Wow!
Pt 2 - Jim Brown Interview with Mark Malatesta
Jim Brown: Radio led to TV, I had a little scholarship to law school, and ultimately I turned it down, breaking my dad's heart, because TV is so much fun. That's how I got into the business.
Mark Malatesta: That's great. I don't know if I should ask you this next question, but it makes it a little more fun, and I'll get in trouble with you later...if you're allowed to talk about it, who is Jim De La Vega?
Jim Brown: My archenemy. He's my evil twin, except he's not evil, or a twin. He claims to be younger than me too, by the way.
Mark Malatesta: Is he your alter ego?
Jim Brown: He's my alter ego and my secret identity. De La Vega is an old family name, and so on the air I'm currently using Jim De La Vega. It took a while to get used to because it's a big difference from Jim Brown. So, the first month I was there I'd say, "I'm Jim De La Vega" and then I'd have to stifle a giggle because it sounded so odd to me.
Mark Malatesta: So that's your stage name?
Jim Brown: There you go, it's my stage name!
Mark Malatesta: Is that a common thing in the TV business?
Jim Brown: Very common, and a lot of people use names that have a little more ring to it. A lot of people have great names, but they feel more secure if they use something different that, in their head, has a little more kick to it. This is the first time in TV that I've used a stage name.
Mark Malatesta: What's a day in the life like for you as a news anchor? I know a little, that you go to bed when the sun comes up, and you can talk about that, but the only reference I have is the movie Anchorman with Will Ferrell. Did they hit the mark with that?
Jim Brown: Oh yes, knocked it out of the park. You wake up and read the paper on the computer, or hard copy, and you have to watch the local news, and check the national stories. When you get to the station, there's the three o'clock meeting and you have to have at least one idea. If you're reporting, you're out the door in a live truck for the next eight to ten hours because you're going live for the five o'clock, six o'clock, and eleven o'clock. You're in multiple stories, knowing any story you work on could change for breaking news, and often does. If you're anchoring the news in the studio, you're going through scripts, doing updates and rewriting things, and in some stations you're doing a package as well.
Then when you're on the air, you have to have great peripheral vision, and a lot of people don't realize this. When you're talking, you're reading the teleprompter, but you're keeping your scripts in order in case the prompter goes out, which it does. You're watching the monitors on the side and on the desk because you have to make sure the audio video link is there, and you're watching the cues from the floor director. Plus you have interruptible feedback in your ear with the producer saying, "We're flipping story E24," and all that fun stuff, and you have to appear natural and relaxed and authoritative, depending on what you're doing.
When I'm doing the weather, I have no scripts and I'm just ad libbing to the maps I've built, and telling the weather story. But it's not uncommon to be in the middle of it, and say you have to wrap it up or go faster, or you've got to extend for a minute. When it's sunny and hot, that extending requires a little creativity.
Mark Malatesta: Right.
Pt 3 - Mark Malatesta Interview with Jim Brown
Jim Brown: That's usually where I get a little silly, some might say, and I'll play around with it a little more. I have fun. It's a lot of fun, but it's a lot more intense than people realize. I think everybody's job is...from the outside, it looks one way, but when you get in it, everybody has so many little things that if you spent a day in their shoes you're stunned with what they have to do, but then you have the free pair of shoes.
Mark Malatesta: [Laughter] I don't think most people realize, I didn't, that you wake up and start thinking about going in with a story. You actually have to go in with a story, and I'd think that, and no offense, but I think a lot of people would think the news anchor is just a talking head, and they go in and read, and they're done.
Jim Brown: Right.
Mark Malatesta: You're actually bringing the stories with you.
Jim Brown: Yes, it's mandatory. As a result, it's very common, and I know my wife Kathryn, who's also an anchor, does this all the time. She always has at least two cell phones with her. Whether we're watching TV or trying to relax or out to dinner...you're always texting because you get information from your sources, and you have to build these relationships so you can get information from sources, but it requires effort off the clock. You have to keep working everything to make the news come in.
Mark Malatesta: Now I'm not going to put you in the hot seat, but have any of your colleagues, other anchors, ever woken up late one morning and watched a rival network to find a good story because they don't have one?
Jim Brown: You watch the competition, and if they have a story and you don't, you scramble to get it because that's happening. But you can't pitch that story, because everybody in the news room has seen the competition.
Mark Malatesta: They already know.
Jim Brown: That doesn't help you a whole lot.
Mark Malatesta: What did you do before TV?
Jim Brown: A little of everything. I mentioned starting in radio. I worked three jobs to go to college, and I was the first in my family to get a college education, so I would do anything. I worked in a gas station, which was interesting, because I know absolutely nothing about cars. Just as I started finding out where the motor was in the front, a Volkswagen Beetle pulled up and I was completely flummoxed. They would sit in the station watching me try to find the dipstick.
Mark Malatesta: That was back in the days of full service.
Jim Brown: Yes, I was Mr. Full Service, washing windshields and all that. I worked in the radio station, a library, I milked cows and got up at three in the morning. For me as a young guy, I'd come in from a date at two-thirty, and go down and milk the cows. Whatever it took to pay the bills and bring in a few bucks.
Mark Malatesta: Let's talk about your books. For those of you who haven't read any of your fiction yet, how do you answer, the question, "Who should read a Jim Brown book and why?" As you know, Ingrid, my wife, describes your writing style as something she won't read unless I'm in the house because it's too scary.
Jim Brown: I'd describe my style as electric. It's a good-sounding word, but not very descriptive of my style. Black Valley was scary. 24/7 is like more thrillers now, not as scary, but it depends on what your threshold is for scary. Essentially, I'm not one of those guys who likes to get the ball slowly rolling, I like to fire it right out of the cannon and get into the story.
My thought is that most people work very hard and have long days and deal with knuckleheads, no matter what their position is. I'm usually one of the knuckleheads they end up dealing with. So when you sit down and make a commitment to read a novel, you want an ejector seat out of what's going on, into that story. That's how I try to write it. Also, the female characters in my stories are never going to be running and screaming for help to be saved by the big masculine hero.
Mark Malatesta: What are they doing?
Pt 4 - Jim Brown Interview with Mark Malatesta
Jim Brown: They're always strong. My mom was a little woman. If you counted her beehive hairdo she was five foot. She was sweet as could be, but that woman had a spine of steel, almost literally. She got her back broken in a car accident when I was 12 and they said, "You'll never walk again." Three days later she was walking and said, "I have to take care of my boys." So I'll always write strong female leads. I think smart women are the best, and a woman who reads is the sexiest thing on earth. It sounds like pandering, and it is, but I mean it. I find it very impressive and interesting, and they usually have something fascinating to say.
Mark Malatesta: What does that make a woman who writes, then?
Jim Brown: Extraordinary.
Mark Malatesta: Okay, some people might have read one of your books, but not all of them. Would you let everybody know the premise is of 24/7?
Jim Brown: In 24/7, we have a reality TV show. If you like reality TV you'll enjoy the book. If you don't like reality TV, you'll enjoy the book. About 15 minutes into the live TV show, the host, the camera people, the producer, all the support staff, die from a horrible virus and we discover the 12 contestants have all been infected with the same virus, lethal in 24 hours. Now, in 24 hours there will be 12 contestants, and 11 shots that will delay it for one more day, and the next day there's 11 contestants and 10 shots.
Who dies and who lives is decided by online voting. It then takes off from there. One of the things I think helps the story do so well is the fact that it's a solid story, but it's also a bit of a social experiment. Bottom line is that the people might not vote for somebody to die, but they would vote for somebody to live. What you have to then ask yourself is, "Who dies so your person can live?" It pulls the reader in that way.
Mark Malatesta: For anyone who doesn't know, I was the literary agent who helped you get that book deal. I think two of the first things you told me was that it was going to be the first reality TV based thriller. I was like, "Okay, the first anything is exciting to me." The other thing you said was, "Think of it as Survivor meets Outbreak," and I was sold right away. I knew publishers would go crazy, and obviously I was right, because we sold that novel based on just a 20-page synopsis which hardly ever happens with fiction.
Jim Brown: You were incredible on that.
Mark Malatesta: Why do you think 24/7 has been so popular with readers and the media?
Jim Brown: I think it was, as you mentioned, the first novel dealing with reality TV. Also, the fact that it has that social element but isn't overt and preachy, so you can reach your own conclusions. You find yourself, as you read, feeling for certain characters, which means if you're cheering for one person, you're inadvertently cheering for another person's character to die. That dimension allows you to read the book and you inevitably end up, this is what readers tell me, participating in the book because you become vested in certain characters.
Mark Malatesta: And on a deeper level, it brings up, though some people won't think this consciously, the question of whether there are ethics or morality to reality TV. I remember with Jerry Springer, somebody got killed or almost killed, because of the drama they stirred up on that show. Every once in a while, you see those things happen. That's something people can get out of it too, right?
Jim Brown: Exactly, and I mention this in the afterword to 24/7 in the paperback version. There was a contestant on Big Brother, the US edition, in season one, who in the middle of the night put a knife to the throat of another contestant, a woman, and said, "What would you do if I just slit your throat?" That was someone who went through the screening process, and was being monitored by TV cameras 24/7, no pun intended.
Pt 5 - Mark Malatesta Interview with Jim Brown
Mark Malatesta: Did that segment make it onto air?
Jim Brown: No. The next episode, the character was gone, and they said he'd been removed. It was in the trades what happened.
Mark Malatesta: Are you familiar with the Top Chef reality show where the chefs compete to become top chefs?
Jim Brown: Yes.
Mark Malatesta: Chef Jose is from the Boulder, Colorado area, and he won one or two years ago. I heard him give a talk and met him, and it was interesting because he talked about all the psychological screening that was really intense. One thing I asked was, "Did you play it up and act a little crazy to help you get on the show, because you know they're looking for drama? Are they looking for someone a little crazy or someone stable?" His opinion was they're really looking for people who are stable. He said it's the most intense environment he's ever been in. There are weeks you can't talk to anyone, or look at the Internet or TV, and he was like, "Even if you're normal, you'll be crazy by the end."
Jim Brown: That's a good point.
Mark Malatesta: What's the premise of Black Valley, for those who don't know?
Jim Brown: Black Valley is more Michael Crichton meets Stephen King. It's scarier than I intended to make it, but, as a reporter, I have a pretty high shock threshold. I didn't realize until people started reacting, but the 18-year-old town bully, Whitey Dobbs, accepts a bet that he can't last an hour buried alive with an air tank and AM radio. He says it'll be a piece of cake. 30 minutes into it, the AM radio says there's breaking news that a train hit a car and killed four teenagers, the four teenagers who buried him alive. The only people who know where he is.
Mark Malatesta: Right.
Jim Brown: He's really buried alive and we find out they pulled a prank on Whitey. The radio broadcast is a fake. They're getting revenge on him for everything he's done. They dig him up, expecting to find him humiliated and terrified. They open the coffin, but it's empty. Then I flash forward 25 years and everybody is successful. One's a physicist, one's a sheriff, one's the mayor, and one sees a picture of his college daughter and her new boyfriend. In the picture, the boyfriend is Whitey Dobbs, and he hasn't aged a day.
Is it supernatural or science? I'm a big science nerd, and the book goes back and forth. It gets more intense with a lot of plot twists. I also get to do one of my favorite things...I set the book in the small town of Black Valley, Oregon. I like the small microcosm because I get to know the characters better when I have a closed environment like that.
Mark Malatesta: Right.
Jim Brown: If you like something a bit more spooky with more of a bite, more Dean Koontz, Black Valley is the way to go. I should have put a warning that this book isn't suitable for Ingrid.
Mark Malatesta: I think she was okay with that. It was 24/7, where a woman was welded into a room or something and couldn't get out and the crazy guy was in there.
Jim Brown: Oh right, yes!
Pt 6 - Jim Brown Interview with Mark Malatesta
Mark Malatesta: That's the scene that got her.
Jim Brown: A very good friend of mine, her husband who has a master's in psychology and teaches psychology...he's wary about letting her spend time with me, because of that scene. It's just a story.
Mark Malatesta: I'll remind everyone of this at the end, but I'm also going to do it in the middle, is to make sure with you, the easiest way for everyone listening to get a copy of 24/7 and Black Valley is through your website, because you have all the different versions there for Kindle, iPad and all that.
Jim Brown: Exactly, jimbrownbooks.com. It's pretty simple, and you have the "Buy" button right there.
Mark Malatesta: Now I know you have more novels finished, and more things coming, and we'll talk about that in a bit, but can you say which book is your favorite, or which one was your favorite to write? I know it's like asking someone which one of their children is their favorite, but I'm sure you have a different relationship with each book, right?
Jim Brown: Exactly, and again that goes back to the children. I have a son and daughter, and my son is my favorite son, whereas my daughter is my favorite daughter. They're very different, and I have a lot of books that haven't been released yet. So, I have the Brady Bunch of books, and each one is vying for attention.
The one consuming all my air is always the one I'm writing at the moment. My instincts would be to say, "I don't have a favorite," but I do for certain aspects. 24/7 was my first book, the first I ever held with my name on it. I stood in the kitchen with my dad, and my mom was in the hospital when we got the first advance hard copies. We had two copies of the book, and I handed him one, and Dad opened the book. I hadn't told him about the dedication, "Joanna and Franklin Brown, who give me life, love and laughter." He goes, "Huh," and there's moisture in his eyes. That was one of the best moments of my life, outside of the kids. If I didn't make a penny writing books, that alone would have been terrific.
Mark Malatesta: I didn't see that coming.
Jim Brown: I didn't either.
Mark Malatesta: Let me ask you a hard question now. Have you ever thought about why you write fiction or suspense? Do you think it's random, or did something weird happen in your childhood? I was at a talk, and James Patterson who wrote Kiss the Girls and writes really creepy thrillers. He's really smart. The first thing he does when speaking is pull out a picture of his wife and kids and flash it...telling everyone he's not a psycho. You wonder, "Where does dark fiction come from?"
Jim Brown: Like I mentioned, the friend whose husband doesn't quite trust me, because of what I write...
Mark Malatesta: Right!
Pt 7 - Mark Malatesta Interview with Jim Brown
Jim Brown: That's a really good question. There were some rough things in childhood, but I don't think it sent me to a particular genre. I started out writing literary fiction, ultimately realizing no one I knew was going to read, and I was doing it to impress my English teachers. Then I switched to what I read. Bottom line, it goes to what you enjoy reading.
Mark Malatesta: Sure.
Jim Brown: At least for me, that's how it works. This is what I'm reading, so it's easier for me to write what I have an interest in.
Mark Malatesta: It's like anything else, some people are motivated to do things, and it's therapeutic and healing and comes out of their past. Others are just passionate about something. Others are exposed to something at an early age. Or, like you're saying, you're a fan and read a lot and it just happens.
Jim Brown: Right, and that being said, all the trauma in your life does influence your work, whether you realize it or not. 24/7 has nothing to do with me, but when my dad read that book he could pull things out of my real life from the book which stunned me. I could have sworn there was nothing in that book related to my life. I've never been on reality TV, but he was able to pull it out. The other aspect is that you take stress and angst and it allows you to apply more realism to the emotional scenes you're writing.
Mark Malatesta: You hinted at, and now we know that you obviously read a lot of fiction in your genre, like suspense, mystery, and thriller. Do you primarily read that, or do you secretly collect something else like comics or romance novels or cookbooks or something quirky?
Jim Brown: Oh, cookbooks would be good. I read predominantly suspense and thrillers. However, I read a lot of nonfiction to inform what I'm writing. It's odd, you mentioned comics because that's what got me started reading as a kid. We had a neighbor, Tim Finley, who when I was three, I'd go over to their house, and he would cut my hair on his porch and he cut my hair until I was 12. Their son was grown and moved out, and so every now and then Mrs. Finley would open the closet door and take out a stack of comic books. The first time I saw it, it was this burst of color I'd never seen in my life. The closet was filled with mothballs, and so that smell of mothballs wafted over me, and to this day, this is true, if I smell mothballs I anticipate something wonderful is about to happen.
Mark Malatesta: Do you remember when you first started writing fiction?
Jim Brown: I started without a pen. It goes back to that same time period, and my mom and dad, when they had company they'd hand a newspaper or magazine to me when I was three or four years old, and they'd say, "Hey Jimmy, read this." I'd start making up a story on the spot of what I thought was in the paper. It was very simplistic, but it was story telling. The bunny was hopping down the road, and the puppy came along. Etc. I remember once, they all laughed, and my dad went to take the paper away, and I said, "No, I want to see how this ends." Then, by second grade, I was writing it on paper, and making little booklets that I sold to my classmates for five cents each. I was submitting short stories when I was 13 to every publisher. So, I've spent my entire life telling stories.
Pt 8 - Jim Brown Interview with Mark Malatesta
Mark Malatesta: When did you start writing the scarier stuff?
Jim Brown: That's another secret I shouldn't tell, but I will. If there's a pet in one of my novels you don't have to worry, the pet won't be harmed. The people may die, but the dog, cat, horse, whatever animal is in the book will be fine. I always take care of my animals. I just forgot your question.
Mark Malatesta: It's okay, I was asking when you shifted and started…I think you answered it already. You said you started, when you got serious, you were writing literary fiction, and then started writing suspense.
Jim Brown: Yes, it started getting more edgy as I got closer into college. Remember, when you're in high school and college, that's the center of the universe, and everything is horrible, and so-and-so wouldn't go out with me.
Mark Malatesta: Dramatic.
Jim Brown: Yes!
Mark Malatesta: Since a lot of people reading [or listening to] this interview are writers, would you mind sharing how you got your first two novels published? What tips do you have for aspiring authors?
Jim Brown: The first thing was, I wrote a lot, I read about writing, and I studied books on writing. I also studied how books were written and put together. I'd write an entire novel, finish it, and say, "I can do better." I'd put it in a drawer and move on to the next project. Then, I'd put that same amount of effort into trying to find a literary agent, then finding the right literary agent, and ultimately that ended up being the key, finding the right partner, the right representative that understands your ideas, and executes with efficiency.
And I found this, and don't tell him I said this, but I found this amazing literary agent, and I believe his name is Mark Malatesta. The way my books got published is I wrote Black Valley, and we had an outline of 24/7, but that was all your magic.
You were audacious.
Mark Malatesta: I marvel, and I won't ask how many novels you wrote before you got published, but you would finish a novel, and send it out, finish another one and send it out…is that how you did it?
Jim Brown: No, I was worse than that. Most people would write a bunch of short stories, but I'd finish a novel and realize what I learned from it. I'd leave it on my computer and wouldn't send it out. I've got novels no one has read that are 400-500 pages that I not only wrote but proofed. Then, later, I'd send out a book or two and get my feet wet that way. For the most part, I'd write entire novels, and I don't recommend this for other people because it takes…
Mark Malatesta: There has to be a faster way.
Jim Brown: Yes, but that was my process, and how I got through it. I had to write the entire book to get the story out, and also sometimes to see how it ended. Also, to learn the process of writing.
Mark Malatesta: That, to me, is key. As a literary agent I saw a lot of authors, measuring themselves by the amount of words they'd produced. But writing lots of novels isn't the same as getting better. What I heard you say is that each novel you wrote, you learned and got better. How did you do that?
Jim Brown: I'm conscious of what works and doesn't. I picked up a copy of 24/7 at Barnes & Noble one day, and opened it up randomly to a page and started reading, and immediately my head started rewriting. Again, I'd read everything I could find dealing with writing, but I'd also watch how the masters do it, the great writers. Dean Koontz wrote a bunch of novels under pen names, and later got an eight-million dollar contract to re-release them in paperback under his own name, but he was obsessed on rewriting them. So, he rewrote every novel. I went out and tracked down the original copies of the novels and read his original copy and then read his rewrites.
Mark Malatesta: To see what he did.
Pt 9 - Mark Malatesta Interview with Jim Brown
Jim Brown: Yes, and I could see they were better. I wanted to see why, What was he doing? You discover things, like you're using too many words. You have to learn the secret of delete. That can be a really hard one, cutting your words you worked so hard for. You have this beautiful paragraph, but it doesn't help with the story, so you have to take it out. The way I got around that is I developed a cut file, where everything I cut, I put in a file. The theory is that one day I'll use it for something. I never have, but it makes it easier to cut if I know it still exists. Weird, isn't it?
Mark Malatesta: No, that makes tons of sense. What about your writing process? Where do you get your inspiration? Do you have other secrets or rituals, like a best place to write, or any superstitions associated with writing, like a lot of professional athletes… Right now, the Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL, here they were on a losing streak. Then they won a game and the coach hasn't shaved his beard since.
Jim Brown: Exactly. My instinct is to say no, but if I think about it…I know Isaac Asimov said a writer can write any time, any place. Stephen King says it's more like getting into a sense of hypnosis. He goes to his writing building, which is separate from his house, and rereads what he did, and he says he gets hypnotized. Other people say they get in the zone. I used to write in McDonalds. I was used to writing in a newsroom, so I'd go to McDonalds with my laptop, and when the kids got out of school it sounded like a newsroom. It was noisy…
Mark Malatesta: That actually helped you?
Jim Brown: Yes, it was what I was accustomed to, and I got free diet cola. Don't tell Ingrid, but I drink way too many diet sodas.
Mark Malatesta: She knows. [Laughter]
Jim Brown: I think that's part of my ritual, now that you asked that question. Once I finally broke the habit of going to public places to write, I started to get up and buy two 44-ounce diet sodas, extra ice, come back, and put one in the fridge and take the other one upstairs and write. When that's empty, I refill it and keep doing it until the ice melts. Then I go to the second one, and so I drink it all day long, not because I'm thirsty, but because it's part of a habit or ritual. When I'm stopping to think, I'll automatically reach over for my soda. That's a good question and I never thought of it. That must be my ritual.
Mark Malatesta: I think there's always something. I first started writing during my freshman year of college. One thing I've done ever since is light incense and a candle when I sit down to write. I guess there is something sacred to that writing space, however you want to look at it, and a little bit of ritual goes with it.
Jim Brown: Exactly, and you pulled that out of me. I didn't know I had it, but you're exactly right, I have my own set routine.
Mark Malatesta: Do you create noise?
Jim Brown: No, it took me a long time to wean myself from public places. What seemed to move me over the top was when I got a powerful desktop computer. Now I have three cork boards and one dry erase board I have information on, and I'm surrounded by my books.
Mark Malatesta: It's a little newsroom.
Pt 10 - Jim Brown Interview with Mark Malatesta
Jim Brown: Exactly. I can look things up. I have two computers running, and sometimes I have two other laptops running, doing searches on different things. So that's what finally got me out of it. Now I'm accustomed to writing closer to the way I guess a normal person would. I write in my home office, but I do get interrupted and get noise because Chaplin, our rescue kitty, believes my desk is the perfect place, and he likes to lay like a hammock in my arms. I get this workout from a 13-pound cat. I'm lifting every time I type a word.
Mark Malatesta: [Laughter] I trained one of my cats the wrong way too. I pulled him into my lap one day in the office chair, and he didn't like it, but I slowly worked on him over time, and now he likes it. But now the problem is, he walks into the office and starts barking at me. He gets bossy, and is like, "Me, in your lap, now."
Jim Brown: That's another thing, I hate to admit this, but I'm pretty sure I'm a human cat toy. I'm also his butler.
Mark Malatesta: [Laugher] Alright, I have a few more questions. I know you're putting finishing touches on a new novel that's with a literary agent, and hopefully we'll get to read that before long, but you also have some other things going on. I don't know how many countries your books are published in, but do you? I find it fascinating when I see some of those book covers…
Jim Brown: Right. I lost count, because we keep having things pop up where it's at. 24/7 has been published in South Korea, Japan, Holland, Bulgaria, Britain, India, and Australia. We've been published in…
Mark Malatesta: I don't have copies of all those.
Jim Brown: You should have a copy of everything.
Mark Malatesta: That's a lot.
Jim Brown: Let me know what you don't have, and I'll send it to you.
Mark Malatesta: Alright, and you have to correct me because I'm going to butcher this, but I know, and I don't know if you're allowed to talk about it, but I know you have a couple novels in some kind of development for feature film with major studios, and I won't say names unless you do. Isn't someone also wanting to make a video game out of one of your novels?
Jim Brown: Yes, I actually can say the names, and if you don't mind I will.
Mark Malatesta: Yes.
Jim Brown: I'm pretty excited. 24/7 has been optioned for film by Paramount. All I'm thinking is they're the folks who did Indiana Jones, so they have a pretty good history.
Mark Malatesta: Yes, it doesn't get better than that.
Jim Brown: Yes, I love it. Black Valley is under option with Stephen Susco, because it's a scarier book. He's perfect, did the Grudge movies. I've seen a lot of his work, and I'm really excited about that. And I've been contacted by a video game company to turn my book, Boom, into a video game.
Mark Malatesta: That's crazy. Did you ever imagine something like that?
Jim Brown: No. But do you remember when we first came out with 24/7? I think you sent me the link. Somebody started an online video game with 24/7.
Mark Malatesta: Oh?
Jim Brown: Yes, there were people signing up, and I got in late.
Mark Malatesta: You need to get a royalty on that.
Pt 11 - Mark Malatesta Interview with Jim Brown
Jim Brown: I was just glad they were reading the book and responding to it. I thought it was cool. That surprised me too, but 24/7 has more of a game aspect. With Boom I was really surprised it caught their eye and they wanted to do something with it. It's always exciting when you see your work expand into a different medium. Of course, my bottom line is the true universe is always, for me, the novel. The hope is if more people are exposed, and more people read the book, they'll give me input, and let me know what they think, because I love talking to readers.
Mark Malatesta: So hint, hint everybody, you can get a copy of Jim's books at jimbrownbooks.com, and I know there's a way people can get in touch with you there as well.
Jim Brown: Exactly.
Mark Malatesta: Now, the last thing, for any author who wants to get a literary agent and publisher for their book, they can visit my website at GetALiteraryAgent.com.
Jim Brown: Can I add to what you just said?
Mark Malatesta: Yes.
Jim Brown: You're the best in the business. You were the most amazing literary agent, and I was so fortunate to get with you. I mentioned you in 24/7 as the "Remarkable Mark" because you truly are. I think it's awesome you're now helping authors of all types of books get a literary agent. They couldn't find a better connection.
Mark Malatesta: I don't want to mislead anyone. If you have a book, I'm not going to be your literary agent. I don't do that anymore, as Jim knows. It was the most horrible thing, like a breakup, when I had to have that conversation with Jim and let him know, because otherwise I'd still be working with him as his agent.
If you go to my site, I have everything there from free to fee. I'm big on giving back lots of free resources, and I encourage authors to post questions for me. Obviously, some questions are too big, or if you're getting serious about getting your book out there, then my advice is schedule an introductory coaching call at GetALiteraryAgent.com.
Writing can be dangerous. It's easy to go the wrong direction, for years. You can think you're on track, but might not be writing the right book for you, or pitching the right way, not getting results and not knowing why. Someone like me can look at your query letter and other material and say, "Here's your problem and opportunity."
I really believe in education, and Jim, one of the reasons I loved working with you, is you're not lazy. You write great books, but you've also been willing to get educated and market yourself so your new literary agent is lucky.
Jim Brown: I appreciate you saying that. You were also featured in How to Get a Literary Agent by Writer's Digest as well, remember that?
Pt 12 - Jim Brown Interview with Mark Malatesta
Mark Malatesta: I do. There are a couple of things there, but I did a feature article for them, and they covered my literary agency as well. That article, about how to make a literary agent fall in love with you, is now on my blog at GetALiteraryAgent.com.
Jim Brown: Speaking with you at a writer's conference was a lot of fun, but it was strange because women were swooning over you...before Ingrid.
Mark Malatesta: When I met Ingrid, and she went to some writer's conferences with me, and she was uncomfortable because authors started treating her like royalty too. She said, "This is awful, they treat you like a rock star." I was like, "What's wrong with that? I like that."
Jim Brown: [Laughter]
Mark Malatesta: Some people spend their whole life trying to get to a position where people respect and listen to them. It's a good thing, and we all want that. It's partly why we read fiction, right?
Jim Brown: Exactly, gives us a chance to visit other worlds on Earth, other perspectives, and get away from the problems in the real world.
Mark Malatesta: Well, Jim, it's been an honor to share you with everyone, and let them get to know you. I enjoyed our time.
Jim Brown: So did I. You're one of my dearest friends in the world, and any chance I get to talk with you [Laughter] ...I actually forgot we were doing the interview there for a minute. It's just like you and I talking, a lot of fun.
Mark Malatesta: Absolutely, have a great rest of your night, and, for everyone else, thank you for joining us. Okay everyone, this is Mark Malatesta, founder of The Bestselling Author, with Alphonsus Obayuwana, author of The Happiness Formula, published by HCI Books. You can get a copy everywhere books are sold. I love the sound of that. And you can learn more about Alphonsus at triplehproject.com.
And, if you're interested in a private 1-on-1 coaching call with me (to talk about the best way to write, publish, or promote your book), visit AuthorConsultation.com.
Lastly, if you're listening to this interview—or reading the transcript—and you're not yet a member of my online community, register now at GetALiteraryAgent.com for instant access to more information (and inspiration) like this, to help you become the bestselling author you can be.
Remember…
Getting published isn't luck, it's a decision.
See you next time.
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Who Is Former Literary Agent Mark Malatesta?
Mark Malatesta is a former literary agent, and the creator of the well-known Directory of Literary Agents and this popular How to Get a Literary Agent Guide. He is the host of Ask a Literary Agent, and founder of Literary Agent Undercover, a division of The Bestselling Author. Mark's articles have appeared in the Writer's Digest Guide to Literary Agents and the Publishers Weekly Book Publishing Almanac.
Mark has helped hundreds of authors get literary agents, including the Best Literary Agents at the Top Literary Agencies on his List of Literary Agents. Writers of all Book Genres (fiction, nonfiction, and children's books) have used Mark's Literary Agent Advice to get book deals. They've been on the New York Times bestseller list; had their books optioned for TV, stage, and feature film; won countless awards; and sold millions of books.
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Mark Malatesta Reviews - Author Coach & Consultant
Here you can see reviews of Mark Malatesta from authors like Jim Brown, who've worked with Mark to get top literary agents, and publishers such as Random House. You can also see reviews of Mark Malatesta from publishing industry professionals. These reviews of former literary agent Mark Malatesta include his time as an author coach and consultant, literary agent, and Marketing & Licensing Manager for the well-known book/gift publisher Blue Mountain Arts.
- Author Coaching & Consulting Clients
- Fiction Author Reviews of Mark Malatesta
- Nonfiction Author Reviews of Mark Malatesta
- Memoir/Narrative NF Author Reviews of Mark Malatesta
- Children's Book Author Reviews of Mark Malatesta
- Christian Book Author Reviews of Mark Malatesta
- Writers Conference Coordinators
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- Other Authors
