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resurrectionsongSeptember 29, 2004Kerry Sutra?Darnit, why didn't I think of that? Here's the story. About three or four years ago while drunk at a party, someone asked me what I planned to do with my life. I remember being cranky and I remember not liking the person, so I gave them a smart-ass answer. "I plan to write and sell a guaranteed best seller." "What's that?" There was a sneer in there somewhere; I wasn't so drunk that I didn't notice. "I'm going to write..." I paused hugely for dramatic effect. "...the pop-up Kama Sutra." As soon as I said it--it was something that had just popped into my head that moment--I knew it was a brilliant idea. Done well and marketed well, it could be the biggest seller of all time (next to the Bible of course, and that book has quite a head start). I researched the Kama Sutra (and related books), I bought pop-up books to study and dissect, and I planned for a beautifully illustrated, only carefully tongue-in-cheek version of the Pop-Up Kama Sutra. You know, with moving bits. Anyway, I kicked the idea around in my head for a while and finally came to the conclusion that it would be fun and it could be big. It would make a great bachelor or bachelorette party gift, it would make people giggle, and it had branding potential. I could just see the little mini Pop-Up Kama Sutra near the checkout at Barnes and Noble with all the other tiny books. Over this last summer, I started working on it to the point that I even had an illustrator ready to start in on the concepts while I did the writing and the overall direction of the project. I had a contact that knows people in the novelty publishing industry; he had floated the idea to a few of them who immediately expressed interest. I could almost feel the money sliding right into my bank account. Then, on a fateful day in early September, my friend Di called me. "I hate to have to tell you this," she said. "But I really have to tell you. I saw a pop-up Kama Sutra today." I was crushed. Apparently some Canadian publisher had beaten me to the punch--and whether they had done it as well as I would have is irrelevant. The novelty wasn't as novel any more. Luckily, I'm resilient, and I've moved on to other things. But I'll always wonder what could have happened if I had taken the Pop-Up Kama Sutra to market a few years ago... Comments
From what I understand about the Kama Sutra, you were probably right to just hold the idea in your mind for a long time without actually moving much on it, never trying to actually reach any sort of peak moment.... Freakin' brilliant. I would have SO bought that book -- if YOU had written it. You know, so I could tell people that I *know him*! Yes, I'm used to getting strange looks, why do you ask? Heh. Posted by: Margi at September 29, 2004 12:32 PMYou'd've had an autographed copy, of course. Posted by: zombyboy at September 29, 2004 12:46 PMDude, you're weird, in a cool sort of way. Thank you, thankyouverymuch. Posted by: zombyboy at September 29, 2004 12:51 PMI had a book about a whale damned near finished. It was called "Moby Jack." Then along comes that Herman guy, and, well...you know. Posted by: Jim at September 29, 2004 08:17 PMI was laughing so hard as I read this.... I am sorry your dreams were so quickly dashed after all the effort and hard work you put into it...(giggle) I'm with Margi- I would've bought it, too...but might have hidden it in the closet (I do have young children running around the house). I especially like that it was born out of having to deal with someone's snarkiness. Our minds can move faster and better than we ever truly anticipate. *Nathan, I love how quickly your brain finds the punny side of everything.... Posted by: Rae at September 30, 2004 08:07 AM |
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