THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 18, 1996 TAG: 9602160072
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ANN G. SJOERDSMA
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
IF ONE WERE to imagine a romance novel written by English actress Joan Collins, renowned for her ample ``twin peaks'' but not her intellectual heights, it might read something like this:
The eye signals between Paul and Venetia precluded any necessity for small talk. They each knew what they wanted. She saw him quiver as she gave him a languorous look from beneath her heavy-lidded innocent eyes as she danced lasciviously close to him at the club and they made a date to meet.
Steamy, pulpy, filled with beautiful people, clinches and cliches. In a word - godawful. But hardly unexpected or irredeemable. Actresses act, or at least pretend to; writers write; editors ``fix.''
But when Collins, the sultry B-movie queen who revived her career by playing evil Alexis on TV's ``Dynasty,'' gave such a text to Random House, the publisher sued for breach of contract.
Rather than pay an editor to rewrite Collins' two-book package, called ``redundant,'' ``incoherent'' and ``incomplete'' by its lawyers, Random House sought return of its $1.2 million advance. Collins counter-sued for the rest of the $4 million contract.
Last week, a Manhattan jury, with a nod to quantity over quality, ruled in Collins' favor. The way I see it, Random House gambled on a celebrity and lost.
But even if the verdict had been for the publisher, it still would have lost. The trial, perhaps humiliating for Collins, who didn't inherit the writing gene possessed by sex-pulp-novelist sister Jackie, was a victory for those who can write. It exposed some ``dirty little secrets'' about book contracts, editors and current bottom-line thinking in the once gentlemanly world of New York book publishing.
Aspiring authors, take note. Publishers, beware.
Thanks to a sharp agent, the late Irving (Swifty) Lazar, Collins had an edge the vast majority of authors, lacking best-selling clout, do not. Swifty managed to delete boilerplate contract language that gives the publisher the exclusive right to decide if a book is publishable. Instead of agreeing to the standard ``satisfactory performance'' clause, Collins contracted to submit ``complete'' manuscripts.
Just what is ``complete''? The jury ruled that one of Collins' vapid books was but the other wasn't. While newspapers were trashing Collins for the trash she had written, the actress was actually (though unknowingly) striking a blow against author exploitation. Hooray for the bodice-ripper!
Publishers have long held authors over a barrel: Standard industry contracts allow them to cancel books in which they have lost interest or books whose authors are no longer popular. Upon rejection, they may demand repayment of the advance, leaving an author with nothing for work expended.
It is common insider knowledge that editors, such as Random House's Joni Evans, who made a best-selling novelist of Jeffrey Archer, can - and routinely do - turn sow's ears into silk purses. Surely, Random House expected Evans to substantially rewrite Collins' purple-passionate prose, which seems no more dreadful than the published stuff. So why did the publisher unceremoniously dump the ``Dynasty'' femme fatale?
I suspect economics, not literary merit, and Collins' waning star proved decisive. At 62 and the subject of adverse tabloid publicity, the actress no longer represented the profit margin that Random House had anticipated in 1990 when it signed her.
The publishing world has changed significantly in recent years with the rise of the media comglomerate. Random House is now a unit of Advance Publications. A corporate mentality, with more pressure for fiscal responsibility, prevails.
Publishers have started to bank on a few runaway celebrity best sellers to finance many smaller, more critically deserving books by less well-known writers. They can ill afford to invest millions in a celebrity dud. Exit Joan Collins. Enter litigation.
Random House got exactly what it bargained for with Collins, only the value - the actress' appeal - of its bargain changed. Ironically, the trial may restore the star's luster. Her book may yet be a best seller. We may find out in detail what Paul and Venetia did on that first ``date.'' MEMO: Ann G. Sjoerdsma is a lawyer, manuscript editor for Bancroft Press in
Baltimore and book editor of The Virginian-Pilot. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Joan Collins went to court and won after her publisher balked.
by CNB