Free Book!!

Do you want a free book?  Click here for a link to an Acrobat file copy of Diagnosis Unknown: Our Journey to an Unconventional Cure published by Hampton Roads Publishing Company of Charlottesville, Virginia in 1997. I offer this as a Christmas gift to whomever wants it. I hereby give up trying to make money through writing.
Diagnosis Unknown is a real book by a real publishing company. Hampton Roads actually paid me a small advance. And, they ended up selling out the 3000 copies they printed. The good folks at HR, however, then decided not to reprint. Thus, my fame as an author came to an end. I was “out of print” as we say in the publishing biz. It was something of a miracle that DU was published in the first place. I have thirty or forty rejection letters to prove it. But then Linda’s friend, Ernie Martin, an acting teacher in LA said he would help. Since Ernie is in the movie biz he asked me to write a treatment. A treatment is a one-page synopsis of the contents of the book. I said, “Ernie. Read the damn book.” All those rejection letters can make you crabby. Ernie said, “I only read treatments and screenplays.” But in the end he sent it to a friend of his, a psychologist/author who had a tennis partner/agent. This friend gave it to his agent, a fellow named Al Zuckerman who is the head of an outfit called Writer’s House. Big Al (I love calling him Big Al) decided he could sell it and sent it out to all the big publishing houses because big publishing companies are the kind someone called Big Al would have to deal with. “I’m having trouble,” Big Al told me when he called a few weeks later. “If you were Richard Gere I could get you $500,000.” Being Richard Gere was a good idea but sort out of the question, so I asked him if he knew the guys at Hampton Roads, the publisher Linda and I had decided months before was the company who ought to publish the book. Big Al said, “Sure, I know those guys. I’ll send it to them.” “Hmmm,” I thought. “Why didn’t Big Al send it to them before?” Well, the answer to that question is that Hampton Roads doesn’t pay the kind of advances that Big Al is used to getting. He represents John LeCarre and Stephen Hawking among others. He even got his wife, a novelist you’ve never heard of, of a million dollar two book deal. Al’s big, see? Two weeks later Big Al called again and told me he’d done his best and was terminating our agency agreement. Then, two weeks after that I got another call. Big Al again. “The fellows at Hampton Roads want to do your book.” A few years later I discovered why they had published DU. I found out that Big Al had been HR’s agent for foreign rights since the inception of their business and he had never, ever submitted a book to them. (Bob Friedman, the publisher at Hampton Roads says this isn’t true. But I’m sticking with my story). At any rate, DU got some nice reviews and excellent feedback from readers. But it was kind of lost in the shuffle at HR because at the same time they published me they came out with Conversations With God by Neale Donald Walsh (ironically also from Ashland). Conversations With God was a huge hit and put HR on the publishing map. DU was left to make its own little karmic journey visiting the homes of sick people who needed answers and encouragement.  I’ve probably had 100 phone calls from folks who’ve read the book. (Have you ever called an author to tell him you loved his book? I haven’t. Is this strange behavior or something I’m supposed to be doing?) Some readers even report that they “couldn’t put it down.” With an ebook version I suppose they will be telling me, “I couldn’t put it to sleep.” Anyway; free book. Tell your friends. Everyone likes free stuff.

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