William R. Leibowitz has been practicing entertainment/media law in New York City for a number of
years. He has represented numerous
renowned recording artists, songwriters, producers and many of the leading
record companies, talent managers, merchandisers and other notable
entertainment businesses. At one point,
he was the Chief Operating Officer/General Counsel for the Sanctuary Group of
Companies, a U.K. public company
that was the largest ‘indie’ music company in the world (prior to its
acquisition by the Universal Music Group).
William has a Bachelor of Science degree from New York University (magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) and a
law degree from Columbia University. He lives in the village of Quogue, New York with his wife, Alexandria, and dog,
George.
William wrote Miracle
Man because of its humanistic and spiritual messages and because he
feels that in our current times – when meritless celebrity has eclipsed
accomplishment and the only heroes are those based on comic books, the world
needs a real hero –and that, of course, is Robert James Austin, the protagonist
in Miracle Man. Miracle Man won Best Thriller in the
National Pacific Book Awards.
For More Information
- Visit William Leibowitz’s website.
- Connect with William on Facebook and Twitter.
- Visit William’s blog.
Q: Thanks for letting us interrogate interview you! Can you give us a go-for-the-gut answer as to
why you wanted to be an author?
A: I wanted to be an author to express myself creatively and
to be able to use the
Q: Tell us (we won’t tell promise!) is it all
it’s cracked up to be? I mean what are
the perks and what are the demands?
A: The biggest perk is when you get great
reviews and feedback from readers telling you, not only that your book has
entertained them –but that they were touched by the characters that you
created. The negative is that writing
novels is really demanding and takes a great deal of discipline, mind and soul
searching, and focus.
Q: Which route did
you take – traditional or self-published – and can you give us the nitty gritty
low down on what’s that like?
A: After speaking with several lawyers who
represent authors and then doing research, I decided to self-publish Miracle Man because the financial and
marketing opportunities for new writers of fiction that were once available
from major publishers no longer are. I
decided that I’d have more control by self-publishing. I’ve been very pleased that I made this
decision.
Q: What’s the snarkiest thing you can say about
the publishing industry (e.g. rejections, the long wait, etc.)
A: Any industry that relies on “gate-keepers” is
fraught with problems. The publishing
industry is similar to the music industry in that certain people (often of dubious
vision) are put in charge of deciding what is worthy of the public’s attention.
J.D. Salinger’s Catcher In The Rye was rejected by
publishers over 50 times. The Beatles
and The Who couldn’t get record deals.
What does that tell you?
Q: Tell us for real what your family feels about
you spending so much time getting your book written, polished, edited,
formatted, published, what have you?
A: I think my family reacts with an odd
combination of support and skepticism.
Because they know that writing is important to me—and they see how hard
working and enthusiastic I am about it, they want to be encouraging and
supportive. But at the same time, they
know that the reality is that such a venture is highly speculative and very
difficult to succeed in.
Q: What was the craziest or insane thing that
happened to you in the book publishing process?
A: I was sitting on a New York City bus checking my email one morning, when I
received an email that told me Miracle
Man had won a national Best Thriller award.
I was so dumbfounded and excited that I wanted to scream out loud, “I
won, I won,” but I knew that wouldn’t be the smartest thing to do on the New York mass transit system.
Q: How about the social networks? Which ones do you believe help and which ones
do you wish you could avoid?
A: I think facebook, twitter and linkedin are
helpful. I actually haven’t had any bad
experiences with social networks.
Q: Book sales.
Don’t you just love them (or lack of?)?
How are you making the sales happen for you?
A: I’ve done several things to spur sales. Firstly, I’ve told everyone I ever met in my
entire life that my book was available for purchase. Secondly, getting reviews is very important--
as is working social media. I’ve had PR
releases that are geared to be entertaining in and of themselves, as opposed to
just being informational -- and I’ve
also done quite a few radio interviews.
Q; What is one thing you’d like to jump on the
rooftop and scream about?
A: I wish I could reach a truly large number of
people and tell them about Miracle Man’s unique plot and
protagonist –and ask them to check out the reviews on Amazon or on my website
(miraclemanbook.com). I think that if
they did—their interest would be piqued.
Q: Okay, too much sugar for you today! Here’s a nice cup of Chamomile tea and come
on over and sit under the cabana and watch the waves roll in. Now…can you tell us what you love about being
a published author and how all those things above doesn’t matter because it’s
all part of the whole scheme of things and you wouldn’t have it any other way?
A: If you are proud of what you’ve written
that’s a great feeling. Your work
defines you and written words will survive you as they can always be found
somewhere. Writing fiction is an art
form and it’s a privilege to have the opportunity to express oneself
artistically and communicate with people on that level.
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