Howard Jay Smith is an
award-winning writer from Santa
Barbara, California. BEETHOVEN IN LOVE; OPUS 139 is his third book. A former Washington, D.C. Commission for the Arts Fellow, & Bread Loaf Writers
Conference Scholar, he taught for many years in the UCLA Extension Writers’
Program and has lectured nationally. His short stories, articles and photographs
have appeared in the Washington Post, Horizon Magazine, the Journal of the
Writers Guild of America, the Ojai Quarterly, and numerous literary and trade
publications. While an executive at ABC Television, Embassy TV, and Academy
Home Entertainment, he worked on numerous film, television, radio, and
commercial projects. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Santa Barbara
Symphony - "The Best Small City Symphony in America" - and is a member of the American Beethoven
Society.
About the Book:
At the moment of his death, Ludwig van
Beethoven pleads with Providence to grant him a final wish—one day, just a single day of
pure joy. But first he must confront the many failings in his life, so the
great composer and exceedingly complex man begins an odyssey into the
netherworld of his past life led by a spirit guide who certainly seems to
be Napoleon, who died six years before. This ghost of the former emperor, whom
the historical Beethoven both revered and despised, struggles to compel the
composer to confront the ugliness as well as the beauty and accomplishments of
his past.
As Beethoven ultimately faces the realities of his just-ended
life, we encounter the women who loved and inspired him. In their own
voices, we discover their Beethoven—a lover with whom they savor
the profound beauty and passion of his creations. And it’s in the arms of
his beloveds that he comes to terms with the meaning of his life and
experiences the moment of true joy he has always sought.
Purchase Information:
Before you started writing your book, what kind of research
did you do to prepare yourself?
Researching and then writing “Beethoven In Love; Opus 139,”
was a long journey, every moment of which was an absolute pleasure. I learned ages ago that if you want someone
to take the time and effort to read your book and find your work compelling and
engaging, you must also be equally passionate about what you create. I
absolutely love the entire process of crafting a story, from jotting down ideas
and doing research when necessary, to shaping each line, each paragraph, each
character, each scene. I want to transport the reader into a vivid and
continuous dream that is so powerful, so all-encompassing that the next thing
they know is that someone is calling them to dinner.
The novel both opens and closes at the moment of Beethoven’s
death from illness at age 57 on a snowy afternoon in March, 1827. He pleads with Providence
to grant him a final wish—one day, just a single day of pure joy. In a
metaphorical sense, the novel takes place in that moment, the moment Beethoven
faces death. In order to find that joy
Beethoven must confront the many failings and disappointments of his life.
In that manner – finding joy in our lives -- the entire novel becomes a universal
quest about the ways in which each of us comes to terms with the meaning
of our own lives and finds peace.
My initial thought upon coming up with this notion about
Beethoven being forced to review the failings of his life by his “Ghost of
Christmas Past,” before he could pass on to Elysium or paradise, was to read a
single biography, find the empty or white spaces in his life that we did not
know much about and then create a totally fictional story. After reading one
biography, I quickly grasped that scholars and musicians knew and had preserved
a staggering amount of information about Beethoven, so much so that there were
few blank spaces to fill in. If I was going to do a novel about such a famous
man, I realized that I was going to have to research that life fully and make
sure everything I wrote was as accurate as possible.
My personal dilemma was this: All of my mentors from my
early years as a writer, John Irving, Tim O’Brien, Toni Morrison and the late
John Gardner, all won National Book Awards or some similar accolade. When I committed myself to doing a Beethoven
novel, I knew there were two hurdles I had to overcome in order to be
successful. First I would need to thoroughly research everything about his life
and times and be exceedingly accurate or risk being shredded by historians and
critics in the music world. Given the
enormous amount of material on his life, including dozens of major biographies,
six volumes of letters as well as his diaries – not to mention his music - I
was initially daunted by the scope and size of what I had taken on. I decided not to proceed unless the quality
of the writing line by line was at a level that those mentors would have
approved.
Feeling the weight of their teachings upon me, I committed
myself to doing everything necessary to research not only Beethoven’s life, but
the life and times of his family, friends, and lovers and of the entire
Napoleonic era, no matter how long it took. And then and only then would I
write a novel based on that research that could stand up to the weight of any
critic or criticism.
I spent nearly two full years researching before writing a
single word of fiction. I built a chronological outline that ran over two
hundred pages itself. I read all the major biographies; all the volumes of
letters to and from Beethoven; I read his diaries and first-hand accounts of
his life compiled by his friends. I listened to endless hours of his music. I
studied the history of the times, from Voltaire and the French Revolution to
the spas of Central Europe and the life of Napoleon –
whose ghost plays a central role in the novel.
I read each book at least three times: the first to get a
general sense of its content; the second to highlight specific notes (don’t
even ask how many yellow highlighters or sticky notes I went through); and the
third to transfer key information to my outline. If Beethoven or Napoleon
referenced a philosophical text, such as the Bhagavad Gita or the works of
Confucius, I would read those as well.
Shaping the novel out of such a full and rich life had
little resemblance to my initial notion of finding the blank spaces in his life
and creating a fully woven fiction. Instead it was more like chipping away at a
giant block of marble to find the essence of his life.
Did you pursue publishers or did you opt to self-pub?
After I had a finished draft of “Beethoven In Love; Opus
139,” I made a number of attempts to reach out to literary agents and other
publishers using my old networks of contacts and business connections. “Beethoven In Love; Opus 139,” is my third
published book. I have also published or written for hire innumerable business
articles, short stories, radio pieces, commercials and screenplays.
Soon, I realized that the publishing world had vastly
changed since my prior book, “Opening the Doors to Hollywood,”
was released years earlier. Every agent
I spoke with – and there were many of high caliber - wanted either a celebrity
driven piece or an easily commoditized book of 250 pages. “Beethoven In Love; Opus 139,” is neither.
My first book “John Gardner: An Interview,” was published by
the now defunct New London Press. The publisher of my second, “Opening the
Doors to Hollywood” was Random
House. It was a non-fiction work based on film and writing classes I taught at
UCLA. We had great distribution through
bookstores nationally and it was a great kick to walk into a bookstore and to
not only find it on the shelves but to also be asked for autographs. That book sold in excess of fifteen-thousand
copies but the profits were all gobbled up by Random House in shipping and
distribution costs. “Opening the Doors
to Hollywood,” was also in terms of
the history of the publishing world, ancient history and of little use in
obtaining a new publisher for my Beethoven novel.
That’s when I turned to my friend and fellow writer, Russell
Martin, author of the non-fiction bestseller, “Beethoven’s Hair.” Russell also runs a small independent press,
SYQ. I ultimately decided to go with SYQ
and found the process much more to my liking.
I was involved and had control over every aspect of the process,
including the layout, design and cover.
If published by a publisher, what was your deciding factor
in going with them?
Trust! I knew Russell
Martin, the owner of SYQ, well enough that I trusted him to get the work done
professionally, on time, on budget, while allowing for me to have far greater
control over each and every aspect of the assemblage of the book. And that is exactly what happened. Russell
pulled the whole team toether, including web page artists, a publicist, proof
readers, editors, and a top notch book designer, Hans Teensma. Hans selected
the fonts, did the layout of each and every page and created the overall look
of the book, right down to the high quality European style paperback that has
folded over flaps much like the slip cover of a hardback. I was extremely happy with the physical
product and was personally able to sign off on each phase.
If published by a publisher, are you happy with the price
they chose?
Yes. Recalling my
experience with Random House where the profits were gobbled up by shipping, SYQ
and I decided to limit sales to online outlets such as Amazon and to pick price
points for book print and electronic versions that were not only reasonable
relative to the marketplace but were also set high enough that I would actually
earn money from their sales. Though I
have as yet to reach the sales levels of “Opening the Doors to Hollywood,”
my personal returns have been significantly greater.
How did you choose your cover?
Long before I finished the first draft, I asked my son, the
internationally known painter Zak Smith, if he would do the cover art. Zak is an artist and writer – with five books
of his own - whose paintings and drawings are held in major public and private
collections worldwide. He has been
exhibited in at least eight major museums, including the Museum
of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum
of American Art., the National Portrait Gallery and the Saatchi Gallery in London.
Knowing his style intimately, I was certain he would come up with a Beethoven
portrait that not only captured the theme of the novel but would also set the
standard for an iconic image of the composer for the 21st century. It took him several months to come up with
the perfect portrait, but once he delivered, we trusted Hans Teesma to
integrate it into his overall book design.
The result was most pleasing.
Another important element of the cover was endorsements.
Russell sought out and was successful in finding established key figures in
both the music and literature worlds for their quotes. We used several on the
cover, others on the website and in promotional materials.
Did you write your book, then revise or revise as you went?
Years ago, when I taught fiction at the Writers’ Program at
UCLA, I would constantly remind my students to think of their first draft as
“The Ugly.” By that I meant that it was
more important to get your basic ideas, thoughts and story out onto paper than
it was to immediately create a smooth and polished version. You do not share an “Ugly” with anyone except
yourself. You know what you want to say
and you probably know you are going to get there eventually – but no one else
knows what is in your head and if you show that draft around, you will not get
the reception you want. If you accept
that it is going to be “Ugly” the self-imposed pressure to reach perfection
instantly is removed. Once relaxed, you can take your time getting it in shape
– and only when you are close do you begin to share it.
As I noted earlier I created a rough outline and a notes
file that was more than half as long as the novel itself before I ever started
writing. Structurally I also wanted to mimic the musical form of a concerto
where Beethoven was the soloist and his friends, lovers, associates and family
represented the orchestra. Therefore I composed each chapter and would work
through and revise it enough each day until it felt complete – not perfect, not
polished but complete. Whenever I
started on a new chapter, I would go back three or four chapters into the draft
and start re-reading and gently polishing the older chapters to get a running
start so to speak on the new material.
When I had a complete draft I went back innumerable times to
polish again and again. I should note
too that I too many opportunities to read parts of the draft aloud at either
public events or to small circles of friends so that I could get a sense of the
flow, rhythm and lyrical strength of that segment.
When all of that was done, I showed the draft to other
writers and editors whom I trusted for their feedback – and there were a fair
number of good notes that I incorporated.
Some were minor edits, others involved re-ordering whole chapters to shift
the emphasis and highlight important themes.
Did you come up with special swag for your book and how are
you using it to help get the word out about your book?
We kept this fairly simple.
SYQ designed postcards, business cards, and a website as well as Twitter
and Facebook pages.
What’s your opinion on giving your book away to sell other
copies of your book?
When we first approached a traditional book publicist to
help bring the book to the attention of newspapers, magazines and radio
stations, she insisted we first print a “Review Draft” for submission to these
media outlets and then hold off a formal release of a final print and e-book
edition until six months had passed. She
sent out about 100 copies but failed to personalize her approach, do much
follow up or do more than I could have done on my own. The result of these free submission was that most
of them ended up on Amazon for sale as used copies. The submissions did bring in a few radio and
press interviews but were too few and far between and mostly in minor
markets. After our release date she then
wanted to send another one hundred to the same places but I deferred realizing
it was just going to be another waste of time and effort.
Since then we have selectively given free copies to people
who have the power to be influencers and that has been far more successful.
This way I continue to get good press and publicity.
What are three of the most important things you believe an
author should do before their book is released?
First and foremost is the key lesson I tried to teach
writing students at UCLA when I was there was to recognize the fact that “Show
Business” and the “Publishing Business” are just what their name implies:
businesses. This fact is all too often
ignored or neglected by writers who only view themselves as suffering artists.
There’s too much of that attitude around and it is damaging to the career of
anyone who writes.
Much of my career work has been related to not only writing,
but business and finance. I have always been described as one of those “Left
Brain – Right Brain,” kind of guys who goes back and forth between these two
worlds.
The first five years I spent researching and writing
“Beethoven In Love; Opus 139,” were clearly the creative side. Once done though I switched gears and treated
the printing, marketing and sales of the book as a business proposition. What good is it if you write a great novel
but no one reads it? I focused on
marketing and treated the costs and time spent as one would a business
start-up, imagining that it would take a while to recoup those expenses.
Clearly publishing and bookselling are industries that has
been radically transformed by the web. Once I committed to a small press, I
knew we had to maximize the use of electronic mediums to generate real
business. The old models didn’t work and
I don’t think anyone has figured out the very best methods to deal with the new
reality just yet. Understanding that
world remains a work in progress.
Once you commit to being a business person, you have to
act. That’s the second lesson. For
instance, I created a large web and Facebook presence and then used publicists
to promote the book to national newspapers and radio stations. In the first few months following the release
I did a lot of public readings and interviews on radio, in print, on podcasts
and through the web.
One needs to examine your target market and find ways to
reach them. This is a critical third
step. One of the beauties of a book
about Beethoven is that I was able to target diverse markets through Facebook.
We focused not only the world of book readers and clubs but also to the music
world and have had a fair amount of success in both those realms.
For example I have also performed in numbers of classical
music venues in conjunction with Grammy Award winning soloists, small ensembles
and even a full orchestra and choir. The
musicians would perform Beethoven’s compositions and I would read related
selections from the book. In fact my first public reading was for a gathering
of Beethoven scholars at the American Beethoven Society’s Thirtieth Anniversary
Conference. There I was, reading a work
of fiction to the very people who knew more about Beethoven than anyone, and,
thankfully, they loved it.
Now I not only have a following of devoted fans all over the
world, I have also made a number of connections with the descendants of some of
the true-life characters in the novel, such as the great grandson five
generations removed of the woman, Giulietta Guicciardi, to whom Beethoven
dedicated the Moonlight Sonata and is one of the women consider as a candidate
to be his mysterious Immortal Beloved.
What are three of the most important things you believe an
author should do after their book is released?
Marketing, marketing, and more marketing remain the three
most important thing one does after publication.
The first marketing step of post release sales follows
closely on the last point above. All of these creative activities, interviews
and press releases have to then be feed into daily Facebook posts and Tweets
and those in turn have driven sales.
Events like those above - as fun and important as they are,
remain “one-off happenings” unless you give them a second life by then
converting them into additional publicity for Facebook, Twitter, your Web Page,
etc. The more you are out there, the
more credibility you create for your product.
You need to learn Facebook, learn to use their advertising
models, find ways to build groups, friends and so forth. Once established you can then feed your
releases and news through those mediums.
What kind of pre-promotion did you do before the book came
out?
As I noted above, I created a Facebook presence, booked
speaking engagements, hired the first of two publicists and began to use
advertising on Facebook to targeted markets both prior and subsequent to
publication.
Do you have a long term plan with your book?
Yes, simply put it is to sell lots of copies.
What would you like to say to your readers and fans about
your book?
If you want to understand the passion I feel about
“Beethoven in Love; Opus 139,” and in so doing find your own heart, then listen
to Beethoven himself:
“Dear Reader…
Though still in bed, my thoughts go out to you, my Immortal
Beloved, now joyfully, and then sadly, waiting to learn whether fate will hear
us. I can live with you totally or not at all. Yes, I am resolved to wander so
far away from you until that moment when I can throw myself into your arms and
say that I am really at home with you. And I can send my soul wrapped in your
presence to the land of spirits. Yes, unhappily there is no other way. You will
not give in, since you know my fidelity to you. No one else can ever possess my
heart, never, never. . . .
Why this deep sorrow when necessity speaks? Can our love
endure except through sacrifices? Can we do anything to alter the fact that you
are not wholly mine, and I am not wholly yours? Oh God, look at the beauties of
nature and comfort your heart with that which must be. Love demands everything
and rightly so. Thus it is for me with you, and for you with me. But you forget
so easily that I must live for me and for you. If we were wholly united you
would feel the pain of it as little as I do?
But today I cannot share with you the thoughts I have had
during these last few days touching my own life. If our hearts were always
close together, I would scarcely have made such observations. My heart is full
of so many things to share with you . . .
Ah, there are moments when I feel that words amount to
nothing. Have courage, remain my true, my only treasure, my all, as I am yours.
The gods must send us the rest, what for us must and shall be ordained. . . .
You are suffering. Oh, wherever I am, you are with me. I would
arrange it so that we can live together. What a life! Thus! But without
you—pursued by the goodness of mankind here and there—which as little I deserve
or want to. The humility of man towards man pains me. And when I consider
myself in relation to the universe, what am I? And what is he whom we call the
greatest? Within us lies the divinity of all.
Oh God, why must I be
parted from the one I so love. And yet my life in Vienna
is now a wretched one. Your love makes me at once both the happiest and the
unhappiest of men. At my age I need a steady, quiet life. Is that possible in
our situation?
My angel, I have just been told that the mail coach goes
every day, therefore I must close at once so that you may receive the letter
without delay. Be calm, for only by a calm consideration of our existence can
we achieve our goal of living together. Be calm.
Love me today, yesterday . . . .
What tearful longings for you, you, you. My life, my all.
Farewell. Never cease to love me. Never misjudge this most faithful heart of
your beloved.
Ever yours . . . Ever mine . . . Ever ours. . . .”
Ever faithfully yours,
Ludwig van Beethoven”
