"Blood & Ashes" - AVAILABLE on Amazon.co.uk

Loeffelholz · November 2009

Kind of an odd request...but I'm having some difficulty locating the publisher of the song "Dolores" - written by Louis Alter (music) and Frank Loesser (lyrics) - as performed by Tommy Dorsey and Frank Sinatra, and also by Bing Crosby---actually, it's the Crosby-performed version I quote in my book, but I'm going to need permission to reprint the lyrics...and I'm having a hell of a time finding out just who (if anyone) owns the copyright...or if (doubtful) it's in the 'Public Domain.'

Any suggestions would be appreciated; my brain's mush...

;%

Mr Martini · November 2009

I just looked the lyrics up on a random website. At the bottom of the page it says:

Lyrics@Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, The Songwriters Guild Of America

Not sure if this helps or if you already knew this. I'll also raid my grandfathers CD collection tomorrow to see if he has a copy of it and see if there's any info on it.

Barbel · November 2009

The Dorsey/Sinatra recording is labelled as "Paramount Music Corp (ASCAP)" on my copy of "The Song Is You".

Loeffelholz · November 2009

Barbel wrote:

The Dorsey/Sinatra recording is labelled as "Paramount Music Corp (ASCAP)" on my copy of "The Song Is You".

Thanks, Barbel. I found out who's administering the old songs for Paramount Music Corp (a business in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, of all places) and faxed them a letter asking for permission. I'll be curious to see if (or how much) cash will be required. If more than a pittance, I'll have to go to plan B...no lyrics quoted

Thanks also to Mr. Martini...it's a different deal getting permission to reprint lyrics on the internet, I think. But if this other lead doesn't pan out, I'll try that one! {[]

Loeffelholz · November 2009

Mr Martini wrote:

I just looked the lyrics up on a random website. At the bottom of the page it says:

Lyrics@Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, The Songwriters Guild Of America

Looks like you win, Mr. Martini! -{ The Hal Leonard Corporation has referred me to Sony/ATV---and Alter Louis Music Publications, c/o the Songwriter's Guild of America---telling me I need permission from both parties. So I've gone from Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Nashville, Tennessee...

Intellectual property...it's a blast! B-)

Mr Martini · November 2009

^Glad I could help.

Loeffelholz · December 2009

Still waiting on Sony...I know they're going to ask for money...just don't know how much

Like they need it...

Meanwhile, I'm in the throes of my rewrite; my editor's talked me into having another murder at the midpoint of the book...

It's pretty weird: this is a hardboiled private eye story set in the Forties; men are really my target audience...but my editor---not to mention my author rep, title supervisor and production manager at my publisher---are all females

One of my editor's notes, during the devopmental phase, was that perhaps I ought to tone down my references to guns and cars...well, I vetoed that one, although she's been very helpful in nearly all other areas...

Can Oscar Jade survive all this estrogen? Stay tuned

)

7289 · December 2009

Loeff's,

You might consider adding in a recipe or two, maybe a fleeting appearance by Julia Child - just to round out the novel .....

Loeffelholz · December 2009

Well, I've heard from Sony. Their fee for a licence to reprint lyrics from "Dolores" is $100, which represents their 50% share. So I'll have to pay $100 to Louis Alter's publishing company as well. I'm truly torn...I'd really like the lyrics to be in the book, but for free I can have Duke Ellington's "Take the 'A' Train" (an instrumental!) playing on the jukebox instead...

7289 · December 2009

If you feel the scene really needs it - go for the big money song!

I predict your novel will be a grand success - so splurge!!!!

Loeffelholz · December 2009

...Well, God help me, I might just spring for it. I really like the way it reads with it in there...

7289 · December 2009

You have made the correct decision!

Mr Martini · December 2009

Loeffelholz wrote:

...Well, God help me, I might just spring for it. I really like the way it reads with it in there...

Just wondering something Loeff, if you do spring for it and write another book, can you use the lyrics again or do you need to ask for permission a second time?

Loeffelholz · January 2010

Mr Martini wrote:

Loeffelholz wrote:

...Well, God help me, I might just spring for it. I really like the way it reads with it in there...

Just wondering something Loeff, if you do spring for it and write another book, can you use the lyrics again or do you need to ask for permission a second time?

I'd need a completely separate licence for that...I had to send Sony the pages of the book in which the song appears, plus the pages preceding and following, to show context. It's a particularly violent sequence, with a fair amount of profanity as well, so I wasn't sure how they'd take it. Turns out they just want their hundred bucks {:)

Loeffelholz · January 2010

Well, it's official...I've sent the appropriate fax to Sony committing to pay the licensing fee...I really think keeping the lyrics in the piece classes up my climactic shootout ;%

Ideally, I'd like to do one of these with each Jade story...

Got over a big hump in the rewrite this week, too---added a complete new chapter, with a fresh murder and plot twist. Now comes dealing with all the story dominoes tipped over by it, over the course of the final third of the book...

I'm happy with the new material, though...it 'bends' the guitar strings a bit, and hopefully keeps things interesting leading up to the big finish.

Also considering providing an Amazon 'Kindle' edition of the book...don't understand it at all, but apparently it's a pretty good market ?:) Guess we'll see.

Mr Martini · January 2010

Is this shoot-out similar to the shoot-out in Face/Off, only that was to the tune of 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow"?

Loeffelholz · January 2010

I'll have to rewatch that flick; it's been a while. Maybe so, though---as I explained to Sony in my pitch, the song provides sort of an ironic counterpoint to the violence :v It's the song that plays on oscarjade.com on the 'Blood & Ashes' page...apparently, though, there are some playback issues with Mac systems

Mr Martini · January 2010

Loeffelholz wrote:

I'll have to rewatch that flick; it's been a while. Maybe so, though---as I explained to Sony in my pitch, the song provides sort of an ironic counterpoint to the violence :v It's the song that plays on oscarjade.com on the 'Blood & Ashes' page...apparently, though, there are some playback issues with Mac systems

I have a Mac an it won't play. When I go to the page with the song on it, it just has the Q with a question mark in front of it. I downloaded flip for mac and it still didn't work.

*Flip for Mac is a program that takes Windows Media Player stuff and plays it through Quicktime.

Another Loeffelholz · January 2010

Mr Martini wrote:

Loeffelholz wrote:

I'll have to rewatch that flick; it's been a while. Maybe so, though---as I explained to Sony in my pitch, the song provides sort of an ironic counterpoint to the violence :v It's the song that plays on oscarjade.com on the 'Blood & Ashes' page...apparently, though, there are some playback issues with Mac systems

I have a Mac an it won't play. When I go to the page with the song on it, it just has the Q with a question mark in front of it. I downloaded flip for mac and it still didn't work.

*Flip for Mac is a program that takes Windows Media Player stuff and plays it through Quicktime.

I have a PC and I get that same icon ( Q with a question mark )

I wonder if this means I don't have the proper media player ? Or....?

Napoleon Plural · January 2010

Loeffelholz wrote:

.

It's pretty weird: this is a hardboiled private eye story set in the Forties; men are really my target audience...but my editor---not to mention my author rep, title supervisor and production manager at my publisher---are all females One of my editor's notes, during the devopmental phase, was that perhaps I ought to tone down my references to guns and cars...well, I vetoed that one, although she's been very helpful in nearly all other areas...

Can Oscar Jade survive all this estrogen? Stay tuned )

I know! Change the protagonist's name to Jade Oscar!

Loeffelholz · January 2010

Napoleon Plural wrote:

Loeffelholz wrote:

.

It's pretty weird: this is a hardboiled private eye story set in the Forties; men are really my target audience...but my editor---not to mention my author rep, title supervisor and production manager at my publisher---are all females One of my editor's notes, during the devopmental phase, was that perhaps I ought to tone down my references to guns and cars...well, I vetoed that one, although she's been very helpful in nearly all other areas...

Can Oscar Jade survive all this estrogen? Stay tuned )

I know! Change the protagonist's name to Jade Oscar!

) I'd better be careful about what I sign...

Yankee Mike Bravo · January 2010

"...if furniture could talk, this bar would get a lot of people in serious trouble."

)-{

Loeffelholz · January 2010

Yankee Mike Bravo wrote:

"...if furniture could talk, this bar would get a lot of people in serious trouble." )-{

Glad you enjoyed that, Yankee Mike

Yeah, the bar fixture in Blood & Ashes is almost a character in its own right...it's based on a bar in Springfield, Illinois, at which I've personally drank...the bar owner told me the story about the old wood from Germany...and I used it in the book...

Loeffelholz · January 2010

Well, I'm ecstatic to report that I've seen the latest update on the cover art for Blood & Ashes---and I'm completely blown away B-) It's noir, it's retro, it's got attitude---and it's being designed by none other than...

[drum roll]

...Daren Hatfield, aka darenhat of AJB fame, my fellow Quartermaster, whose fantastic graphics design work is well known to those who have been members for a while. The elements of the cover are still coming together...but as I told him in my email last night: I've never smoked crack, but I'm pretty sure I know how it feels now...all of the giddy rush with none of the habit, messy interventions or trendy rehab stints

A thousand thanks to darenhat for stepping up and accepting the project. It's bloody brilliant work....and I'll post it in this thread when it's finalized, and 'locked in' with my publisher.

Mr Martini · January 2010

Oh man, can't wait to see this.

darenhat · January 2010

With a build-up like that, now I'm really under pressure!

)

Thanks for the kind words, Loeffs! The challenge is to generate a cover that truly does your book justice. I hope everyone likes the cover as much as you do -{

Hardyboy · January 2010

No doubt, Loeffs, your acknowledgments section (if not your dedication) will read, "Thanks to the members and especially the administrators of Absolutely James Bond 007, who made it all possible."

:007)

Loeffelholz · January 2010

Hardyboy wrote:

No doubt, Loeffs, your acknowledgments section (if not your dedication) will read, "Thanks to the members and especially the administrators of Absolutely James Bond 007, who made it all possible."

:007)

You never know... :v I'm starting to put my Author's Note/Acknowledgments together, and it's going to be longer than I thought...without AJB, I'd likely have never crossed paths with DH---or RogueAgent, who was instrumental in helping me pick out the title! B-)

Loeffelholz · February 2010

My preliminary license from Sony arrived via email yesterday...and upon reviewing it, what they're looking for is $100 (representing their 50% share)---for every 500 copies of the book that are printed

And I've been told that, should the book become popular, the number might change.

Assuming the other party wants an equal share (another $100---and if they demand more, I'd have to match it with what I pay Sony), I'd end up paying about 40 cents per each copy sold, just to have four or five lines of "Dolores" quoted during one of the later chapters in the book.

It's not too late for me to back out...and I might have to do just that

Too bad, really, as I like the song...but I can use Duke Ellington's superb "Take the 'A' Train" for nothing---it's an instrumental...

It's certainly been a learning experience.

7289 · February 2010

Argh!

Sounds way to "open ended", and when your novel becomes popular - you would be making someone else alot of cash!

Could you re-write the scene so that the name of the song is mentioned, but sans the quotes? Much like IF did with the "Echos of Paris" recording in Diamonds Are Forever.

"Blood & Ashes" - AVAILABLE on Amazon.co.uk

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