134 - Your 3-Step Remote Job Cheat Code

Hi Dennis,

Amy S. said she mentioned her and my discussion to you, and that you said I should feel free to shoot you a note. After spending the last two years reading most of your work (and scripts/treatments based on your books) and observing your transition to Los Angeles, I thought of a few suggestions that could make the process an easier one…_

1) A temporary west coast assistant. Right now, you’re entering the very lucrative re-write market with publishing deadlines in the horizon. You’ve just moved your whole family across coasts. You need someone onsite to help coordinate your LA schedule, get your affairs in order, and get your office running._

What it would take: A short-term West Coast assistant. To get all the trains running back on schedule.

How I could help: I’d work with T. (whom I’ve coordinated with in the past) to manage your schedule, acting as a stop-gap until you were settled. This was part of my regular duties here at IPG: coordinating Amy’s schedule while simultaneously coordinating for J. (agent for James E. and Michael C.).

Benefits to you: With someone on the ground in LA to deal with the minutiae, you could focus on the two most important things in your life: your family and your writing.

2) A research / writer’s assistant. Currently you’re juggling a wide breadth of projects, e.g.,Travis McGee rewrite, Three Month Trilogy, your own imprint, book tour of WORLD GONE BY, LOVE / HATE remake, etc. A researcher / writer’s assistant would sift through any and all material, organize it for you, so you can focus on creating your worlds.

What it would take: A dedicated West Coast researcher / writer’s assistant.

How I could help: I imagine you’ve worked with a stable of excellent researchers and assistants. They are/were likely organized, voracious readers and thoughtful writers (prerequisites for this role). What makes me different is my network. In addition to those traits, I’ve fostered relationships so I can get many books and scripts in the unpublished, unproduced market. For example, last week Paul H. requested an unpublished book represented by a rival agency. Within hours, Amy and I were able to get a copy to him because of my relationships.

What the benefits are to you: You’re a thorough reader, taking on material both wide (across a spectrum of genres) and deep (tracing a genre down its roots, e.g., for literary crime fiction, James Ellroy, James Lee Burke, James Crumley). But you face more projects and stricter time restraints. I can not only process, filter and organize information for you to write more efficiently, but get access to resources that you may want.

Given the above, I hope you can see I’d provide immense value to your work, and you’d consider taking me on as an assistant. I understand there are reasons why you’d be hesitant, which is why I’d suggest several options to make this very low-risk for you: I could start remotely or onsite, whichever is more comfortable for you. We could do a one-month, uncompensated “trial” period. If you didn’t feel the fit was right, we’d part ways, no hard feelings.

That being said, I have a great deal of respect for you and the work you’ve done. I think it’d be brilliant to work for you in some way. Thanks for your time, I hope to talk with you again soon.

Currently you’re juggling a wide breadth of projects, e.g.,Travis McGee rewrite, Three Month Trilogy, your own imprint, book tour of WORLD GONE BY, LOVE / HATE remake, etc. A researcher / writer’s assistant would sift through any and all material, organize it for you, so you can focus on creating your worlds.

You’ve just moved your whole family across coasts. You need someone onsite to help coordinate your LA schedule, get your affairs in order, and get your office running

What makes me different is my network. In addition to those traits, I’ve fostered relationships so I can get many books and scripts in the unpublished, unproduced market. For example, last week Paul H. requested an unpublished book represented by a rival agency. Within hours, Amy and I were able to get a copy to him because of my relationships.