I'm really in a tough spot right now because of this situation. I don't know what to do. As of last week I got my proofs back from the publisher with this cover letter:
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December 20, 2007
Dear Mr. Mehling:
Enclosed you will find a complete and final set of page proofs for your book, "Mea Saurus." We have made the corrections you requested and hope the proofs now meet with your approval.
Once you have reviewed that the previous changes were corrected, please initial your approval on the first and last pages where indicated and return the proofs to us by January 3, 2008. We will then begin preparing the text of the book for the printer. No further changes can be made once the book is printed.
If you have any further changes, a fee of $100.00 plus $10.00 for each change or each line of type affected by any change will be assessed. We will then send a confirming set of proofs, which means that we send you only the pages that had corrections.
Once books are printed, it will be impossible to make any corrections or changes at all, regardless of additional charges.
Then I got the following grim news from the Fireparty Beefheart group that I also belong to:
Quote:
Check out killuglyradio.com for the Zappa's cease & desist letter to
the fan site!
According to The Idiot Bastard, lawyers for the Zappa family have had a
very busy December. Threats and warnings have been issued to many more fans and followers of Frank Zappa. Even a statue erected in Germany to honor FZ may not be safe.
http://www.idiotbastard.com/news.htm
I checked out the Idiot Bastard site and Kill Ugly Radio. I got so depressed after reading all the problems Zappa fans are having these days that I started deleting Zappa quotes from the original manuscript of my book in Word, yet still trying to tell my story somehow. It's almost impossible- but I'm working on it.
I don't know if I should omit Zappa from my book at my expense. It's going to delay my book's publication and cost me hundreds more dollars. Maybe I should publish anyhow and join the fight against them. It is really turning the memory of Frank Zappa very bitter for me. I know this is not Frank's fault, but it still sucks. I thought that my lonely existence was a mistake but this kinda thing makes me glad I don't have a wife and kids.
It makes me mad. Maybe you should just fuck 'em. Don't marry 'em. That way you can bequeath your shit to the whole world and no woman can sink her claws into your work when your gone. Like Vincent van Gogh, Frank Zappa belongs to the world for everyone to know about. One Japanese collector bought a "Sunflowers" by van Gogh for $40 million and then locked it up in a safe. No one has seen it since. That's disgraceful. It's the same locking up Zappa for the love of money. They're not safeguarding Frank's intellectual property, they're locking whatever is left of the man in a legal prison
Free Frank Zappa! Free Frank Zappa!