Morrell Tries 20% Solution

Eight years ago, Stephen King was one of the first major authors to set off into uncharted territory when he inked a book deal with Scribner for a nominal advance in exchange for a larger share of the profits. Now Rambo creator David Morrell is following suit with his new novel, Creepers, to be published this month by CDS Books, the three-year-old publishing arm of the eponymous book distributor now owned by the Perseus Books Group. The novel takes place over the course of eight hours, when a group of "creepers" break into a motel on the Jersey shore.

"I thought it was time for a new paradigm," said Morrell of his decision to leave Time Warner Books and forgo an advance in exchange for 20% royalties. "I spoke with [CDS cofounder] Gilbert Perlman, who said, 'We have a theory that the author is the partner and is not only welcome to contribute but expected to." And that's what Morrell and his daughter Sarie Morrell, a former publicist for Random House, who is handling the publicity and marketing for his 24th novel, have done.

The pair are working with CDS on a marketing campaign that includes a 30-city tour starting September 6 in Sedona, Ariz., and a giveaway of 4,000 ARCs. Much of the marketing takes advantage of the Internet, where ARCS, survival kits, the Brilliance audio edition and MP3 players have been offered as contest prizes for the past few months at Web sites such as creepers.feoamante.net, part of the feoamante horror site.

Many of the bookstores where Morrell will speak also sponsored Creeperscontests and have posted a personalized version of the q&a the Morrells supplied about the writing of the book. In addition, Morrell has his own Web site featuring the book, www.DavidMorell.net.

The chains have taken a healthy number of copies of the 100,000 first printing and indies are equally supportive. Poisoned Pen owner Barbara Peters is sponsoring a breakfast with Morrell in Phoenix and an evening signing at her Scottsdale store.

Creepers is one of the first titles to come out from CDS Books since its parent company was acquired by Perseus. The imprint has historically released about 12 titles per year, and that is expected to continue under Perseus. "This is a program where costs are very good and the hit rate has been good," said Perseus president David Steinberger. "We made a decision that we would continue to support CDS publishing projects the way we support other Perseus projects."