Self-Published Book Picked Up for TV Special

by Cindy Crosby, Religion BookLine -- Publishers Weekly, 12/14/2005

Maybe it's the luck of the Irish.

In another one of those stories that encourages starry-eyed authors to believe that self-publishing can work, Grizzly Adams Productions (GAP) has acquired the worldwide TV and DVD rights to two of three books written by Patrick Heron, including his self-published The Nephilim and the Pyramid of the Apocalypse (2004), from Christian print-on-demand house Xulon Press. Both books investigate end-times prophecies and relate them to recent world disasters.

The Dublin author's first book, Apocalypse Soon (published by Ireland's Blackwater Press) sold 5,000 copies and made the bestseller lists there in 1997. (A second book with Blackwater, Apocalypse 2000, was less successful.) Nephilim, Heron's third book, has sold 20,000 copies and hit Spring Arbor's Top 100 list, according to Xulon Press president and CEO Tom Freiling. It has been in Amazon's Top Ten overall list, and spent time at the top of its Religion and Spirituality and other religion niche bestseller lists.

Heron, who owns a window-cleaning business, told RBL he had been close to inking a lucrative deal with HarperCollins for all three books, but it fell through at the last minute. He tried other publishing houses without much success. "I have a stack of publisher letters that say, 'Personally, I found this very interesting, but….' "

Freiling , whose five-year-old Florida-based company will help authors self-publish about 900 books this year, attributes part of the success of Heron's books to the author being "a great communicator " who has come across well on a number of late-night radio talk shows specializing in the paranormal and unexplained phenomenon. Ironically, Heron said he's had trouble getting on Christian radio stations. "But the (TV special) will pop the thing right into the mainstream."

GAP will create a one-hour DVD and TV special based on the two books. "Heron's books offer some new twists to the usual end-times religious scenarios," said David Balsiger, v-p and senior producer. "There is high interest in this subject due to all the disasters happening around the world." The 30-year-old company has created more than 500 family-friendly series and special programs for Discovery, PAX, NBC, CBS, the Learning Channel and other networks.

Heron said he's already received a call from Hollywood inquiring about movie rights. Rather than working on a new project, Heron plans to "let the hare sit for a while." Instead, he'll continue "working me arse off" promoting Nephilim through next year. "You could write the best book in the world, but if no one heard about it, they wouldn't read it," he noted.