First signed copies of John Carter and the Gods of Hollywood were shipped today

Those of you who have ordered signed copies of John Carter and the Gods of Hollywood — books arrived today and I’ve signed them — sending them out now.  Thank you for your support to the book and ERB — so far so good!

The package that is going out includes a fairly substantive “Thank You” which I’m posting here as well. It reflects the fact that many of the first wave of purchasers of the book were “ERB Faithful” who, as a group, tend to have mixed feelings about Stanton’s adaptation. I wanted to explain my view as to why a continuation of the series is warranted, regardless of whether you fully embrace the adaptation. If you’d like to read it, please click on the thumbnail below to bring up the PDF:

Or the plain text is available below:

Dear Friend,

First, thank you for your purchase of John Carter and the Gods of Hollywood. I hope you enjoy the book and find it informative as to “what really happened” with the production and release of Disney’s John Carter.

This is most definitely a “cause oriented” book. That cause is the perpetuation and enhancement of the legacy of Edgar Rice Burroughs. John Carter was seen by 30 million people worldwide in cinemas; an equal number have seen it on DVD, Blu-ray, Pay-per-view, and Cable TV. A significant number of these were stimulated by the movie to read the books — A Princess of Mars shot to the top of the Project Gutenberg Top 100 eBooks during March, and it continues to have a ranking significantly higher than prior to the release.

I mention this, because to those of us who are lifetime fans of Edgar Rice Burroughs, the adaptation by Andrew Stanton induces a range of reactions and sometimes it’s hard to separate our personal views on the adaptation, from the larger issue of the movie acting as a gateway for millions to a lifetime of enjoyment of the books that so many of us treasure. While I too have my “issues” with the adaptation, I am confident that it serves the best interests of ERB’s legacy to have a continuation (meaning sequel or reboot) of the film series that began with Disney’s John Carter.

John Carter and the Gods of Hollywood is, in essence, the case for not giving up on John Carter as a film franchise. It attempts to make the case first of all that A Princess of Mars and the Barsoom series are a literary and cultural treasure with yet untapped potential, and then chronicles the development, production, and marketing of the film — a process which, without a great deal of editorializing by the author, reveals the blunders and missed opportunities that added up to a botched release and the stigmatization of the film and, by extension, the underlying property on which it is based.

The book is an extension and a manifestation of the grassroots movement that erupted in the aftermath of the release, and continues today. As a reader, if you feel it is warranted after reading he book, you can help the cause of rehabilitating John Carter of Mars by doing any of the following:

• Read the reviews on Amazon and vote “yes” on those that are “helpful”
• Write a review and/or comment on Amazon.com*
• Write a review and/or comment on Goodreads, and other sites.
• Join the Facebook Group http://facebook.com/groups/backtobarsoom/
• Tweet about the book and John Carter using #JohnCarter
• Leave a review on the “Readers Reviews” page on John Carter Files.
• Blog, comment, and just keep talking online about John Carter and Edgar Rice Burroughs.

*I want to be clear — I am not soliciting unwarranted favorable reviews. This is not about the book, except to the extent the book stimulates conversation and a “rethink” about the movie. Any review, from rave to “just okay” — provides a platform for voicing the opinion that Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter of Mars series is a great literary treasure that deserves a life as a film series — which in turn allows millions of people to discover ERB who otherwise would not. That’s what it’s about — not necessarily praise for the book per se.

Many of you have been hard at work supporting the legacy of Edgar Rice Burroughs much longer than I have, and I am mindful of that fact. I appreciate your interest in the book, and hope that you will conclude that it is a worthwhile contribution to the discussion about the value of Edgar Rice Burroughs and his place as an ongoing source of entertainment and inspiration for new generations of readers.

Sincerely,

MICHAEL D. SELLERS