Jamie M. Forbes
Media & Writers, Inc.
Jamie Forbes operates Media & Writers, Inc., one of a breed of independent scribalist service agencies that operate much the same way as international media conglomerates. However, instead of expressing a megacorporate image, Media & Writers represents a friendly network of imaginative professionals who, with a boutique approach and crafty eye toward bookbuyers’ needs, create a sunny space on an increasingly shadowy publishing stage.
Jamie works worldwide with dynamic writers, editors, and publishers large and small to develop the state-of-the-art, eminently marketable projects for an extremely competitive industry.
Jamie cut his agent’s fangs at the Jeff Herman Agency, as editorial director for the popular literary reference books produced by the agency: Jeff Herman’s Guide to Book Editors, Publishers, and Literary Agents and Write the Perfect Book Proposal.
Jamie’s career has traversed jazz and punk music, theater and video production, and professional munching for the food industry. Favorite literary gigs include work on Clifford A. Pickover’s rambunctious Sex, Drugs, Einstein, and Elves, stints with Gennifer Flowers (on a Presidential love story) and with literary agent Jay Garon (who represented such successful authors as John Grisham).
Jamie is an award-winning playwright and the modest author of crime romances published under a variety of pen names—as well as anonymously.
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Jamie M. Forbes specializes in project development and consultation for independent authors and the publishing industry. Mr. Forbes’s clients and editorial projects are published by a broad range of houses, from global commercial enterprises such as HarperCollins, Warner Books, Random House, and St. Martin’s, to specialist niche and literary presses.
Popular speaking engagements include appearances at Manhattan’s Pen & Brush Society and Washington Independent Writers at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.
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Selected Client List
Keys to Contemporary Culture
Foolproof: How to Steer Clear of Life’s Eight Fatal Blindspots by Steven Simring, MD, Sue Klavans Simring, PhD, and Florence Issacs (M. Evans). Clarity of vision, sharpness of focus, and practical techniques to help you triumph over life’s hidden dangers. Book-proposal consultation and project development.
Strength for Their Journey: Five Essential Disciplines African-American Parents Must Teach Their Children by Robert L. Johnson, MD, and Paulette Stanford, MD (Doubleday Broadway/Harlem Moon). How your child can earn the brightest future. Topical approach by expert team.
The Mate Map: The Right Tool for Choosing the Right Mate by Steven Sacks (foreword by Bonnie Eaker Weil, PhD) (Banner Books). Dynamic new expert in the field with original, fully researched approach. Translation rights sold to China, Japan.
LoveTypes: Discover Your Romantic Style and Find Your Soul Mate by Dr. Alexander Avila [PhD, JD] (Avon Books). Project development and editorial consultation (Sheree Bykofsky, agent).
Making Marriage Work for Dummies by Steven Simring, MD, and Sue Klavans Simring, DSW (IDG/Hungry Minds). Top entrant from immensely popular Dummies series; tips, tools, and techniques for a healthy, exciting relationship. Book-proposal consultation.
Raising a Star: The Parent’s Guide to Helping Kids Break into Theater, Film, Television, or Music by Nancy Carson and Jacqueline Shannon (St. Martin’s Griffin). Be the best parent for the best child performer. Book-proposal consultation.
Kid Biz: How to Help Your Child Succeed in Show Business by Nancy Carson and Allen Fawcett (foreword by Dick Clark) (Warner Books). How to be an effective, supportive stage parent with a happy, successful performer child.
Loving and Leaving: Winning at the Business of Divorce by Bernard Rothman, Attorney-at-Law (Simon & Schuster/Free Press/Lexington Press). Relationships meet economics in the legal arena; bonding and separation in adult couples and in families.
Adolescent Motherhood: Developmental Vicissitudes by Paul V. Trad, MD (American Psychiatric Press). Comprehensive evaluation of current state of the clinician’s art.
The Business and Professional World
The Winds of Turbulence: A CEO’s Reflections on Surviving and Thriving on the Cutting Edge of Corporate Crisis by Howard D. Putnam with Gene Busnar (HarperCollins/HarperBusiness). Management philosophy, applied high-end behavioral science, plus people arts can make you a multimillionaire management celebrity. Regional best-seller.
The Dolphin Dynamic: Business Strategies from the World’s Shrewdest, Most Successful Marine Mammals by Laura Laaman (Career Press). Ethology and cognitive strategies in the business world.
The Race Trap: Smart Strategies for Effective Racial Communication in Business and in Life by Robert L. Johnson, MD, and Steven Simring, MD (with Gene Busnar) (HarperCollins/HarperBusiness). Media-friendly approach for business professionals and general readers.
Working for Yourself: A Guide to Success for People Who Work Outside the 9 to 5 World by Phillip Namanworth and Gene Busnar (McGraw-Hill). Practical performance-psych solutions for creating your own free-agent network and personal infrastructure.
Workstyles to Fit Your Lifestyle: Everyone’s Guide to Temporary Employment by John Fanning and Rosemary Maniscalco (Prentice Hall). Behavioral science, cognitive strategies, dynamic orchestration of personal and professional demands.
Conquering Corporate Codependence: LifeSkills for Making It Inside and Outside the Corporation by Carolyn Corbin (Prentice Hall). Behavioral science applied to commercial enterprise. Featured selection, Newbridge Executive Book Club.
Popular and Niche Interest
Sex, Drugs, Einstein, and Elves: Sushi, Psychedelics, Parallel Universes, and the Quest for Transcendence by Clifford A. Pickover, PhD (Smart Publications). Groundbreaking popular work by microbiologist and computer scientist who holds numerous patents and is author of over 30 books in pop math, science, games, and speculative fiction. Book-publishing consultation.
Elvis Undercover by Gail Brewer-Giorgio (Bright Books) and The Elvis Cover-Up by Gail Brewer-Giorgio (The Anonymous Press). Popular psychological biography and investigation into the life and mind of Elvis Presley by New York Times best-selling author of Is Elvis Alive?
Nowhere Man: The Final Days of John Lennon by Robert Rosen (Soft Skull Press [hardcover]; Quick American Archive Press [paperback]). Developmental work with author privy to famed “lost Lennon diaries.” Incisive, pulsing investigative narrative that has gained worldwide media attention and international publication.
The Conspiracy Reader: The Best of Paranoia Magazine by Al Hidell and Joan d’Arc (Citadel/Kensington Publishing). Popular psychological reportage; intrigue and collusion as a cultural motif. Project development and author representation.
Sleeping with the President: My Intimate Years with Bill Clinton by Gennifer Flowers (The Anonymous Press). Powerful personal account in the form of gripping memoir. International media smash.
Confessions of a Hollywood P.I.—Case Book: Babes in Babylon by Don Crutchfield with Gene Busnar (Dunhill House). Parenting among the stars; troubled offspring of celebrities come to grips with psychological and behavioral disorders. Regional best-seller and nationwide media phenomenon.
Are You As Smart As You Think?: 150 Original Mathematical, Logical, and Spatial-Visual Puzzles for All Levels of Puzzle Solvers by America’s No. 1 Puzzle Master Terry Stickels (St. Martin’s). Games based on perceptual psychology, linguistics, and mastery of technical, mathematical, and scientific skills.
Irregulars by Marilyn Jacovsky, PhD (The Permanent Press). Creative narrative conceived and written by internationally noted psychotherapist and artist. Project development and author representation.
Dumb As I Wanna Be: 101 Reasons to Hate Dennis Rodman by David Hanson (Avon Books). Author examines clash between individualistic and cultural values in the context of popular humor. Author representation.
Books About Book Publishing
Write the Perfect Book Proposal: 10 Proposals That Sold and Why by Jeff Herman and Deborah Adams (John Wiley & Sons).
Writer’s Guide to Book Editors, Publishers, and Literary Agents by Jeff Herman (Jamie M. Forbes, editorial director for editions 1–7) (Prima/Random House). Publishing reference classic. Over 500,000 copies sold.
Education
BA (major in psychology), Washington University in St. Louis.
MA in psychology (developmental/experimental), Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science at the New School for Social Research, New School University (New York).
Special Projects
Work with independent scholars in decipherment of Maya glyph-text writing. Discovered classic Maya recipe for chocolate-corn pudding inscribed on cream-slipped ceramic serving bowl.
Palatex (division of Manhattan Kitchens Inc.). Sensory-evaluation consultation in product development for the food industry.
Fencing; modern foil, epee, and saber; stagefight choreography for performance-art productions.
Corporate Positions
The Anonymous Press, Inc. President and editor in chief. Small-press specialist in popular culture and titles of topical interest. Projects include The Elvis Cover-Up by Gail Brewer-Giorgio (author of New York Times bestseller Is Elvis Alive?); Sleeping with the President: My Intimate Years with Bill Clinton by Gennifer Flowers (international media attention in The New Yorker, Village Voice, New York Press, New York Post, and from Jay Lenno, Conan O’Brien, and Saturday Night Live; international editions and rights sales include Russia, Germany, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Poland, and Israel).
Carlton Press, Inc. Publications director for book packager; development and contract negotiation for custom book-publishing projects including MS to BB for diverse clients as well as individualized advertising, promotion, marketing, and publicity packages. CP was at one point run primarily as a subsidy house (vanity press)—a fount of great anecdotal wisdom.
Jason Aronson, Inc. Managing editor, Psychotherapy and Social Science Review. Editorial and production duties for book-review journal; close work with art director on concept development and selection of graphics.
Membership Organizations
Mystery Writers of America
Editorial Freelancers Association
Jamie M. Forbes
Media & Writers, Inc.
New York • Walnut Ridge • Caithness
“Today, fresh ideas and dynamic writing style alone do not qualify you for the spotlight. Even the most highbrow of editors must run favorite authors through a dizzying gamut of marketing and sales meetings—an arena that gives special preference to brand-name celebrities with ready-made audiences, as well as to eminent specialists in such niches as electronic multimedia and film.”
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