Imagine the likes of Binky Urban opening a query letter in which the author states he can imagine Natalie Portman in the starring role. Straight into the bin with that one.
It shouldn't come as a surprise that fertility specialist Dr. Avner Hershlag was unable to secure representation for his thriller.
Dr. Hershlag is the victim of a non-Hollywood approved name. His daughter changed it to the more palatable "Portman" and her star has been on the rise ever since. Right from the start, his author's platform has been shaky.
What good would it do him to open his query letter with a mention of his famous offspring? Sorry, but the names don't match and here's another nut trying to crack the industry. As if a literary agent would be gullible enough to fall for such a ruse when it's obvious the names are different.
Left with no other choice, the good doctor published his book himself, but didn't find the sales he was hoping for. Major sales require marketing, which the average self-publisher doesn't have the time to do.
The rift that developed between Dr. Hershlag and his daughter following her sex scenes in The Black Swan generated a bit of publicity and the time has come for the author to take advantage of the attention.
He's shopping around for a big-house publisher and he's making no secret of the fact that he is Natalie's daddy. And that's the sort of platform that major publishing houses like.
It doesn't much matter how good or bad the novel is. They have in-house editors who can apply a polish. What only Dr. Hershlag can provide is his connection to a famous actress, and that is a very valuable commodity for a debut author. No amount of skilled writing or story-crafting can create a platform like that.
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