Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Did you used to have three MSC books scanned and posted on your web page? Sheridan Brinley made you take them down?
A: Yep, even The Big Kerplop.

Q: But the books have been out out of print forever! He's not losing money or anything ... why would he do this?
A: Well, the books are finally going into reprint. See the news flash. Prior to this, my attorneys told me it has something to do with protecting the copyright. If Brinley Jr. doesn't make an effort to enforce the copyrights, the works can become public domain. Later, I was able to get in touch with Brinley Jr. via email. I proposed some possibilities, including online publication (a la Stephen King), and he replied thusly:

Mr. Maxham,

I appreciate very much your enthusiasm regarding the Mad Scientists' Club stories and desire to see them in print again. You should understand that I worked with my father for 10 years trying to get all the books published; so I bring a little experience to the matter.

With regard to the King experience: indeed he appears to have made money at the outset on the initial orders; however, hackers quickly figured out how to get copies without paying amazon.com or his publisher. That is why online publishing, which I have investigated at some length, is not attractive.

We are also considering publication-on-demand. It is more expensive per copy to the reader than traditional hard copy printing because the publisher does not print the large volume of copies that the traditional process requires for distribution. For example, if Scholastics re-issues the books, they would probably be in the price range that you cite. An on-demand publisher is probably going to charge $15-20 per copy because, while the firm may ultimately print as many as a Scholastics does, it will do so in smaller incremental volumes and thus lose the economies of scale that Scholastics enjoys with a printer when they put in an order, say, for the next printing of Harry Potter books.

I am going into these details so you might get an idea of the issues involved in getting the books re-published. It is not simply a matter of wanting to get the books published or having the technical expertise to do so; it is a matter of convincing a publisher (hard copy or online) that can print and distribute the books that there is viable market for them. That is why I urged you, as I have others, to contact publishers such as Scholastics simply to demonstrate that there is a ready market for the books. I have already contacted Scholastics regarding re-publication; the more they hear from you and the hundreds of fans you cite, the better will be the chances that they will re-issue the books.

Q: Can you send me a zip file or something?
A: I suspect that this might expose me to further legal risk. You can imagine my reluctance. As long as there is a dialog open with Brinley Jr., I plan to keep my nose squeaky clean.

Q: If someone does get permission to reprint, where will they get the original Geer artwork?
A: I have it. Every last bit of it, including the cover art for "The Big Chunk of Ice." I have volunteered its use in the reprinting, but so far have not heard back.

Q: "The Big Chunk of Ice"? What's that?
A: The fourth book that was either (a) never printed (b) printed only in Indonesia or (c) printed only in Fiji, according to which rumors you believe.

Q: Do you know anything else about the fourth book?
A: I have a copy of the manuscript. I couldn't finish it. It was seriously in need of editing.

Q: I want to film MSC stories. Who do I ask about the rights?
A: I hate to say it, but the Evil Mouse Empire owns the rights. Disney did a short of "Sea Monster" in the early 70's, I believe, with Burgess Meredith; I haven't seen it, but apparently it bears little resemblance to the source material. Several folks have been in contact with me about filming MSC stories; if you want to discuss efforts with them, ask me to put you in touch with them.

Q: Where can I get a copy of Brinleys's amateur rocketry book?
A: Other than the usual web searches, I don't know.