An Open Letter to the Michael Jackson Fan Community From Bill Whitfield & Javon Beard

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Dear MJFam:



It’s been a week since our new book, Remember the Time: Protecting Michael Jackson in His Final Days, went on sale. Since we hit stores, the response we’ve received from fans has been overwhelmingly positive. But there are a few questions and concerns circulating around that we’d like to address directly.



Fans on Twitter and Facebook have had a lot of questions about why we did the book, how we handled ethical concerns about Mr. Jackson’s privacy, why we didn’t take any money up front for writing the book, and so on. We’ve already addressed most of this in the in-depth Q&As published on the MJJ Community fan site and the Michael and the Truth blog, so we won’t repeat the answers here. What we would like to speak on is the reaction some fans have had based on that’s being said about the book in the tabloid media.



Yes, the tabloids have taken things from the book out of context and blown them up to make Mr. Jackson look “crazy.” Nobody should be surprised about that. And trust us, we’re more upset about it than you are. Our publishers have complained to the newspaper editors, repeatedly. One London tabloid had to be threatened with legal action to stop a story that deliberately distorted our words to the point of being libelous. That one article we were able to kill, but as Mr. Jackson knew all too well, there is only so much you can do to shut the tabloids up. The media will twist and sensationalize. They always do. Which is why we put our story in a book so that fans could go around the media and get the truth firsthand.



Our only motivation in doing this project was to give the world an honest, sincere, and respectful portrait of Mr. Jackson as a man and as a father. Still, some in the fan community have been tweeting and writing us with complaints based on the distortions in the media, not on what’s actually written in the book. The ultimate irony of all of this is that Michael Jackson’s fans are paying attention to what’s being said about Michael Jackson in the tabloids, even though you’re the ones who know that you shouldn’t pay any attention to anything the tabloids say about Michael Jackson.



All we are asking is that you judge the book on its merits, that you judge our motivation and our integrity based on what we have produced. You shouldn’t form a decision based on what the media is saying—and you shouldn’t just take our word for it, either. (Obviously, we’re a little biased.) There is only one group you should be paying attention to: the fans who have actually read the book. They know the truth.



We’ve started going through all the fan reviews we’ve received via email, Twitter, Goodreads, and Amazon, and we’ve compiled the best of them on our website (www.rememberthetime-book.com/fan) for you to peruse. We even reached out to a few of these readers and asked them to submit video testimonials discussing their reactions to the book in greater detail. Three of the videos have been posted so far. More will be go up in the days ahead. They are wonderful and informative to watch.



Right now, as you’ll see, the response from fans has been incredibly supportive. But we do welcome all opinion and thoughtful debate—positive and negative, celebratory and critical—as long as that opinion is based on knowledge about what is actually printed inside the book. For his entire life, Michael Jackson was plagued by people who rushed to judgement without taking the time to learn the facts and make informed decisions. We don’t need to be doing the same thing to each other.



We don’t expect every person on Earth to love the book or agree with everything we’re doing, and we understand the healthy skepticism that many in the fan community have. You were Mr. Jackson’s most passionate protectors in life, and you’ve continued that role since his passing. We respect that. All we ask is that you read what other fans have to say, watch their testimonials, and then make up your own mind.



Many thanks and God bless,



Bill Whitfield & Javon Beard
 
So sad that they have to write this letter and justify themselves. What I'm getting from it the most is just how much they care, even now. I would like to give those big softies a great big hug. :)
 
Very good letter.

"Still, some in the fan community have been tweeting and writing us with complaints based on the distortions in the media, not on what’s actually written in the book. The ultimate irony of all of this is that Michael Jackson’s fans are paying attention to what’s being said about Michael Jackson in the tabloids, even though you’re the ones who know that you shouldn’t pay any attention to anything the tabloids say about Michael Jackson."

Fair enough.
 
So sad that they have to write this letter and justify themselves. What I'm getting from it the most is just how much they care, even now. I would like to give those big softies a great big hug. :)

I agree. It's kind of embarassing they even have to do this. But, maybe this will calm down some of the doubts.

I wish they would do some book signings. I'd like to meet them and thank them.
 
What I see as significant is that they were able to stop a story coming from the UK tabloids by threatening legal action. Good for them. I wish more people acted in this way. I guess the tabloid cited the book or the authors so the publisher was able to use a legal defense.
 
I have no interest in this book or Jermaines book or the Cascio book. As far as I'm concerned they're all traitors who blabbed Michael's personal lives in order to make money. How do you think Michael would feel if he knew that these people who he had trusted with the most intimate details of his life had gone out there and written a book about him. They're ALL traitors and it's sickening what people would do for $$$ and it's a shame that people condone what they are doing. Is Michael not entitled to any privacy anymore? Or does everyone want to know every single detail of his personal life until everything that he had kept private is public knowledge. UGH
 
well said. if they had anything about them then they wouldnt have written a tell all in the first place. Any false stories that came about because of them breaking confidentality agreements either legally or morally comes about because they sold out. So to try to act like the good guys in trying to stop what they created is pretty pathetic. if u cared and respected your client you would keep your mouth shut instead of selling mj out for a few bucks. thats what normal people do. makes me laugh how fans would always refuse to talk to the press outside mjs hotels inorder not to give them a story and in respect for mj cause you knew it would get twisted but then u get staff and so called friends having no problem selling mj out for a few bucks. mj knew who he could trust.

and to see some fans (havnt read this thread so its a general comment) pander to these ppl and try to defend their actions cause they are desperate for any bit of info on mj.and inturn it seems some in the mj fan community has turned these ppl into mini celebs well sorry there are no words. i bet they are having a good laugh at pulling in the only set of ppl that will buy this book when they should be the one set of ppl going against tell alls and fighting for mj and his kids privacy.sorry but i refuse to be had.

I have no interest in this book or Jermaines book or the Cascio book. As far as I'm concerned they're all traitors who blabbed Michael's personal lives in order to make money. How do you think Michael would feel if he knew that these people who he had trusted with the most intimate details of his life had gone out there and written a book about him. They're ALL traitors and it's sickening what people would do for $$$ and it's a shame that people condone what they are doing. Is Michael not entitled to any privacy anymore? Or does everyone want to know every single detail of his personal life until everything that he had kept private is public knowledge. UGH
 
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Most people know tabloids are full of it. I do not sell the overall public that short. I am sure there are the few idoits who want to believe the worst and that is because they ALREADY dislike the person/celeb for whatever reason. President Obama is as good as it get and even he has haters who try to twist his words and that him.
 
I think London has the worst tabloids around when it comes to lying. AMerica tabloids is bad enuf but London is straight up the worst.
 
I think London has the worst tabloids around when it comes to lying. AMerica tabloids is bad enuf but London is straight up the worst.

Oh I don't know, once for sure. These days British tabloids just take the stories from TMZ. Copy and paste most of the time.
 
well said. if they had anything about them then they wouldnt have written a tell all in the first place. Any false stories that came about because of them breaking confidentality agreements either legally or morally comes about because they sold out. So to try to act like the good guys in trying to stop what they created is pretty pathetic. if u cared and respected your client you would keep your mouth shut instead of selling mj out for a few bucks. thats what normal people do. makes me laugh how fans would always refuse to talk to the press outside mjs hotels inorder not to give them a story and in respect for mj cause you knew it would get twisted but then u get staff and so called friends having no problem selling mj out for a few bucks. mj knew who he could trust.

and to see some fans (havnt read this thread so its a general comment) pander to these ppl and try to defend their actions cause they are desperate for any bit of info on mj.and inturn it seems some in the mj fan community has turned these ppl into mini celebs well sorry there are no words. i bet they are having a good laugh at pulling in the only set of ppl that will buy this book when they should be the one set of ppl going against tell alls and fighting for mj and his kids privacy.sorry but i refuse to be had.

If you had read the the book u would know when they were hired the didnt sign any confidentiality or other agreements because mike didnt have any staff or anyone there to even administer any. Assumption is the mother of all ****ups. These guys have meant no harm to michael in writing this book nor are they capitilizing on his legacy, they want us to know there was a time when mike had absolutely no one to turn to and was cash broke and literally homeless you may not have wantwd to knw that and that is your right but you dont have a right to assume shit you dont know, just dont read the book is all. I personally wanted to know about all the shady deals ppl grifters were pulling on him. Moving on
 
Question please: would anyone be able to speak to the sale numbers for this book?

All we are asking is that you judge the book on its merits, that you judge our motivation and our integrity based on what we have produced. You shouldn’t form a decision based on what the media is saying—and you shouldn’t just take our word for it, either. (Obviously, we’re a little biased.) There is only one group you should be paying attention to: the fans who have actually read the book. They know the truth.

Interesting. The only reason these authors believe a fan would not appreciate their book is the exact same reason that has become a rally cry on several fan forums. I suspect someone continues to gauge online fan reactions for these authors as they know what is acceptable and/or non-acceptable to those fans they are targeting to purchase their book (if they have not already).

They conveniently ignore that fans read excerpts from their book not tabloid articles exclusively. They also ignore that some fans saw their interviews in 2010 as a betrayal against Michael and his children and were against their talk of penning a book then. They also ignore that some fans have read their book - albeit for free - and simply did not appreciate the content. Lastly the fan family, as they call it, does not subscribe to one thought.

I assume sales may not have been as predicted. Michael has millions of global fans however, the book’s publisher and these authors do not seem to be aware that most of those fans do not frequent fan forums and some have lost interest in those attempting to ingratiate themselves to fans in order to capitalize on their relationship to Michael regardless of how brief or its nature (in this scenario: professional for 21 months plus an exaggerated, additional 9 months).

These authors are aware there were and continue to be fans that do not support their book or their interviews as it is seen as a betrayal by disgruntled ex-employees. They referred to those fans as haters or hater fans (if I remember correctly) in 2010. Maybe they miscalculated how many vocal, online haters or hater fans of Michael Jackson there actually are.
 
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Tygger;4019423 said:
Question please: would anyone be able to speak to the sale numbers for this book?



Interesting. The only reason these authors believe a fan would not appreciate their book is the exact same reason that has become a rally cry on several fan forums. I suspect someone continues to gauge online fan reactions for these authors as they know what is acceptable and/or non-acceptable to those fans they are targeting to purchase their book (if they have not already).

They conveniently ignore that fans read excerpts from their book not tabloid articles exclusively. They also ignore that some fans saw their interviews in 2010 as a betrayal against Michael and his children and were against their talk of penning a book then. They also ignore that some fans have read their book - albeit for free - and simply did not appreciate the content. Lastly the fan family, as they call it, does not subscribe to one thought.

I assume sales may not have been as predicted. Michael has millions of global fans however, the book’s publisher and these authors do not seem to be aware that most of those fans do not frequent fan forums and some have lost interest in those attempting to ingratiate themselves to fans in order to capitalize on their relationship to Michael regardless of how brief or its nature (in this scenario: professional for 21 months plus an exaggerated, additional 9 months).

These authors are aware there were and continue to be fans that do not support their book or their interviews as it is seen as a betrayal by disgruntled ex-employees. They referred to those fans as haters or hater fans (if I remember correctly) in 2010. Maybe they miscalculated how many vocal, online haters or hater fans of Michael Jackson there actually are.

I don't think that only fans will read this book. Just opposite. The obsessive haters for sure bought the book on the first day of it release. I didn't look for general sale but in my local Barnes and Noble the book is very popular. The cover and the tittle is very "inviting". I'm absolutely positive that many people who are not necessary Michael Jackson's fans will pick this one when placed in New Releases section. The book definitely deserve to be one of the best sellers.
 
Warszawa320, the salutation for the open letter is “Dear MJFam” which means they are addressing Michael Jackson fans and targeting them for their book’s sales. I personally do not subscribe to the concept that “obsessive haters,” as you stated, purchased the book upon release. I believe it was Michael Jackson fans that made those purchases.

According to the New York Times Best Seller List for print and e-books, the book did not chart. BN.com ranks the book sales at 47K+. Amazon.com ranks sales higher at 32. That is a huge disparity and I believe that is the reasoning behind the open letter addressed to online, Michael Jackson fans.

If anyone does have sale figures information, please post.
 
According to the New York Times Best Seller List for print and e-books, the book did not chart.

If anyone does have sale figures information, please post.

You are too early for both. Check the end of best sellers list

"A version of this Best Sellers report appears in the June 15, 2014 issue of The New York Times Book Review. Rankings on weekly lists reflect sales for the week ending May 31, 2014."


this book was released on June 3rd, you need to check next weeks Best Sellers list to see if it charted or not.
 
Ivy, thank you for the clarification.

So, charting does not appear for the New York Times until next week as per your post however, the Amazon.com and BN.com rankings I posted are correct and are rather low.
 
From what I'm reading, doesn't appear that MJ books have done very well, in general. Halperin's crapfest peaked at 29 while JRT's updated Bio came in at 118. Another article from last year says that Jermaine's book was a bust. Boteach's first book had a 400,000 copy first printing (according to USA Today) but I'm trying to find actual sales numbers.
 
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Ivy, thank you for the clarification.

So, charting does not appear for the New York Times until next week as per your post however, the Amazon.com and BN.com rankings I posted are correct and are rather low.

I haven't commented on those ratings and I haven't made any claim or prediction about the charting or sales number. I merely pointed out it's too early to tell whether it would be a bestseller or not.

From what I'm reading, doesn't appear that MJ books have done very well, in general. Halperin's crapfest peaked at 29 while JRT's updated Bio came in at 118. Another article from last year says that Jermaine's book was a bust. Boteach's first book had a 400,000 copy first printing (according to USA Today) but I'm trying to find actual sales numbers.

You won't be able to find actual sales numbers easily. Obviously publishing company knows the sales numbers but they would rarely announce them - especially if they aren't good. Nielsen Bookscan is the only third party that tracks book sales. I believe they can track 75- 80% of printed book sales in USA but they aren't tracking Kindle or any other ebook sales. Apparently they also aren't reporting pre-order sales. So it's not perfect and plus it's an expensive subscription service. Publisher's Weekly publishes a limited version of Bookscan with sales numbers in some categories - http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/nielsen/index.html . That list is also a week late - so it might have some information next week.

New York Times has multiple Best Sellers list and Wall Street Journal publishes BookScan ranking but neither provides any sales data but you can simply assume that if a book is on either best seller list, they are doing okay. Like I said Publisher's Weekly has some sales data but their lists are limited (only top 10 to top 25 books depending on the catagory). So it'll be real challenging to find some sales data and even then it won't be perfect. And even depending on the book type and purchase habits of the readers the numbers could be really off - for example some books are bought at smaller stores that doesn't report to bookscan - such as comic books- and some books are bought mostly as ebooks so for such books actual sales numbers would differ in thousands even tens of thousands from the reported bookscan numbers. So actual sales numbers is almost impossible to find - unless the publisher announces it.
 
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They are rather circumspect even with the authors. (shocking, right?) A friend of mine is forever trying to get a true accounting of her book sales.
 
Ivy, I never said you made those comments.

I stated that the rankings of Amazon.com and BN.com are correct and are low. I believe that is the reasoning behind the open letter to Michael Jackson fans.

Correction: I previously wrote the book ranked #32 on Amazon.com. I should have said it ranked #32 in specific categories of biography books. It is currently #25 in those categories and #1,296 in general books.
 
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What Do Amazon Rankings Mean?
Created by Anna Walls

It’s right there on Amazon, buried in the fine print about a book, along with the name of the publisher, number of pages, and all the stuff most people don’t notice: the Amazon rank. Chances are that when you are looking for a book to purchase, you pay no attention at all to it. But if you’re a published author, and it’s your book, it’s a whole different ball game. You might check the rank frequently, sometimes every day. But what does it mean?

Amazon is particularly tight-lipped about sales figures, and even their information about rankings is sparse. They will admit that their ranking of bestsellers, reflecting both recent and historical sales of every item sold on their site, is updated every hour. However, it takes a little digging to find out that not all rankings are adjusted that frequently. Here’s a reasonable guesstimate from Rampant TechPress: #1 to 10,000 are recalculated every hour; #10,001-110,000 are recalculated every day. The rest are recalculated once a month.

So what do the figures mean? They mean that there are that many books with more sales than the one in question. The smaller the number, the better. If your book ranks 10,000, you know that 10,000 books sold more copies than yours. Since Amazon lists an estimated 4,000,000 books on their site, adding more and dropping some each day, a ranking of 10,000 would be good. But it won’t stay there. The rank can change with the purchase of just a few books, either yours or someone else’s.

Is it possible to correlate ranking with sales? Not officially, but there’s some information out there. For example, I found that a major publisher tracked 25 titles over a six-month period, correlating the weekly Amazon sales rank with actual reported sales from Amazon. Ranks down to 750 sold 75 to 275 books per week. From 750 to 3000 had sales of 40 to 75 per week. The sales drop the further down the list you go, and at 10,000 and above—where most of us hang out—the books sold only 1 to 5 copies per week. So you can see that at this level the number could change with the sale of as little as one unit.

If you want to track your book’s Amazon sales, you can use a free utility called TitleZ. I’ve used it for quite a while, and found it useful. It lets you enter the names of one or more books and follow their Amazon rankings, either in tabular or graphic form. Nice, but is it worth it to follow your rankings, or just an invitation to an ulcer?

The first consideration is that Amazon isn’t the only place people buy books. Barnes & Noble and Borders have online as well as brick and mortar stores. There are large chains of Christian bookstores like Mardel, Family Christian Stores, and Lifeway Stores, to name just a few. And don’t forget the independent booksellers.

Bottom line, your Amazon rank is sort of nice to know, but it won’t correlate with your royalty statement (which is a subject for another day). If you’re an author, should you check your Amazon ranking from time to time? It’s allowed. But should you open the champagne when the number is small and look for the bottle of antidepressants when the number rises? Nope. Just keep writing. Because that’s the major driver to sales: producing a good product that readers want. The figures will take care of themselves.
 
Ivy, I never said you made those comments.

I stated that the rankings of Amazon.com and BN.com are correct and are low. I believe that is the reasoning behind the open letter to Michael Jackson fans.

Correction: I previously wrote the book ranked #32 on Amazon.com. I should have said it ranked #32 in specific categories of biography books. It is currently #25 in those categories and #1,296 in general books.

I think most authors would be very happy looking at how well bodyguards book sells in Barnes and Nobles. As long as it's displayed in New Releases section it is available for everybody to see and it bring a lot of attention. When people look inside the book it difficult to leave it alone after reading even one page. So I know very well that the book sells well to general public in the stores, a lot better than on Amazon. Not everybody has time to spend several hours in the store and read on the spot. Still there is a lot of pages to read and there is no way to do it at once so people mostly choose to buy it.
 
Warszawa320, I cannot speak to what is occurring in your local Barnes and Nobles however, I can speak to where the book is ranking according to Barnes and Nobles.

As per Barnes and Nobles’ ranking (physical and online stores), it has increased from my last posting of #47,808 to #46,330. Noting Amazon.com, it has fallen from my last posting of #1,296 to #2,108.

While that may seem impressive, it may have been wiser to simply sue the Estate for lost wages as others in their position did instead of seeking fame and profit at the expense of Michael and his children.
 
Tygger;4020005 said:
Warszawa320, I cannot speak to what is occurring in your local Barnes and Nobles however, I can speak to where the book is ranking according to Barnes and Nobles.

As per Barnes and Nobles’ ranking (physical and online stores), it has increased from my last posting of #47,808 to #46,330. Noting Amazon.com, it has fallen from my last posting of #1,296 to #2,108.

While that may seem impressive, it may have been wiser to simply sue the Estate for lost wages as others in their position did instead of seeking fame and profit at the expense of Michael and his children.

What can I say? Your statements are extremely peculiar about the subject. I felt exactly the same way about your posts during Katherine Jackson's trial against AEG. I knew your opinions were wrong and it's the same this time around. We just have different opinions. And reviews on Amazon are mostly excellent. Plus this is only the beginning. When comparing to the other books it is very good start. Bodyguards have every reason to celebrate. The book is very well written so it will always find the readers. And definitely not among Michael Jackson's fans only.
 
^^
Rankings are peculiar, eh?

Your views on my views on any subject is simply that; your views which may differ from mine.

Continuing with my views: whenever one is in doubt regarding a response, tis better to not respond at all.
 
I have no interest in this book or Jermaines book or the Cascio book. As far as I'm concerned they're all traitors who blabbed Michael's personal lives in order to make money. How do you think Michael would feel if he knew that these people who he had trusted with the most intimate details of his life had gone out there and written a book about him. They're ALL traitors and it's sickening what people would do for $$$ and it's a shame that people condone what they are doing. Is Michael not entitled to any privacy anymore? Or does everyone want to know every single detail of his personal life until everything that he had kept private is public knowledge. UGH

:bow: This is what bothers me the most, too. I don't want or NEED to know every frickin' detail of his life! Like every human being, he deserved to have parts of his life kept PRIVATE. As for these vultures so eager to divulge these details of his life, they wouldn't have a platform to provide them if it wasn't for a DEMAND FROM SOME FANS. That's right; look at that man (or woman) in the mirror if you want to see the beast these grimy people are so willing to feed, instead of remaining LOYAL to the man that trusted them with his life.
 
:bow: This is what bothers me the most, too. I don't want or NEED to know every frickin' detail of his life! Like every human being, he deserved to have parts of his life kept PRIVATE. As for these vultures so eager to divulge these details of his life, they wouldn't have a platform to provide them if it wasn't for a DEMAND FROM SOME FANS. That's right; look at that man (or woman) in the mirror if you want to see the beast these grimy people are so willing to feed, instead of remaining LOYAL to the man that trusted them with his life.

You could say the same about Jesus disciples...
 
You could say the same about Jesus disciples...

I am just going to use every applicable .gif that I have:

300g667434.gif
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icant.gif
 
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