Many moons ago, I was asked to contribute to a book on musicals that were game changers. The one I wanted to do wasn't available (can't remember which it was), so I chose Cabaret. At that time, Peter Filichia was involved. They were very specific in what they wanted and, most importantly, the word count. So, I wrote it, was one word under the word count, and sent it in. Heard nothing for a few months. I finally wrote Peter and he said he'd stepped away from the project. That didn't sound too good to me. And a couple of weeks later they sent me my entry with a bunch of editing notes, suddenly wanting a ton more information. I said that I'd been given a word count and stuck to it. They then told me they loved my writing and the entry, but this book is essentially for novices and said I could go over the word count. I said I'd look at it and do what I was comfortable doing. So, I finally went through it over the past few days - I did a few things that were easy, added a few lines here and there, and told them I didn't want to make it longer than that because I thought it would be super boring. I just sent it in and if they end up adding stuff, which I'm fine with, they'll run it by me. They'll pay me now, however. But it was easy to see why Peter walked away.
