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FAN MAIL WEDNESDAY #331: “Maxx Trax” Remembered, 37 Years Later

December 1, 2023 / jimmy / No comments

I’ve been randomly sharing samples of Fan Mail & my responses on this site since 2008. However, I haven’t posted as much Fan Mail the past couple of years, largely because I haven’t gotten as much. The pandemic shut it down — publishers don’t seem to forward mail the way they once did — and who knows. Maybe schools aren’t focusing on that kind of thing as much anymore. Everyone’s exhausted. Maybe it’s my own fading star. The ebbs and flows of a long career. I don’t know.

But look at this: an email from a reader who remembers a beloved book that I published in 1986, my first book ever, Maxx Trax: Avalanche Rescue!

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Pretty amazing, huh?

What a gift to receive such a message.

Dear Mr. Preller,

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I was reading Maxx Trax to my daughter and decided to look you up. I am happy to see that you continue to write children books.

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Thank you so very much. Your book has been in my life since 1986. When I chose it out of a school book fair. You’ll have to thank the artist as to a kid the picture on the cover caught my eye.

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This book has traveled with me to Japan back to the US and again Japan. I’m not military so that says something about the books importance while moving.

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My son has a special place on his shelf.

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I just wanted to let you know all these years later it is still one of my favorite books.

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Keep up the fantastic work.

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Jeremy

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I replied . . .

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Dear Jeremy,

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Wow, what a great letter. Thank you so much.

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The Irish have an expression, “Flowers for the living.”

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We don’t have to wait for someone to die before saying something nice to them.

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You did just that and I appreciate it.

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Yes, yes, yes, that was my first book, written at age 25 in 1986 and, I think, a story that stands up today. Long out of print, of course. I wrote a sequel but for insane reasons (money, I suppose), Scholastic changed illustrators and went an entirely different direction. A total failure and the end of that.

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The first book, your book, sold more than a million copies out of the gate. I was a junior copywriter at the time and I people were pretty surprised. However, I doubt there are many copies left in the world today. Hold onto your beloved, ragged copy.

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Gratefully yours,

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James Preller

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P.S. You might enjoy more background info about my very first book by clicking here!

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Category: Fan Mail / Tags: James Preller Fan Mail, James Preller's first book, Joe Lapinski, Maxx Trax Avalanche Rescue

Fan Mail Wednesday #130: My First Book

November 30, 2011 / jimmy / 5 comments

Here’s one I loved . . .

Hi,

My mom dug out some of my old books from when I was a kid, and I got my old copy of Maxx Trax: Avalanche Rescue back. I remember loving this book when I was a kid, I was really into the artwork. I remember seeing another book in the Maxx Trax series at some point, but can’t remember what it was called. How many books were in this series? The art is really great, very eighties in its sensibility. I was reading through the book and got the impression that the trucks were left behind after an armageddon, since there were no humans, and the trucks had to cross over a pile of abandoned cars, and the snow seemed to indicate a nuclear winter. I was just curious about your take and inspirations for these books, I am an artist myself now, and appreciate the vehicle designs, and interested in the origins of one of my favorite books when I was a kid.

Thanks!

Eli

I replied:

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Eli! Thanks so much for that letter. Maxx Trax: Avalanche Rescue was my first published book, back in 1986 when I was a mere pup, 25 years old — and that was the little book that launched this Incredible (Unstoppable! Unflappable!) Publishing Empire.

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Thank you, thank you very much (in Elvis voice).

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Actually, I have great fondness for that book. It’s been out-of-print for nearly two decades, but when it was first offered on Scholastic Book Clubs, they put it on the front cover of SeeSaw Book Club and it sold through the roof, eventually moving more than 1,000,000 copies. Crazy, I know. But because it was my first book, and worked in-house as a junior copywriter, I was paid a flat fee, no royalties, so I earned $2,500 on the deal. But I’m not bitter!

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The book began with a Star Wars-inspired introduction, epic and overblown.

It’s a little embarrassing, but also, I think, the tone we were going for.

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Even worse, when it came time for the sequel, Scholastic inexplicably fired the original illustrator, Joe Lapinski, who did such a pitch-perfect job on the original. He nailed it. But I suspect that Joe wanted more money for the next book, and corporate had other ideas.

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The illustrations for the follow-up book, Maxx Trax: Monster Truck Adventure, featured a new, experimental technique: computer graphics, and it did not turn out very well. I remember when my editor told me about it. I was like, “Why didn’t you just rehire Lapinski? He was great.” Oh well. The technology was too new, too primitive. Think early Pac Man but in picture book form. I looked at that second book and my heart sank. I knew that no kid would go for it. And that was the end of the series. (Buy, hey, on the bright side: corporate saved money on the illustrator!)

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Yeah, sure, a nuclear winter makes sense to me. I’m not sure if I understood the backstory in those words, exactly. Perhaps I didn’t even think about it that deeply. I just kind of accepted the circumstances as fact and told the story from there — a world seemingly without people, with trucks that communicate and perform . . . all sorts of . . . amazing . . . truck-ish type feats. With lasers!

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Here’s the killer. When I visit schools, which I do fairly often, I’ll sometimes pull that book out. Students always ask about my first book. And every time, the boys see it and freak out. They want to buy it right there, right now. And I have to say, “Sorry, I’ve got two copies to my name, that’s it. The book is out of print. You can’t buy it anymore.” If I’ve learned anything about the children’s book business in the past 25 years, it’s that I know Maxx Trax would sell today. It’s so cool, so much fun, so right for boy readers. Trucks and adventure.

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Quick, get Lapinski on the phone! Come on, Scholastic. Wake up, already. I’ve already got the title of the next — Maxx Trax: Tsunami Rescue!

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The Dawn of Maxx Trax must rise again . . .

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Seriously, Eli, thanks for writing. In every author’s heart there’s a special place for his first book. It was awfully kind of you to take the time to write to me. You’re a good soul. Good luck with your own artistic efforts — keep on believing in yourself, keep on feeding that brain of yours, and work hard. Send me a JPEG or something. I’d love to see what you’re up to.

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My best,

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JP