Dreamwords II
Writing novels is a slow and solitary process. Last May, I finished what I’d planned for Dreamwords and then set off for London to join the real world for the summer. The idea was to eventually return to the book with a fresh eye and polish it to the point where I would be happy to approach agents. Everything is now as it should be except for one tiny detail. The story does not want to end. Publishers are wary of new authors and pitching a hefty tome at them is not usually a good idea. The dilemma is this: an artificial ending (with promise of the next book to come) or continue until the story is complete?
Tom Corven was a scratch on the surface of a large world that roamed my imagination. With Dreamwords, that world is being realized. I enjoy creating it but worry about its length. I really have no choice but to continue writing what would have been Book Two in the hope that I discover a natural break before it’s complete. To that end, I now return to Croatia to isolate myself for three months of intense work. In an ideal world I will emerge with the ending that Dreamwords requires and the first draft of Book Two. I do hope so. I do not wish to break some poor postman’s back with a manuscript that bounces on and off an agent’s desk with the force of a dam-busting bomb.
Every now and then, I am tempted to podcast what I have done with Dreamwords. I love the immediacy of the medium and the connection it fosters with its listeners. The publishing world is changing and podcasting will pay a small role in shaping that change. A more significant vector, however, will be the Amazon Kindle and perhaps derivatives born from the new screen designed by the One Laptop per Child Foundation. I am convinced that booklovers will discover that the book they love is in its content and not the form it takes. Once a large proportion of readers become digital, all the problems of the music business will fall on the shoulders of the publishing world.
There are some signs that publishers are engaging with this issue and I hope they have some success. Many unknown writers pray for the day that their genius will be discovered despite those big, bad suits who are blind to all but the bottom line. I agree that changes are needed but I can also tell you that the overheads of self-publicity and the business of publishing carry a high price. Not only do they take the author away from his or her real work but also the qualities that allow someone to bury themselves away in their dreams for months and years at a time are often at odds with the business of selling books.
As I watch and try to steer the wave of change sweeping all of us involved with selling dreams, my hopes for the future are maturing. With any luck we will see publishers adapting to a new role. What we need is an automated social site where readers push their favorite new writers into the view of publishers. Publishers then skim off the top layer and take the promotion and business burden from the artists’ shoulders. In this scenario, publisher and agent merge and the business slims down. This may take ten years or more but change will come. There is a great opportunity waiting for those holding the reigns right now. The savvy players will make this happen before it happens to them.
Tom Corven was a scratch on the surface of a large world that roamed my imagination. With Dreamwords, that world is being realized. I enjoy creating it but worry about its length. I really have no choice but to continue writing what would have been Book Two in the hope that I discover a natural break before it’s complete. To that end, I now return to Croatia to isolate myself for three months of intense work. In an ideal world I will emerge with the ending that Dreamwords requires and the first draft of Book Two. I do hope so. I do not wish to break some poor postman’s back with a manuscript that bounces on and off an agent’s desk with the force of a dam-busting bomb.
Every now and then, I am tempted to podcast what I have done with Dreamwords. I love the immediacy of the medium and the connection it fosters with its listeners. The publishing world is changing and podcasting will pay a small role in shaping that change. A more significant vector, however, will be the Amazon Kindle and perhaps derivatives born from the new screen designed by the One Laptop per Child Foundation. I am convinced that booklovers will discover that the book they love is in its content and not the form it takes. Once a large proportion of readers become digital, all the problems of the music business will fall on the shoulders of the publishing world.
There are some signs that publishers are engaging with this issue and I hope they have some success. Many unknown writers pray for the day that their genius will be discovered despite those big, bad suits who are blind to all but the bottom line. I agree that changes are needed but I can also tell you that the overheads of self-publicity and the business of publishing carry a high price. Not only do they take the author away from his or her real work but also the qualities that allow someone to bury themselves away in their dreams for months and years at a time are often at odds with the business of selling books.
As I watch and try to steer the wave of change sweeping all of us involved with selling dreams, my hopes for the future are maturing. With any luck we will see publishers adapting to a new role. What we need is an automated social site where readers push their favorite new writers into the view of publishers. Publishers then skim off the top layer and take the promotion and business burden from the artists’ shoulders. In this scenario, publisher and agent merge and the business slims down. This may take ten years or more but change will come. There is a great opportunity waiting for those holding the reigns right now. The savvy players will make this happen before it happens to them.
posted by Paul Story at 2:39 AM
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