Publishing Before I Perish

Tonight I met with Mike Austin, my friend who's working on a novel about the US Submarine Corps in WW II. We meet at Borders Espresso Cafe to scratch out writing exercises, a way to pry loose the words to build our novels. Lately I have gained hope my Viral Times will be published. By me, if need be.

It's not "vanity publishing" anymore, either. The NY Times ran a story over the weekend about iUniverse and its "author services," which give one writer real control over content of their book, the advertising, and the media interviews. A traditional publisher is unlikely to give that kind of control to a first-time author.

Novels give us creators the biggest canvas and the widest pallette, even bigger than the movies. For years The Princess Bride was only a fabulous William Goldman novel that he never figured he could get made into a movie. (Goldman's a great screenwriter whose best-known credit might be Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.) He wrote "Bride" and then had to wait years until Rob Reiner managed to make a great movie out of it. Now we're reducing the waiting time. Such author services need to be supplemented by good editing, but control has begun to tilt toward creators — rather than purveyors — of published work.