Episode 2: Golden Age of Publishing
Episode 2: Golden Age of Publishing
The Publish and Die Protocol-Fiction Series
“In matters of truth, the fact that you don’t want to publish something is, nine times out of ten, a proof that you ought to publish it.”
G. K. Chesterton
A year later things started to change for the better.
There was a new publishing company in the city which encouraged everyone to be a publisher.
Gold Leaf Publishing was the new company that seemed to offer all writers the golden opportunity for publishing and selling their own books while maintaining full control over distribution and marketing.
Gold Leaf Publishing owned by Wayne Morrow was taking the literary world by storm.
SWAMP seemed to stay away from the new publishing company. There was an article that stated that Gold Leaf Publishing was only allowed to operate in the city and in the world by giving “Swamp” four percent from every sale made.
This is definitely the Golden New Age of Publishing, where anyone and everyone can publish a book online, with the new Print-on-Demand publishing model. I was meeting Carol and Henry, who were a husband and wife writing team who needed to get their work reviewed. The Gregorian Publishing firm I worked for was interested in their work and assigned me to their case.
They had been writing for the last two years and had now completed a fantasy series, which they felt would be just what the fantasy and science fiction genres needed in the marketplace.
I was at the Waldorf Hotel for the appointment at seven in the evening on a Friday night. The dining room at the hotel is full of young and old couples, who are spending an evening out at the theater followed by dinner at the Waldorf.
I have been sitting at the table for the last ten minutes and then the couple walks in. They are a young couple in their early thirties dressed smartly. They smile as they spot me and come over to my table. We had a productive meeting and I got them to sign on the dotted line. The Gregorian Publishing firm had got the new authors.
After that evening meeting, I got to thinking that I could set up my own publishing firm, with the five years of experience I had as a literary agent. It would definitely be more rewarding than the job I had at the post-office. I needed capital and that was something I did not have. Authors put a lot of effort into writing their novels from start to finish or any other fiction and non-fiction book.
Authors deserve to receive a lot more fame and recognition, especially independent authors. Authors need to be treated like rock stars by their readers.
An author tends to view the world from a unique perspective and sheds light on topics of interest, which many of us think about casually, but do not stop to go any deeper.
The authors of today are the visionaries of the future. I needed to take the world to the future of publishing. I started working on the manuscript of my book, “Renaissance Publishing”. The book was going to be my experiences in publishing and the gradual evolution of the writing and publishing industry.
I received an invitation to attend the Young Writers and Publishers Conference at the Atlas Convention Centre in Los Angeles. My friend Simon was a writer and he had gone into Indie Publishing a few months ago.
There were so many young writers attending the conference that I was amazed. The young people were from all corners of the world. There were writers from Canada, Australia, America, New Zealand, Africa, India, Britain, and even from Finland and Iceland.
Outside the convention hall, there was a demonstration of Publishers who were protesting on this new form of Indie Publishing, where anyone who was a writer could publish their work online, to be read and distributed globally with the new Print-on-Demand system. This meant that no one needed to publish several copies of a book and wait for them to sell. If the copies did not sell, they were eventually discarded for recycling.
“We support Traditional Publishing”, the group of Protesters shouted. There was a large yellow banner, which read, “WE LOVE READING REAL PRINTED BOOKS”.
The disturbance outside the Conference Centre was unsettling, as the participants and the guests had to pass through all these middle-aged publishers, who were so obsessed with their old and archaic form of book publishing.
“They need to move with the times,” said Cindy a young teenage indie author, who wrote and published her novels online. Her writings were creating a sensation in the literary world and some people were of the opinion that she was a millionaire now.
“I know, I guess they will learn after a few years, that Indie publishing is the way to go,” I said with a smile.
The Speakers were all young people, who were now masters in the craft of writing as well as publishing their own works as well as the writings of their friends. There seemed to be a great sense of community among all these Indie Authors and self-publishers. They all had been through the mill of the rejection letters and yet now they were on an equal footing with any traditionally published author.
The twelve-year-old Writer and Publisher Naresh Varghese, who was from Canada, spoke about his writing and publishing projects. Naresh enjoyed writing novels for children. He had been writing for the last four years. He had millions of readers worldwide and two of his books were even translated into ten languages.
“The people demonstrating outside, do not realize that their children and grandchildren can and will be writers someday, who can print and publish their books like I do, without the need for traditional publishers,” said Naresh. This statement which rings true was well received by the audience.
The Fiction Writers Award was awarded to Edwin Fitzgerald, who had also written and self-published his Magnum Opus about the Future of Man in a mechanized society fifty years into the future. Edwin had taken five years to complete his manuscript in which he had filled it with facts about the latest developments in science and technology in the world and the gradual social-physical and psychological evolution of man, to meet the new future of mankind.
The Virtual Book Tours presentation was mind-blowing. There were wall projections of all the new and exciting books coming out by so many new authors over the next few months. The virtual book tours were now managed under the umbrella of the Billion Book Tour project, which would simultaneously conduct the tour of all the new releases on Book blogs, social media platforms, short film trailers, and movie communities online.
Arnold Fenwick a celebrated Book blogger next came on stage and spoke about “Book Bloggers the New Literati”. Arnold was a blogger for the last twenty years and had published a number of books on the art and science of blogging and the power of the blogosphere in defining the book publishing revolution.
Arnold also spoke about the new threats being faced by book bloggers from those in society, who felt threatened by the power of social book bloggers. Veronica Haas was a book blogger, who was murdered a few months ago, for the reviews she had posted on social sites, about the Autobiography of the Militant tyrant Armel Shamel.
There was a two minutes silence as a mark of respect for the late Veronica Haas, while a short film was displayed on the screen, as a tribute to her memory.
Martin Horan next spoke about the importance of Author Interviews, Podcasts, and Radio Shows and how they made a difference in sales. He spoke about the importance of creating a reader fan base to cater to the wants and tastes of readers. The primary goal of putting the author in the spotlight was to make it more interactive to the readers who had hundreds of questions related directly or indirectly to the books written and published by the author.
Next on Stage were the “Novel Killers” a music band of five members. They performed their two popular songs at the Young Writers and Publishers Conference.
A Serious Kinda Author
By Novel Killers
An Original Song ( The Lyrics)
I get on with life as an author,
I’m a serious kinda person.
I like singing and swimming.
I like to contemplate writing.
But when I start to daydream,
My mind turns straight to publishing.
Five six seven eight…
Sometimes I look at myself and I look into my eyes,
I notice the way I think about publishing with a smile,
Curved lips I just can’t disguise.
But I think it’s writing making my life worthwhile.
Why is it so hard for me to decide which I love more?
Writing or…
Publishing?
I like to use words like ‘awesome’ and ‘marvelous.’
I like to use words about writing.
But when I stop my talking,
My mind turns straight to publishing.
Five six seven eight…
Sometimes I look at myself and I look into my eyes,
I notice the way I think about publishing with a smile,
Curved lips I just can’t disguise.
But I think it’s writing making my life worthwhile.
Why is it so hard for me to decide which I love more?
Writing or…
Publishing?
I like to hang out with Mike and Katy.
But when left alone,
My mind turns straight to publishing.
Five six seven eight…
Sometimes I look at myself and I look into my eyes,
I notice the way I think about publishing with a smile,
Curved lips I just can’t disguise.
But I think it’s writing making my life worthwhile.
Why is it so hard for me to decide which I love more?
Writing or…
Publishing?
I hate rejection letters and disappointment.
But I just think back to publishing,
And I’m happy once again.
Five six seven eight…
The audience loved the song and there was clapping and cheering as the band continued.
They were ready to perform the second song that evening.
How much do you love publishing?
By Novel Killers
The Original Song Lyrics
You get on with life as an author,
You’re a serious kinda person.
You like reading comics on Sundays,
You like watching football in the week.
You like to contemplate writing.
But when you start to daydream,
Your mind turns straight to publishing.
Boom boom shake da boom-boom-boom!
Do you love publishing more than writing?
Do you love publishing more than writing?
You like to use words like ‘juicy,’
You like to use words like ‘typo.’
You like to use words about writing.
But when you stop talking,
Your mind turns straight to publishing.
Boom boom shake da boom-boom-boom!
Do you love publishing more than writing?
Do you love publishing more than writing?
You like to hang out with Alice,
You like to kick back with Emily,
But when left alone,
Your mind turns straight to publishing.
Boom boom shake da boom-boom-boom!
Do you love publishing more than writing?
Do you love publishing more than writing?
You’re not too fond of rejection letters,
You really hate disappointment,
But you just think back to publishing,
And you’re happy once again.
Boom boom shake da boom-boom-boom!
The music band “Novel Killers” got a standing ovation.
There was even louder cheering and applause as the music band left the conference hall.
Susie Hughes next came on stage and delivered her speech on the “Publishing Powers of the Literati.”
“The Golden Age of the Literati”, was an article written by Susie Hughes in the Literary Snowstorm Chronicles. She had interviewed a large number of Indie Authors and self-publishers and noticed the freedom and sense of achievement almost all of them had. Most of them did not worry about a book deal. It was just a matter of getting their materials published and out in the world to be read. There was more freedom in the way a person could write on a topic and then release it out into the world, like any other author.
The day marked the death of conventional writing and publishing.
The corpses of author rejection letters, faded, yellow, and brittle lined the gutters at the end of the five-day conference of Indie publishing.
But, is this freedom of writing and publishing a boon or a curse?
