You know, I was thinking this morning that I could not be happier that eBook publishing has taken off like it has and that the print publishers are, as we used to say on the farm, “Sucking hind tit.” They have treated authors shamefully, acting like Gods, and they deserve to be the second-rate establishments that they have become. And, make no doubt about it, they are.
Amazon now has 100 million titles in their Kindle library. There is not a print publishing company in the history of writing that has ever had that many available choices for readers. For years I dreaded going to the mailbox to retrieve the rejections from all the major publishers in America. I remember so well, my first rendition of “Tropical Knights” (it had a different name at the time) which received a sarcastic rejection from some print publisher who went to some lengths to point out that my plot was “implausible.” Three months later, Muslims flew airplanes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Now, THAT was implausible – but it happened. And since last fall “Tropical Knights,” which was deemed “implausible” by the print houses, has been doing very well on Amazon.com as an eBook. So much so that I was convinced to write a sequel, “Tropical Daze” which is also doing well.
I am overjoyed that the print publishers are suffering. Look at all the eBooks that have become best sellers – check out the Kindle newsletter and read those authors’ experiences of being. rejected time and again and who are now enjoying great sales on Amazon. And remember this: A printed book has a finite life. Someday it will be yellowed and worthless, or molding in some basement. Ebooks are there for customers to buy in pristine condition – FOREVER.
