I'm Just a Soldier in the Digital Revolution

Boy, you just never know. After getting what I assumed to be my "Big Break," signing a contract with Medallion Press for publication of my debut thriller in mass-market paperback format back in December, I was stunned to learn last month that Medallion is getting out of the mass-market paperback business entirely and now will publish FINAL VECTOR as an e-book.

I had some decisions to make when I was notified of the changes. Should I pull the book? I could have done it, given that I had a contract which was now unfulfillable by the publisher. (Unfulfillable? Is that a word? If it's not it should be) After a couple of very agonizing weeks, during which time I went back and forth on the subject at least twenty times, I finally decided to let it ride.

FINAL VECTOR will still be released in February, 2011, as planned, only now the format will be as an e-book. It goes without saying I'm disappointed. Everyone who has ever dreamed of writing a novel imagines the day when they can hold their book in their hands and flip through the pages. Nobody ever says, "I can't wait to fire up my Kindle and read my very own book!"

But the times, they are a-changing, and faster than practically anyone could have imagined. Sales of electronic reading devices are skyrocketing, and many, if not most, obsevers believe it's only a matter of time before the publishing business as it has existed for hundreds of years is dead. That's not to say there will be no more books, of course there will, but dead trees will become the choice for fewer and fewer readers as time goes on.

My marketing strategies will obviously have to be different, but I'm looking forward to the challenge. I already have a few ideas for things I might want to try in terms of bringing my work to thriller readers and beginning to develop an audience. Stay tuned.

Oh yeah, and if I may be so bold as to make a suggestion - get out there and start looking at electronic readers! There are plenty of choices, all of them good ones. Just make sure you get one before next February. And I have a few ideas for books you can get started with, too.