Tenebris

Putting rejection behind you

Well, in case you missed it Lulu launched a new product this week, sort of: "Jilted Authors Put Rejection Letters Behind Them - By Printing Them On Toilet Paper."

What writer has not tasted the bitter wafer of rejection? While the idea of print-on-demand toilet paper (at $90 for a set of four) may seem, at best, frivolous, it does get at an important truth, which is that there will always be more content than the publishing industry can, or wants, to make available. And while in the majority of cases the haughty editor may serve us well--separating the wheat from the chaff--there are also plenty of cases where he just gets it wrong. Writers from ee cummings to Stephen King and J.K. Rowling  all sampled their fair share of rejection before achieving reknown. How is a writer to drown that bitter taste? Perhaps something sweet... revenge.

In order to demonstrate the obsolescence of the editor-as-gatekeeper idea in an Internet-enabled world, Lulu decided to offer D. Judson Hindes, the Florida-based author of the as-yet underappreciated "HALTIA AND THE THIRD PLANET: a science fiction/fantasy adventure," the chance to earn a modest spot in literary history by becoming the first author to print his old rejection letters on toilet paper (two-ply but not, as they say in the trade, facial quality). I have a roll of Jud's toilet paper in front of me, in fact. 

Dear Writer:
Thank you for letting us see the proposal for your book. We have considered the project carefully, but regret to say that it does not seem right for . . . . the best of luck in placing this elsewhere.

Shiver.

A warm reception to the Lulu announcement has trickled through the blogosphere, showing up most notably in Strange New Products, OhGizmo, and the blog of journalist Jeremy Wagstaff, LooseWire (who seems to have a serious interest in POD, even though he ignored a recent email I sent him about the role of print-on-demand in enabling the long tail for books). The Des Moines Register also showed an interest in the story (yet-to-appear). And yours truly appeared earlier today on a couple of radio stations (KFNC FM-News in Houston, and Spin 103.8 in Dublin) to try to sound witty on the topic of author rejection. Probably unsuccessfully.

You know you've been wondering  what could restore your wounded pride. Go ahead, buy a roll or four for yourself.

Dime Novels & Penny Dreadfuls

Some folks at Stanford  have put together a lovely online compendium of public domain work--art from Dime Novels and Penny Dreadfuls. In addition to the 8,000 individual images, it includes an overview of old printing processes for reproducing artwork.

While we're on the topic, a number of publishers use Lulu to sell editions of dimestore novels, including ERBvillePress (see also erbvillepress.com), Wild Cat Books, Dennis McHaney and Bircham Studio.

Thinking about New Orleans

Like everyone else in the U.S., I am thinking about New Orleans. It's a city that has been loved by many, me among them, characterized memorably by Faulkner as possessing "a faintly tarnished languor like an aging yet still beautiful courtesan in a smokefilled room, avid yet weary too of ardent ways."

Both my father's parents lie buried there, as does my father's older brother John Fraser. My Aunt Hattie, his widow, still lives -- lived -- on Wirth Place, near Audubon Park. We assume that she is safe with her son, Cran, and his family across the lake. My father first entered this country through New Orleans, in 1947--a skinny teenager from British Honduras embarking on a life among strangers.

Robert Nagle, of IdiotProgrammer, has posted links to a number of books about New Orleans--several of them public domain etexts. He originally published his remarks on Teleread.