South Flatland Fiction

Men of vision have always had their hands on the wheel of change--men such as the Wright Brothers, Columbus, Ben Franklin. The list is endless. These are the men who step forward to confront the unknown and carve new frontiers to lead the way for others to follow.

Today there is a growing revolution in the publishing industry with the introduction of ePublishing. As authors, we stand on the edge of this new era, wondering whether to accept the new technology and the opportunity to ePublish or follow the more traditionally accepted model of publishing.

Gordon Kessler, President of the Kansas Writers Association, has chosen to embrace the new digital technology to market his novel Jezebel. He has graciously consented to an interview about the process of publishing on the new marketing landscape of cyberspace. Here is what he has to say.

Eaton:
Gordon, thank you for taking time from your busy schedule to be interviewed. As President and founder of KWA, you've somehow managed to juggle your own writing career and also teach fiction writing classes. How long have you been writing?

Kessler:
About ten years. I became interested in creative writing over twenty years ago when my English Comp teacher encouraged me. She used to read all of my papers to the class. I got straight A's and was pretty proud of what seemed to be some bit of talent. The years passed without doing much about it, until I went through the darkest days of my life. I was on the verge of divorce and had a traveling job I didn't like and didn't pay well. Instead of doing what a lot of my peers did--going to bars and partying at night, I picked up a little Tandy laptop and began writing a humorous novel that I never have finished. It helped me pass the time and was great therapy. There were many nights alone in my motel room, hundreds of miles away from home, that I would begin to write and lose myself in it so much that, before I realized it, the sun was coming up. I don't think there can be a more satisfying feeling.

Eaton:
Would you share with us the reason you became a novelist?

Kessler:
I guess the reason I like to write and do a fair job at it is because I am very self-conscious and have a hard time verbalizing what I want to say. I get very nervous in front of a crowd and have a difficult time voicing my true opinions to strangers. I've found that it's different when I write. I'm able to forget about my inadequacies and focus on the truths at hand--the things I want to say and that need to be said.

Eaton:
What genre is your book?

Kessler:
Jezebel is what I would call a thriller. Some would think it might lean toward horror, but with no real supernatural aspects in the novel, I'd like to think it'll be put on the thriller/suspense shelf, as should most all of my other work.

Eaton:
Where did you get the idea for your novel?

Kessler:
One evening I was in a dark mood. I was home trying to think of an idea that would be commercial. I'd read a number of Dean Koontz books and really enjoyed them. As I sat at the dining room table, my fingers poised on the old electric typewriter while staring off into space, our pet ferret, Jezebel, came bounding around the corner. "Jezebel, ferret from hell!" I said to myself in as dramatic a voice as I could manage. Not bad, I thought. But what about making Jezebel a big black dog? How about making her a Great Dane who's been forced to kill her master and is on the loose terrorizing the city? It went from there and got weirder and weirder. I toned it down some, added some interesting and unusual characters with a lot of challenges going on in their lives, and Jezebel was born.

Eaton:
Have you written any other books?

Kessler:
I'm working on my fifth novel, a psychological thriller called Brainstorm. Dead Reckoning, a navel thriller, will follow Jezebel as an ePublished novel, hopefully yet this winter. Two other psychological thrillers, A Culling of Innocents and Dead of Winter, I hope to pull out of the mothballs and revise soon. I was about 90% finished with that humor novel when I was told they don't sell unless you're Jay Cronley (Funny Farm, Screwballs) and it seems that is still the case so I doubt it'll ever be revived. I've also written a comedy, action/adventure screenplay that I'm proud of, called Papa Boomboom. It's made the rounds in Hollywood and I actually had an agent interested but he wanted me to change it too much so it went back into the closet.

Eaton:
Why did you decide to ePublish over the more traditional publishing method and what criteria did you use when selecting your ePublisher?

Kessler:
I chose to publish with Xlibris because of several things. One, they allow the author to keep his/her rights. Two, they publish in hardcover--on demand--as well as trade paperback and in the ePublishing format. Three, they're reasonable. A person can actually have a book printed in trade paperback for free if they wish to give Xlibris most of the control. If you want to maintain as much control--have as much freedom as possible concerning things such as cover art, typestyles, etc., --like I did--then Xlibris has pay packages in three increments. Four, they're in partners with Random House, one of the largest names in publishing today. Five, they promised to be very fast.

I couldn't believe how fast they claimed they could turn a book around and I'm glad I was skeptical. They have been suffering incredible growling pains lately. The typical, big, NY publishing house puts out about 800 titles in year. Xlibris is now doing 500 a month! Scary! Especially since, when Jezebel was originally supposed to be published back in '94 or so, the publisher went bankrupt the same week that they were to print 10,000 copies. The cover art was done and everything. So this will be the second time around for Jezebel and I hope she makes it!

Eaton:
How do you think electronic publishing will affect traditional publishing?

Kessler:
I believe ePublishing will allow anyone and everyone to become published who really wants to. There will be a glut of junk, but also some very fine literature discovered in this new media. I think the traditional publishers won't be affected negatively. They still have their quality products and stables of big name authors. I believe what it will do is speed the publishing process up, even for the traditional publishers, and that is something that is long overdue.

Eaton:
What do you see as the advantages and disadvantages for those publishing electronically?

Kessler:
It depends on what the individual wants to get out of ePublishing. For me, I will see a couple of my first books in print, get them in top shape, and still keep the rights. I'll be able to market them to the traditional publishing industry in finished book form, after I've already gotten them on the bookstore shelves and sold a few. I think it adds to my package as an author and makes me more attractive commercially to the publisher.

Let's not forget books like The Celestine Prophecy, The Christmas Box, and Bridges of Madison County, all of which were self-published before they made it big on the New York Times Best Seller list.

One last comment. I'm not a martyr. I'm doing this for my own selfish reasons, mostly. However, through the years, I've met and made friends with dozens of really excellent writers, most of them never published. They've gotten a few rejection letters and become discouraged--and I can't blame them. Many of them don't care so much about becoming a famous author (although, I'm sure they wouldn't mind a bit), but would just like to see their months and years of sweat and tears be turned into published works that can actually be purchased and will entertain folks for years to come.

It's kind of like leaving your mark on this earth in some small way--your words causing someone to smile, maybe giving them a chill, creating a warm feeling deep inside when they put your book down. It's why I write. I'd like as many of my writing friends to have the opportunity to make their mark, too.