In this NY Times article, it is revealed that Tessa, P.K. Dick’s last wife, has finished the novel The Owl in Daylight that Dick was working on when he moved to the next level due to a massive stroke induced by alien mind control rays mixed with amphetamines.
Interesting that she could not find a publisher for it. I might buy a copy, but now I think I’ll wait for the reviews.
Wouldn’t a lost book by P.K. Dick spark a bidding war? Maybe Tessa can’t write for a damn and the book really really sucks.
Maybe Amazon CreateSpace just pays better in the long run. On CreateSpace you get $6 – $10 for each book. A traditionally published book gets 5% to 15%. So, if Tess got 10% on a $20 book it would be only $2 at a traditional publisher. It makes sense to do the CreateSpace thing in this case because the book will market itself, so maybe the book doesn’t suck.
Here’s the question: Does the marketing done by a traditional publisher justify the difference? Why aren’t there marketing agents who will take a percentage of sales in return for managing the distribution POD books?
By the way, I am still waiting for my first sale at createspace.com. No one out there bought my CD. I was thinking about formatting my kids stories into a book with a title like: 12 Science Fiction Stories for Kids – age 8 to 14. I thought it might sell better than the CD. It would almost have to. I think this might be a good anthology title and might sell better than the adult SF out there.
3 Comments
thanx for the mention, Keith
— the problem with traditional publishers is that they’re scared off by the PKD Trust, which is run by my step-daughter
— she doesn’t seem to understand that this novel will benefit both of us, since it will generate renewed interest in Phil’s existing works
— I will look at your listings on Create Space and/or Amazon, as soon as I have some $$$
~~ Tessa
~~~
Lost books always help generate new interest, as do great bios of the authors. Take Brautigan’s last work being published (finally) and a well done bio by his daughter–both introduced a whole new group to Brautigan’s earlier works. If this Dick novel sparks interest either way, then readers will be looking at the completed novels he wrote, or at least talking about him. As soon as you begin talking about an author people come forward who have read them, and you get that ripple effect.
Squirrel,
Thanks for the heads up about Brautigan. I am a great fan of Brautigan and I reread In Watermelon Sugar last year after nearly 40 years. It was even better than I remembered.
I am going on to Amazon next to see what I can see.