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| picture credit HERE |
If you’re a Stephen King fan, you’re probably already familiar with Brian Keene’s work as well. I find his writing a lot of fun. Keene recently got in a battle with his publisher, Dorchester books, who decided to sell his books without paying him. See how I make a long story short? The full story, from Keene's angle at least, is at www.briankeene.com. Keene blogged aboutt his crisis over the last year and the chaos it created in his life. It’s not fun when a publisher messes with you.
Dorchester also publishes Richard Laymon books. Too bad to see some great works in the horror industry mishandled.
Well, Brian Keene is back! In a partnership between Thunderstorm Books and Keene (called Maelstorm) several limited run small press books will be published.
Blu Gilliand at examiner explains the plan:
In a nutshell, Maelstrom, a partnership between Keene and publisher Thunderstorm Books, is a new line of collectible, limited-run books designed specifically for the small press market. Maelstrom releases will consist of three signed hardcovers limited to 250 copies: a Keene novel, a Keene novella, and a novel by a new author that Keene himself will select. Each set will be priced at $125. (Gilliand’s full article is HERE.)Books include A Gathering of Crows, The Rising: Deliverane and Kelli Owen’s debut novel, Six Days.
Keene's writing is scary, engaging and at times frustrating. But frustrations aside, I like his work, and thus I forgive those things that drive me crazy and just keep reading. Okay, so what drives me crazy? In "Darkness on the Edge of Town" it seems like everyone is a druggie! It's a town on the edge of a drug bust. And they sure see a lot in the dark. Okay. .. but none of that is worth getting hung up over. The novel has been compared to Under The Dome. I don't think so! More like Poe, I would say.
I suspect the grind of publishing can get to a writer. King recently said:
As of right now, if I died and everybody kept it a secret, it would go on until 2013. There’s a new Dark Tower novel, The Wind in the Keyhole.That comes out soon, and Dr Sleep is done. . . .
. . . I do want to slow down. My agent is dickering with the publishers about Dr Sleep, that’s the sequel to The Shining, but I held off showing them the manuscript because I wanted time to breathe.”
Time to breathe. Why? Okay, I'm guessing here. . . but I suspect it is not King's publisher that might be the issue here, but the demands of publishing a Stephen King book. He doesn't just release a book, he does a whole big book tour.
Glad to see Brian Keene back in the printing business. I read "Dead Sea" last year and enjoyed it. I enjoyed the creative use of the zombies, as well as the clever character development. Lamar Reed had a good point of view on life.
ReplyDeleteActually, as I see it, I think it's combination of the pressures of releasing a book, "and" toruble with publishers.
ReplyDeleteKing's made it clear in his fiction that he's had trouble with publishers before as Ive said elsewhere. I think Scribner might be starting to demanding too much of him and it's starting to get annoying. The thing to remember is to keep a cool head, hard as it may be.
ChrisC