Thursday, July 11, 2013

Is the process working?

Nice if unusual that sales picked up today. Perhaps it's a fluke. Perhaps the process is working. Eventually we'll find out, I suppose.

posted from Bloggeroid

3 comments:

Mike Gold said...

So is this a marketing experiment or a narrative experiment? It sounds like both. How do you define success with "Overdrive"?

As for writing, I sat down with Erin Morgenstern last month, who is in the process of putting together a new novel, and she writes using a fountain pen and a yellow legal pad. She wants the process to be "intuitive," as she put it. She didn't appear concerned that it may be two years before her next book comes out.

Anyway, this has got me thinking. If you approach writing with the intent of eBook publishing, does that decision presuppose a different quality of literary experience? Perhaps eBook publishing is more suited to the production of pulp fiction or something like it.

Yes, I am aware that some of the best movies have been adapted from pulp fiction, but, then, is "Overdrive" a screenplay, pulp fiction, or both?

If, on the other hand, "Overdrive" is to be considered literature, then why do I feel ill at ease?

Perhaps I'm hung-up on the fact that the fountain pen Erin uses produces blue-green ink--as magical as the stories she tells.

Charles Deemer said...

I embrace Graham Greene's distinction between novels and entertainments. Overdrive is about entertainment. Interestingly enough my earlier "traditional" novels are selling better since the experiment started. There is no marketing experiment here. Quite the opposite. I am following instructions. Great comment from reviewer today: "a different reading experience." The very point.

Charles Deemer said...

So far Overdrive = 3 thrillers and a sci fi... a serious drama coming soon, might be interesting.