Déjà Vu All Over Again
Long ago, when I was young and prolific, these Devine Sagas were first published.
A few of them here in America, but all five of them in Europe, where I used to live.
Some of them were international bestsellers, even!
But why, you may ask, am I publishing digital editions of all of them?
A simple, demographic answer: So eventually my books will survive me.
As it happened, I wrote these novels nearly fifty years ago. All are family sagas starring
adventurous women set in exotic locations in the Middle East and in and around Greece,
beginning in my early thirties and continuing for the next 25 or so years. At that time, digital books
were not common. People just bought hardcovers and paperbacks. And it is sad but true that,
with the exception of mostly mega bestsellers, bound books went out of print as early as two years
after they were published. You can maybe find stray “old” copies on used book websites. And probably
a carton or so of their own hardcover books in the garages of authors, rather like presidents
apparently stash old and mostly forgotten classified documents.
This is, for a certainty, a private grief for authors. I would guess that everyone writing a book has
dreamed that words he or she wrote today will last forever and make each author as close to
immortal as we can come. For us, in our bookish and self-absorbed way, our books really are our children.
Until the dawn of Kindle Amazon and other online publishers, this crazy little author dream
hardly ever came true. Even popular books, although possibly beloved by individual readers,
stayed on private bookshelves until, years later, the heirs made mementos of some and donated
most to Goodwill or the dump.
But fear not, authors! The birth and popularity of digital books has resurrected that dream of
author immortality.
Now the digital world can forever keep our books available for generations of readers yet unborn!
Just last week here in Mexico, where I now live, I was sharing my digital publishing project
with another aging American author. He nodded. “I know some other writers who would love to do that.”
He smiled. “Me, too.”
There are other reasons to republish digitally. One is that many writers—even those who had
some success with traditional publishers—ended up unhappy because of poor marketing or
prioritization. Others would simply like to do it all over, and “do it right this time.”
And of course, quite a number would like to publish books even yet unwritten, which are
nonetheless so dear to their hearts and souls, without the hassle of interference or even
rejection in the restrictive world of commercial publishers.
I have my own personal story of why I chose to republish digitally, and I will share that soon in this space.
But a form of immortality certainly had something to do with it.
I remember one morning when I was working on Nile, my first novel. I had just written
what I thought was a beautiful scene, full of heartfelt insights. And I remember thinking that
sometime in the future—fifty or even a hundred years in the future—someone might read those
words, and a wondrous web of deep communication would be spun between me and that reader.
I liked that thought then, and I still do. Not my ego as an author but something finer—words and
emotions and ideas that reach out and connect forever! Now, there’s a worthy dream that can now
come true through the magic of digital publishing.
Laurie Devine, Kronos author
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