Who Discovers New Writers Now?

More and more new writers are publishing their books before they have been discovered instead of after. Everyone can discover new talent now.

(PRWEB) September 3, 2005 -- More and more new writers are publishing their books before they have been discovered instead of after. Everyone can discover new talent now.

In traditional publishing, a novel by a new writer is discovered by an agent and sold to a publisher. The publisher shows the novel to the media, then, finally, readers are able to read it. This is changing, however, as new writers use new printing technology to publish their own novels. They publish first, and then use their success to approach agents and big publishing houses. Or they stay independent.

The new printing technology is print-on-demand, which allows books to be published with no investment in stock or warehouse space and sold worldwide through the many online bookstores. It is enabling an independent literary scene in the same way that CD technology enabled the independent music scene.

What this means is that a new novel is available for everyone to discover equally. Literary journalists, bloggers and readers can all be the first to read and recognize new talent. And since readers can publish customer reviews on the online bookstores, they can contribute to critical recognition too. A good review on Amazon, for example, can be as widely-read and as influential as a review in a local newspaper.

A current example is The Beauty of Psyche," a new novel by an English author, Andrew Staniland. He has published it through Lulu.com, the world leader of the new publishing technology. It has been reviewed by a customer on Amazon UK, who says:

The finely crafted, lyrical prose of this novel is cause enough to recommend it. Its brilliance, though, lies in the author's tantalizing exposition of the myth of Psyche as an allegory for the modern spiritual life. Eschewing any straightforward reinterpretation of the myth in a contemporary milieu the author favors the retention of the classical purity of the original, but recounts it against a lusciously vivid series of imaginary backdrops derived from some of the great works of art that have themselves taken Psyche for their inspiration. Ingeniously, he then makes accessible the themes of the myth by presenting the whole drama as a piece of imaginative theatre performed and intimately appreciated by a group of actors, whose inner worlds the author reveals through another level of relationship, by interposing his own personal connection with them. The result is a fascinatingly multi-faceted and graceful dance between the myth, the actors who play its dramatis personae and the author to reveal the inner beauty of spiritual experience. The author's intuitive touch in the interpretation of this myth, the casting of his characters and the congruities of his imagined stage sets are as masterly as they are subtle. His obvious sense of fun makes this novel a joy to read, and his delight in the detail of every day life brings the myth authentically to life. "Genius isn't an infinite gift", the author comments, "We should be grateful for it". This novel is a work of genius and I am grateful to have read it."

A review in the New York Times might be more authoritative. But would it be more astute?

In the new independent publishing, writers are free to publish their own work. And it is often readers who are the first to recognize it.

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