A Book Isn’t Finished Until It’s Read

I’ve always thought that an artistic creation of any kind was not complete until that critical moment of sharing it with the observer. Yes, sure, a great painter can create a masterpiece and keep it under canvas in his studio and never show it to anyone. A composer can come up with the most sublime concerto ever conceived and share it only so far as writing it down. But I say: Until the painting is seen by others, or the concerto heard, or the play performed, or – dare I say – the book is read, the work is incomplete.

What this means is that before fame crests and floods its rewards of recognition around, the poor son-of-a-bitch who creates something is stuck with making that completion happen – in my case, getting Black and White and Read All Over read. And doing that is a conundrum like no other. In the old days, the publisher gave the writer an advance to write the book, then did the work of getting the book to the reader. They had the manuscript line- and copy-edited, the cover and internals designed, and a marketing juggernaut in place. All the author had to do was (gasp!) write the book and maybe be flown first-class all over the country by the publisher, met by reps, housed in fine hotels and oozed over by local journalists and talk-show hosts.

Today? Even with traditional publishing, the author is expected to pay for his manuscript to be edited to publish-ready perfection, and often to spend any advance on PR! And if an author is not blessed with this traditional route to finding readers and decides to take on those responsibilities with the relatively recent phenomenon of “self-publishing,” may fate be with you.

So I give you Black and White and Read All Over, hoping you will complete the creative process by reading the book I’ve written. You can read it free on Kindle, and with massive discounts elsewhere. And when you buy the book, you get the astonishing story, and a lot of America besides.