New West Book Review

Riverbend Gives Self-Published Novel A Second Chance

By Jenny Shank, 1-13-10

There has been a lot of discussion lately among people working in the publishing industry about what the future might hold for books.  Billings-based journalist and fiction writer Craig Lancaster recently wrote in to spread the word about his debut novel, 600 Hours of Edward (Riverbend Publishing, 280 pages, $14), which followed an unusual path to publication, albeit one that is becoming more common as self-publishing enterprises proliferate.

Lancaster published 600 Hours of Edward last year through CreateSpace, the self-publishing venture owned by Amazon.com.  On his website, Lancaster writes that he “hustled hard to get it in front of readers.” In an email, he told me, “I approached the bookstores in Billings and got most of them to bite on it (mostly on consignment, although Borders did pony up for several copies). I flogged the book to radio and TV stations. I did a signing for anybody who would have me. That sort of thing. People who read it liked it and told others, which I greatly appreciate.”

One the readers Lancaster approached was Riverbend Publishing President Chris Cauble, who read the novel, enjoyed it, and offered to publish it.  The Helena-based publisher recently released the novel after some editing of the prior version.  The novel tells the story of a man isolated because of his Asperger’s syndrome.  Riverbend offers this description of the book:

“Edward Stanton is a man hurtling headlong toward middle age. His mental illness has led him to be sequestered in his small house in a small city, where he keeps his distance from the outside world and the parents from whom he is largely estranged. For the most part, Edward sticks to things he can count on...and things he can count. But over the course of 25 days (or 600 hours, as Edward prefers to look at it) several events puncture the walls Edward has built around himself. In the end, he faces a choice: Open his life to experience and deal with the joys and heartaches that come with it, or remain behind his closed door, a solitary soul.”

On his website, Lancaster writes that he made a “mistake” in “rushing to market with my self-published book.” I asked him why he felt that way, given that things turned out so well.  He wrote in an email:

“Indeed, it worked out, and more and more, you’re seeing stories like mine. (On a much larger scale, there’s Lisa Genova’s Still Alice.) That said, playing publisher and writer and marketer is a huge workload, especially if you have a whole other career, like I do. I could have poured the same amount of energy into querying and revising and ended up with the same result. Maybe. And while my personal belief is that self-publishing is only going to become more of a viable option for folks, I’d be lying if I didn’t acknowledge that it means something to have someone else believe in your book and invest in it.”

• Colorado’s Fulcrum Books recently released Voices of the American West by Corinne Platt and Meredith Ogilby.  The book features interviews with over 50 Westerners about “issues that shape our western lands and identity,” and includes Ogilby’s black-and-white photographs of these notable people, such as Terry Tempest Williams, Patricia Nelson Limerick, and Stewart Udall.  Platt and Ogilby will appear at the Tattered Cover (LoDo) as a part of the Rocky Mountain Land Series on Saturday, January 16 at 2 p.m.

• It’s National Western Stock Show time in Denver, which means it’s also time for the 21st annual Colorado Cowboy Poetry Gathering at the Arvada Center.  The event runs from January 14 through 17.  Bill Husted featured one participant in this event, cowgirl poet and musician Liz Masterson in his Thursday Bar & Grilled column for the Denver Post.  Husted asked her, “How is cowboy poetry different from, say, the poetry of Robert Frost?” And Masterson replied, “Some of it is very similar. Lots of cowboy poets study Frost and Robert Service. Some of the poems are very funny. And some are about putting your horse down that you had for 32 years.”

According to an Arvada Center press release, the Colorado Cowboy Poetry Gathering “features a line-up of over 30 poets and musicians from 14 states, Canada and Australia, who capture the true spirit and lifestyle of their Western heritage through poetry, song and verse.”

• Finally, Cerise Press is a new literary journal based in Arizona that recently published its second issue for Fall/Winter 2009-2010.  One of Cerise Press’s editors, Fiona Sze-Lorrain, is based in France, and the journal has a unique mission, to build “cross-cultural bridges by featuring artists and writers in English and translations, with an emphasis on French and Francophone works.” Contributors include Yusef Komunyakaa, Tess Gallagher, Eleanor Wilner, Victoria Chang, Robert Kelly and Ray Gonzalez.  Cerise Press accepts submissions year-round, and its complete writer’s guidelines are here.

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