A Note to the Reader
What you’ve got here is the first chapter of the first novel of my upcoming zombie series, The Dead Wait. It represents a major departure for me. I was raised on the publishing model New York fed us for nearly a century. But I am now stepping into the Twilight Zone. I am now proud to call myself a self-published author.
Why, you ask?
My entire writing career, up to now, has been spent in the traditional publishing model. I’ve worked with three of the Big Five New York publishing houses. I’ve gone from a nobody to the writer at the center of a bidding war between New York’s top companies. And I’ve experienced pretty much every milestone in between. I remember my first interview, my first random meeting with a fan, my first random sighting of one of my books in a reader’s hands, my first five figure advance and my first six figure advance. It’s been a good ride.
But along the way I’ve seen a loosely knit band of outlaws take themselves from the fringe of respectability to the height of popularity. I’ve seen them turn a lot of hard work and raw talent into successful writing careers. I’ve watched, and I’ve developed a great deal of respect for the wonderful things the self-published are doing.
We are on the frontier here. This is the Wild, Wild West. We are seeing those talented few who, a decade ago (when I got my start), would have been subject to the same luck of the moment that smiled so favorably upon me. Some would have eventually found markets, because a talent cannot long stay buried; but others might very well have given up all hope and abandoned their writing careers. Be thankful that we live in the age that we do, for it facilitated the success of my fellow contributors in this volume.
The writers featured here are all “Indie” writers. They are mavericks; they are fearless; they are pioneers: and I for one am proud to join their crew. I have watched self-publishing go from the laughing stock of New York to its most feared competitor, and I hope that the works contained within this volume help to show you why.
I also hope they show you why I’ve chosen to make this new series, The Dead Wait, an “Indie” effort.
I am proud to join this crew.