A
lot of my friends and family members ask me why I won't release Kill
River in a digital ebook format, and I simply tell them,
"because I keep it real." Yes, I know I'm guilty of
dodging the question with a joke, but I couldn't be more serious
about my resolve to have my book released only in print.
Kill
River takes place in the 1983. It's not one of those
cheesy self-aware books with references to modern technology and
events. I wrote it as if I were actually writing in 1983, and I
wanted to really capture a feeling of the time period. My
vision for Kill River was to write a novel from a
simpler time. I want it to seem like a really cool bargain-bin
80's pulp horror novel. I want it to fit right in with things
like Sleepaway Camp and Friday the 13th.
And if it ever gets adapted into a movie, it will have to look like
it was shot on grainy old film and have a cool synthy 80's score.
The whole digital ebook thing just doesn't fit in with the whole
retro slasher experience.
For
the record, I'm not against digital books. I do own a Kindle
and I think it's great to be able to take a whole library of books
with me wherever I go. It certainly made the arduous task of
reading all five Game of Thrones novels easier. But
as an independent author trying to get my own book out there,
e-readers have their fair share of drawbacks.
The
cover art is wasted. You don't really get to enjoy the cover
art on an ebook. You just turn on an e-reader and you're right
there where you left the story. You don't really get the full
vibrant color of a beautiful painted cover sitting on your coffee
table and calling to you, beckoning you to dive back into the story.
Cover illustration for most books are pretty lame and boring these
days anyway, I'm sorry but one stock photo image against a lightly
textured monochrome background just ain't cuttin' it. I mean,
come on, are these cover artists photo-shopping these things together
in fifteen minutes? I digress, that's a blog for another day.
I
grew up in the Goosebumps era with Tim Jacobus's
beautiful cover art on every book. Even the not so
greatGoosebumps books like Chicken Chicken had
great cover art. Hell, even the Babysitter's Club books
had decent cover art. Before the 90's though, there were the
cheesy, but awesome eyeball-skeleton covers of the 80's from authors
like Ruby Jean Jensen and Stephen Gresham. I'm a big fan of the
old Zebra Horror novels and just looking at their covers gets me all
nostalgic and excited to read those books. I worked hard to
paint the cover toKill River in the style of those old
school covers and I want it to be enjoyed. I don't want it to
be just some thumbnail lost in a digital archive.
Also,
ebooks are more forgettable. If you've read a lot of books on a
Kindle or a Nook or some device, ask yourself how many you can
honestly remember. What were their titles? Who wrote
them? I honestly can't remember half of them, and that makes me
sad. The old saying out of sight, out of mind rings true for
digital books. You read a book, finish it, then turn off your
device and it's gone. Unless it's one of those rare cases where
it was one of the best books you've ever read in your life, it's gone
like dust in the wind, or a dream you had the night before. I
can't speak for every author, but I sure want my readers to remember
my books. Physical copies of books can be kept like souvenirs,
and serve as reminders of the journey the story took you on.
They can also be passed on to new readers.
So
yes, with my books, I keep it real, literally and figuratively.
I won't say I'll never release Kill River digitally,
who knows, I may change my mind in the next decade or so.
Cameron
