The Author Guy Blog by Larry B. Gildersleeve (Oct 16, 2024)

16th October 2024

Hello out there,

Welcome back. Last week, I whined a little bit about the elongated timeline before my next book

will be released. Okay, maybe more than a little bit. But I’m over it, and moving on in a different

direction with my writing.

My fifth novel, working title For the Love of Charley Chaplain, is with the publisher, but given

what I now understand to be their timelines, it likely won’t be in reader’s hands until the end of

next year. So, all things considered, I’m way ahead of the game and I’ve satisfied my two-book

commitment when I signed an exclusive contact. Sometimes things that appear disappointing can

in fact work out nicely. Here’s how.

In my considerable (and on-going) research into the publishing industry over the past ten years,

I’ve found ample evidence that reading for relaxation, entertainment and/or escapism – the

hallmarks of fiction reader motivation – has diminished down to about, on average, thirty

minutes a day. Couple that with the sea change away from printed books to devices such as Nook

and Kindle, and legions of readers are telling authors something. And that something, in my

opinion, is that less can be, not always will be, more.

If that’s what readers are indicating they want, it’s my desire to meet up with them by writing

short stories and novellas, perhaps even compiling them into a book as did Armor Towles,

author of the bestselling A Gentleman in Moscow, with the release a few months ago of his latest

book.

I have every expectation that in their own way short stories and novellas will be every bit as

challenging, perhaps even more so, than writing a full-length novel. Time will tell.

Until next week … Vaya con Dios

Larry B. Gildersleeve