Is A Book Ever Finished?

Press Coverage and Media Reviews Don'... What Will Happen To Print Books ?

Is A Book Ever Finished?

The poet, Paul Valéry, said, "A poem is never finished, only abandoned."

But, what about a book of fiction?

Many authors will admit that they wish they'd done things a bit differently in their already-published books and, at times, a second or revised edition is produced.

But what if an author could change the first edition without readers knowing?

With digital publications, this is a possibility…

Does it matter that a certain set of readers have one ending to a story and a latter group have a slightly different ending?

Cleaning up typos is one thing—is changing the meaning of a passage or chapter somehow wrong?

I published a novel in May and immediately read a print copy—realized some things could be changed—decided to leave it as it was published…

However, Bethanie Blanchard, a writer for the Australian publication Crikey, has a recent article called, E-publishing and the dangers of malleability.

In that article, she says:

"Taken to its logical conclusion, if it became the norm for authors to endlessly revise their novels with no announcement in the (apparently) same edition, reviewing would become redundant. Why spend all your time reading a novel and carefully crafting an analysis when the text could change at any time? For authors desperate to have their works reviewed, the whole thing seems counter-intuitive."

And the readers? Is it fair to alter a text behind the scenes, change the thrust of a story, create a readership that could be considered divided into various camps that aren't clearly aware of their different experiences?

Would it be fair to have one reader, having seen the protagonist hide in a store while his girlfriend walked by with another man, get into an argument with another reader who'd seen that protagonist decide to confront his girlfriend openly (even though the man is the woman's brother)?

When does a book stop being written?

What are the responsibilities of an author to their readership?

Another quote from Blanchard:

"The importance of books, essays, commentary – whatever their topic or form – is in their status as time capsules. They show us how far we've developed, how our thinking has changed and attitudes evolved. To alter texts to suit the current moment is to find ourselves trapped in the perpetual present. Though I don't think this will be…the 'future of books', it's an interesting reminder of the dangers of covert malleability for online and e-book publishing."

What are your thoughts and feelings on this issue?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our Comment Link Is At The Top of The Post :-)

For Private Comments, Email: amzolt {at} gmail {dot} com