It must have been an extraordinary moment. A 40-year-old inventor in the 15th century city of Mainz, Germany, had experimented with metal alloys, molds, a pressing machine and oil-based ink. He took handmade paper, placed it in his press and moved the letters of the alphabet into position to print a 42-line piece of writing. He repeated the process 30 times to create a book. The book was a short Bible. The inventor was Johann Gutenberg. And the invention was history’s first mass printing of the world’s first published book.
“Incomparably the greatest event in the history of the world,” Mark Twain wrote 400 years later.
Earlier this week, I met one of the beneficiaries of Herr Gutenberg – a young musician turned author, who has taken her discoveries as a holistic practitioner and turned them into an enterprise based in Durham Region. Dawn James practises something called vibrational therapy (employing, among other things, the power of sound waves). Not interested in writing or publishing in the traditional way, James has just self-published first book, “Raise Your Vibration, Transform Your Life.”
“I started this enterprise entirely by myself,” she told me. “Up early, sometimes 5 in the morning to write the manuscript and publishing it by myself.”
The Writers Circle of Durham Region, of which I am a member, invited me to moderate a panel discussion “Getting Published in the New Millennium.” The discussion offered a lively look at the lives of contemporary writers in our region – in the face of e-books, Amazon.com and the unregulated power of Internet up- and downloading. Panelist Dawn James, offered a unique view of writing her book and then contracting out the specific jobs she required to get her work edited, published, marketed and promoted mostly via her newly launched website. I asked her, during the panel discussion, about the concept of self-publishing.
“It feels natural,” she said. “It’s the best way for me and my work.”
In contrast, I also spoke with panelist Erin Thomas, a fiction writer who has followed a more traditional path to have her worked published for younger readers. Her first book, “Draco’s Fire,” was recently released by H.I.P. Books in Toronto; a second book, “Boarder Patrol,” from Orca publishers – on the other side of the country from her Whitby home – will be published this spring. I was curious to know how much the digital age of writing and publishing has affected writers. She admitted it has pushed her.
“I’ve learned to use Twitter and write a blog,” Thomas said, “but that hasn’t changed my life. I have a husband and a six-year-old in my life.”
A slightly different story yet again, came from poet and teacher James Dewar. His first book of poetry was published in 2007 called “The Garden in the Machine.” A creative writing instructor in Continuing Studies at Durham College by day and a performance poet by night, he has recognized that writing and publishing have changed.
“Once was a time when somebody said ‘You ought to get that piece of writing published,’ you could usually make it happen,” he said.
Dewar admitted he had re-invented himself as a writer, learning to build a new audience for his poetry with his monthly poetry performances, a show called Hot-Sauced Words, at a pub in east-end Toronto. Not only does his performance venue acquaint him with new poets, it connects him with writing clients for whom he can provide editing services and advice on writing and presentation skills.
Naturally, I wanted to know how each of the writers on the panel felt about the art and business of promoting books via electronic book technology – the Amazon Kindle, the Apple iPad and various other e-book gadgets. I was surprised that none felt too threatened. However, the fourth member of the panel, Ruth E. Walker, lamented the passing of hands-on, more grassroots forms of book production and promotion.
“There was nothing like having publishers like Jack McClelland (of McClelland and Stewart) out there flogging your book,” she said.
An award-winning writer, poet and professional editor, Walker has won or placed in numerous national and international writing competitions. She’s had her writing published in anthologies, journals, magazines and newspapers all over the continent and in the U.K. What has eluded her, however, is publication of her long-form fiction. Not bitter, but doubly motivated to find that willing publisher, Ruth Walker put her finger on the essence of her creative work – no matter where or how it’s published.
“Writing is a passion, a drive to find the right words,” she said. “It’s something you feel and have to express.”
I guess, in that sense, things haven’t changed since Johann Gutenberg. Instead of moving type, the paper press and biblical scripture, it’s cyberspace, a good story and the creator’s obsession.