A few weeks ago,  the publisher pushed back releasing The Last Track from August 25, 2009 to a later date. I held off announcing anything until the new date was firm. Since it is, I can talk about it and why it was done.

The obvious concern with launching any new title ( or product ) is the economic landscape at the time of its release. This year has been pretty rough year on adult fiction. Lots of releases underwhelmed this year for no other reason than the economic back draft.

Proof of the trend, earlier this week the big seven publishers released their numbers and with the exception of Lagardere, who has Stephanie Meyer, every single major house had lower sales than during the same time period last year. Adjusting for the benefit of foreign currency exchange rates, which favor the big houses with a worldwide presence, sales at some houses ratcheted down as much as 20 percent.

Now here’s the good news amidst the bad. Despite all the bleeding in publishing, the broader market is flashing signs that the bottom is here or in the very near distance. The publisher feels, and I agree, that holiday sales and an extremely strong fall list from the majors will buoy spending on books. Spending in general seems to be on the uptick.

So that covers the macro view behind the reasoning for the new date.

Yet there are micro concerns justifying a later release. When I signed on, the marketing strategy and distribution hinged on a very simple concept: price. Originally the plan was a single trade paperback release, with electronic ( Kindle, Sony and Scribe ) to follow. The model was similar to Boondock Saints, which had a very brief theatrical release in three markets before landing as a $9.99 DVD. At the time, DVD’s averaged $17.99, so a lot of people gave that movie a try. I consider that a good thing, by the way. Now that the title has proven itself over time, the distributors charge more.

The only bad thing about the all trade paperback release is that it sidestepped the libraries. Initially that seemed OK, given that it was a first book, but the publisher sold me on looking at it another way.

Strong sales in the library market can propel a book into the land of mid-list very quickly. Because the publisher controls costs better than any business I’ve ever been inside, coming anywhere close to mid-list means everyone makes money. That also means I come back for round two. That makes me happy and hopefully people who like my writing happy.

In order to get into libraries, it takes two things: a hardcover release and a write up from one of the big review services. Major review services will only cover hardcover releases. And getting a review out of a review service takes 2-4 months. So then it becomes chicken and the egg. Currently the publisher is doing what’s necessary to get that review coverage. More on that in the coming weeks.

Speaking of release, the publisher is doing something unprecedented. A simultaneous hardcover, paperback and electronic release. The thinking is, if anyone wants a copy, they can pick whatever medium they prefer right then and there, rather than waiting for the paperback or Kindle. I’m honored to be the industry guinea pig.

And now the new release date. The publisher gave me a choice of two months, February or March. I opted for the sooner month. Then by the process of elimination, we picked the actual day.

Anyone who knows me well can probably guess how this negotiation ended. Yep, February 13th, 2010. My birthday.

Now if that doesn’t make up for getting pushed back, I don’t know what will.

If there is a better exercise for stimulating creativity than an overdue vacation, enroll me in the next all day seminar. Afterward, I’ll buy the starter pack DVD and workbook, plus the advanced techniques DVD, and meditation cape. I’ll gladly follow the media anointed guru into every hotel conference room nationwide, tight on their heels like a Grateful Dead refugee.

Even though I’ll order the materials within thirty minutes–maybe sooner, thanks to a toll-free number–of the broadcast, I will decline the free wall poster for charting progress. One because there be little need to document; I’ll be on buses and trains trying to reach the next seminar, living the program and two, because I believe in the movement and my responsibility to get the precious gift of information where it belongs: In the hands of others who are awaiting to unlock their inner potential. Yay, for canned applause!

But until then, there’s the time-off method. Here the bonus prize is simple. Getting up early because I actually want to find out what will happen next. And it’s working.

Wrote more new material during the course of this vacation than the last few months combined. Also stuck to my charter: write like the only problem in the world is a blank page, avoid editing in place ( averting the over thinking before it starts ) and write every day.

So far so good. Now back to work. And writing.

One benefit of working for a school: a healthy vacation allowance. In theory, a nice chunk in the summer, plus one week during each of the winter and spring breaks. However, in practice I can’t remember ever taking the official allotment during the summer. This year I committed to taking two one week escapes and some long weekends.

Five hours after I left campus Friday for break one, a massive power outage knocked a few crucial services off-line, so I came back Saturday afternoon. My boss, eternally cool dude that he is, promised two days off for the inconvenience. He called from his own vacation to tell me this. I felt bad for him, actually. No reason for both of us to shift gears so abruptly.

Today was good writing wise. After reading a few books recently the Poet recommended, I settled on a different approach for the oft-waylaid thriller which has nothing to do with The Last Track. Last Monday I started playing with the technique. So far it feels pretty good. Kinda scary leaving behind 162 pages of prose in various stage of completion, though. Perhaps some of the older stuff can be recycled, although I’m not going to even worry about that right now.

A very important part of the strategy is to stay focused on writing new material and getting a draft in the can, rather than obsessively editing in place. Reviser disease kept me tied up on this novel off and on for over three years. Despite having some decent pages here and there, mostly the tactic led to a lot of two forward, three backwards motions.

The years were not completely wasted. I wrote other things during that time. A lot of personal things happened. But at the end of the day, I have a manuscript started in January 2006 nowhere near ready for even a cursory peek by people I trust. If that’s not a WTF realization, I don’t know what is.

At this point I only want more on the page. Slithering sideways in perpetuity generally works against completing a novel. Writing finishes novels. Clean up can wait.

Seemed like the right time for a check-in on the state of affairs with the site.

2009 Writing resolutions. In January, I outlined the following writing goals:

Goal: Implement the marketing plan for The Last Track and allow for any outcome.

Progress: Via the process of the working the marketing plan–which included a video project and a new website–and wound up with a home for the novel by accident. By some quirk of fate, the very humble video project ( which everyone estimated would only take a few weeks but stretched to 10 plus months ) evolved into a great book trailer. The trailer and the site will be available about ten days before the novel launches, which is on or around August 25th, 2009.

Goal: Complete a decent draft of the new novel.

Progress: In motion, though a ways from completion. Probably the most important lesson learned this past year–and definitely through the most grueling of experiences–involved the risk of editing too early in the writing process. Particularly editing the first draft of a new project. See, writing involves a very different part of the brain than editing does. To “clean” a draft up mid-stream, no matter how well-intentioned those adjustments are, involves switching rapidly from one side of the brain to the other. Over time this self induced schizophrenia can derail the writing process. A traumatic stress, as it were.

In fact, I consider losing focus due to editing while actively writing the worst kind of distraction for a writer. It’s one thing to work on a device that precludes accessing Facebook or email when in the zone. Eliminating those sort of attention drags are necessary and a requirement. Certainly, editing is a moral imperative and part of the job. Like it or not, it must happen sometime.

Sometime can be later.

When the creative mind agonizes over sentence or chapter so freshly minted that it can scarcely stand on its own legs, there is a terrible risk: Every second gearing down from creative mode for edits is second not writing, and that’s one more second it’s going to take to finish the initial draft. Seconds do add up, often turning into months. Sometimes the best medicine for a weak passage can be allowing the words some time to breathe. To realize that what is on the page just might, with a tiny tweak down the line, perhaps a complete overhaul ( who knows ) work for the story–and not against it.

Only time will tell. And the time for any serious editing is after the first draft is done. Till then, I have a license to suck.

Goal: Enter the new novel in three high-quality contests.

Progress: Little to report. Did compile a long list of contests to enter.

To be continued . . .