Thursday, April 21, 2011

Reinventing Jade Flower

New roads are opened. What I'm going to tell you is not the result of a spontaneous impulse. Like everything I've done till now it is because of a carefully deliberated  period. I know many of you are expectlng with impatience the third volume of my saga. Volume that has been already writen for many years. I'm willing to say that this volume will be shown, like the others. The house  that has been publishing this story will  not,  but it will be published anyway.  My efforts are put in this. However, all my experience stored during this journey leads me to think about a point, I must confess, it is also a little thorn dunk in me.
The great weakness of an editorial is its real capacity to distribute inside and outside its material published. There are spaces and goals that a publisher can not cover unless it is a giant. Even though, in some cases , nobody assures you they are going to bet for a specific text. I am aware of the difficulty in some regions of Spain to find volumes of this series, as well as their own shortcomings in the online shop linked to the publisher that publishes them (the second volume of this saga is not available on it since August 2010-and his departure date was 1 July of that year.) Hardly anything can be acquired if it is not known or not easily found. I am also aware of the amount of Ibero-American readers that have had to download illegally my books, especially Volume 1 - several thousand according to  my own monitoring in just a single portal.This speaks to a fact. There are some readers, especially Latin Americans, who have sought this saga that was unable to go beyond the narrow margins of maneuver of its publishing house.
Therefore I've made a decision: I will exploit the digital rights of this work, which remain my property.

In this way, La Flor de Jade reinvents itself in its format. Javier Charro joins me in this adventure contributing with his work to offer some new works to the previous material on paper to an audience that has been unable to consume in this way. The new formula for Jade Flower will be digital, not only to be consumed as e-book, but to be read in as many formats as possible. It will present several new and unique features in this way:

1 .- It will be a new edition, revised and nuanced. Checking the correction mistakes in its paper edition. With a translated English version which Pedro Camacho is already working in.

2 .- It will be illustrated. Javier Charro is working in unique full-color illustrations and sketches integrated in the text. New covers and exclusive designs that will be part of the final edition. Someting unthinkable in the paper one.

3.-It will be by episodes: Jade Flower will become a sort of "television series" narrated and illustrated. Each of the volumes could be conceived as a "season." Each "season" will be hung in blocks corresponding in most of its deliveries to the original chapters of the book, with some exceptions. Each chapter will have its own cover. This format would somehow rescues the old publications of the XIX. It has some advantages, especially regarding the inclusion of illustrations. The overall amount of artwork will be much more abundant than if we decided to edit it in a single block, allowing Javier Charro to work them organically and chronological not waiting. Being three of its books completely finished the update rate will  be very high and constant. Its presentation in episodes also allows reducing the costs to a minimum. The price for delivery is derisory. It also has the interesting component of "progressive engagement" with a instant feed back.

Our aim is to offer more to an audience familiar with the work and made  it available  -with a high quality finished work with a minimun cost- to those who have not had access previously. I have in mind , particularly, the South American people, most of them followers of this blog. They have sent me countless times their interest in this story.
I realize that those who have read the published material may find this initiative as a waiting point. This digital line is conceived as a bid other than the paper edition and therefore, regardless of the fate of the printed volumes, the saga will continue coming to light in this format, even it will overcome those books already published. That is, the third book, and the fourth and fifth will continuously in this format, illustrated and translated. We also explored new "extras" to add to this universe that would be extremely complex to carry out its traditional formulation.

We are XXI century writers. The Network will be our environment. It is already. Traditional publishing is a vestige of the past that will gradually disappear as we know it. There is still a gap where the author can establish a direct dialogue with the reader without the restrictions imposed by the publishing system. It also allows us to offer materials that otherwise would be unthinkable. Therefore I can only encourage you to remain vigilant at this corner. We are adjusting the digital edition right now and soon we will announce the locations where this material will be made available to everyone.
You are invited to the premiere.

No comments:

Post a Comment