SHOULD PUBLISHERS “PLAY GOD?”

Cobble Crab, a small local company, provides a publishing service for published and novice authors – and offers a Creative Writing Course to help write that book. As they say:

When you think how many novels that became great classics were rejected before seeing the light of day, you have to wonder how many masterpieces ended up in a trash can because of publishers and literary agents ‘playing God.’

J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s (later Sorceror’s) Stone was rejected by 12 publishers. Only the pleading of the eight-year-old daughter of Bloomsbury’s CEO got it into print.

Steven King’s Carrie was also rejected by a dozen publishers, while William Golding’s Lord of the Flies was rejected by 20. One publisher passed on to a colleague John le Carré’s peerless classic The Spy Who Came in from the Cold with the comment: “You’re welcome to John le Carré – he hasn’t got any future”. Joseph Heller’s brilliant Catch 22 was brutally condemned by one of numerous publishers who rejected it, while 16 stuck the knife into Irving Stone’s Lust for Life, the story of van Gogh which went on to sell 25 million copies.

Today publishers and literary agents continue to play God with writer’s work. Given agents’ and publishers’ fallibility, it’s not surprising that self publishing – in print and on the Internet – is gaining favour. But beware! While this trend will undoubtedly introduce some great writers to the world, it is also seeing the proliferation of mediocre (and downright bad) literature.

Cobble Crab Publishers sets out to help budding authors get published, either through self-publishing or through first testing the market with a limited edition published at Cobble Crab’s expense.

John Bailie, the founder of Cobble Crab, views manuscripts analytically. “Everyone believes he or she has a wonderful story. Through applying our critical criteria, we help authors establish whether or not they really do have something worth publishing – and then we advise and aid them in getting it published.” Two success stories in line with Cobble Crab’s vision are Gibson Kutadza’s A Quest for Small Holder Farmer Success and Leslie Shillinglaw's Kelsey and the Giant.
Contact John Bailie on 084 822 7139 or email: info@cobblecrab.co.za