A Reason To Write . . .

As I prepare to launch my anticipated ebook into the national online marketplace, I also pick back up my pen to write on a regular bases. It has been hard to keep my focus over the years to write new blogs without new career activity, a featured assignment, or a basic reason to write. But now I have one.

Over the next three to four months of Summer and into the Fall, I will feature a chapter a week of CORRUPTED, my new serial ebook, all about the dark side of the publishing industry. Each chapter will be offered for $1, or through a $7.95 a month subscription at my web site. And since we will all be limited to reading only one chapter of the new book per week, we will now have plenty of time to focus our comments on the characters, the plot, the dialogue, the flow, the general execution, and how you like where the book is headed overall.

And each week, I will respond to your comments in my blog. Not only that, but as I continue to edit and retool the CORRUPTED book to post each week, if your comments strike me as on point, I will edit and revise the work accordingly, while giving you guys the credit for it.

Man, I LOVE that idea! We are creating an interactive novel, where your comments actually COUNT for something before the work is complete. Now, that surely doesn’t mean that I will agree with everything that is said out there, because some of you may be off of center in your views. Nevertheless, to hear them all each week will be SPLENDID! FEEDBACK is what EVERY serious artist wants. We love to know that we are creating something that you enjoy, and we would also like to know how we could make your experience better.

With that in mind, all of your weekly FEEDBACK will be featured under our CORRUPTED summary page. All you have to do is click CORRUPTED to your left, and Read all about it! So let me get started with the first comments from my “inside group” of test readers.

My good friend and publishing associate, Vickie Stringer, who created the juggernaut publishing house of TripleCrown, saw the cover design and summary for CORRUPTED and immediately jumped right on it. So we are now in conversations regarding a future partnership. We just need to work out all of the details.

Then I got love from Abbie in the UK, or London. In trying my hardest to stretch my work and name recognition internationally, I need London, Canada, the Caribbean Islands, Africa, Tokyo, France, and everyplace else to follow me. So I must make a note to count ALL international readers in the mix of flow as we get started.

Corey in Florida, Shampale in Atlanta, and Tamika down I Houston, have all attached themselves to “Darlene” and “Antonio” as they dance the dance of new emotions. I guess you guys view CORRUPTED as a publishing industry love story, so I have to keep that in mind for you. As they say, “Love conquers all.” But does it really? We shall soon see.

Edward D. Sargent, the old-school newspaper professional from DC, went into deep details on the concept. Yes indeed, good brother, I ALWAYS set out to be innovative. Being new and different is what keeps my blood boiling. No one has really written about the publishing industry on the African-American side, or at least not in a novel like this one. So I’m as excited to write this as you are to read it. And I know I won’t disappoint you, because you like to THINK, and CORRUPTED will give you PLENTY to think about. Same deal with brother Ahmad Daniels in Charlotte. He’ another heavy thinker. So, read on, good brothers, read on.

My book-loving friend, Rashena Wilson, up in New York, jumped on CORRUPTED like she jumps on ALL of my new books. But she just thinks that I’m borderline crazy. “What is Omar up to now? He’s always writing something off the wall. Let me check this shit out!” Same deal with Dana Reddig in Chicago. She’s always asking me, “What’s new? What’s next?” Well, this is what’s new and next: CORRUPTED, a serial ebook.

Even Pam Hawkins in my hometown of Philly said she likes it. And Pam don’t seem to like much of ANYTHING these days. It’s all the same stuff to her. She wants to see how I plan to make it different. She doesn’t even have to say it. I just know how she is. “Prove it to me.” That’s that tough Philadelphia stance for you. “Nigga, prove it to me! But for right now, I like it.”

So I wanna thank Brittani Williams for giving up the Philly love immediately. The “hustlerette” as I call her, didn’t hold back at all. Thank you, sister. And keep spreading the word through your growing network for me. If I blow up with this new idea, and then you need my help with yours, I can’t even front on you now. You went all out for me.

But this FEEDBACK page is not all about a lovefest. Jolanda Ross, up in the cold town on Boston, gave me a cold taste of reality. She said it’s “too many characters” in it. She followed the “Darlene” and “Antonio” story too, and she advised me to introduce the other characters later on. But if I do that, you’ll have no idea how dense this book intends to be. There’s not just two people in the publishing industry. There’s a whole lot of different people in there. So I wanted to show you guys the many different struggles and personal demons that publishing industry people have.

Nevertheless, a good story needs to have a solid focus. So I’m forced to listen to ALL of you guys over the next couple a weeks, and then months, as we pull together this interactive success story that spreads like wildfire.

And yes, I do agree with the naysayers, that this idea is totally radical. But I LOVE THAT! As publishing professional Dawn Davis stated, “Omar Tyree has carved out his own niche . . . and I admire him for that.” And Dawn knows the industry well. She’s published several top-selling books over the years, including Steve Harvey’s “Think Like a Man . . .” Well, I still got my sharpened knife with me, so let me get to carving again.

Now here we go, brother Rasheed! Let’s see how high we can go with this thing. In a publishing marketplace that seems to be clamping down on the new heights of black writers, we ALL need to keep adapting our careers to the hard times. So as you guys all continue to read and respond to CORRUPTED, my new work, I will continue to have a reason to write . . . every single week.

Sincerely,

Omar Tyree

Omar Tyree, has published 19 books, including 16 novels that have sold more than 2 million copies worldwide. With a degree in Print Journalism from Howard University, Tyree has been recognized as one of the most renown contemporary writers in American. He is also an informed and passionate speaker on community-related topics, urban literacy and entrepreneurship. For more information on his career and current projects, please view his web site biography and various links @ (www.OmarTyree.com).