I remember reading, a long time ago, the biography of Thomas Merton. Merton was a Trappist monk who grew very fond on Buddhism and eventually became famous in his own lifetime. His Seven Story Mountain is a kind of classic. Merton didn’t grow up Catholic, and as he narrates his story he tells of finding a book with an imprimatur. He was so angry he wanted to throw the book out of the window. What right did a group, even so large a group as the Catholic Church, have to declare a book fit for print? It riles the creative sensibilities. Of course, he went on to become a monk. The concept of imprimatur is one that all writers face. Publishers, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, or any kind of religion or secular, hold the imprimatur. There are the successful self-published of course. I’ve read enough self-published books to see the value in what publishers offer. Still, publishers get to decide what the world reads. It’s a...
Blog of a struggling writer.