Flight of the Old Dog

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Flight of the Old Dog I was commenting back and forth with our poet friend, @jaboUK, the other day. We were talking about scams in the poetry publishing business. That's a subject that this world is never going to be without, for it goes on and on and on. As I told @jaboUK, I was employed one time as a publisher's manuscript reviewer - just for a wee little amount of time, which was about all that my mind and my heart could tolerate. Some of those rather shaky experiences might make for useful discussions here on the big MyLot place because there are so many people here who like writing stuff and who may have ambitions in that regard. Anyway, back to the "Old Dog" thing: One of the manuscripts for me to review was one written by a then yet unpublished writer, a fellow named Dale Brown. The title of his work was "The Flight of the Old Dog Zero One." It was written to be a novel about an aging B-52 bomber that was sent on a mission by its USAF Strategic Air Command leaders. Cutting to the chase here, it was a "pisswalloper" of a story. Author Brown had some B-52 time in the Air Force. So, I thought that what he had to offer in his writing might be really interesting, even though it was a novel, not history or avionics, It surely was a great novel. I went to the boss publisher and suggested that he really needed to take a look at Brother Brown's stuff. "This one is a great story and a super piece of writing, Bosso.This guy has hit it right in the middle of the target, and you can make lots of pennies publishing him and, hopefully, he will do it again for you after you put his book into the air." The publisher guy took the manuscript from me and promised to give it a good look. Several days later, he handed the manuscript back to me. "Gus, a book from this manuscript will never sell. Send it back to Mr. Brown. Well, I may have really liked the writing, but the boss is the boss, right? Back went the manuscript, much to my sorrow. One day, several years down the road, I was picking up a loaf of bread in the market on my way home from work. At the checkout stand were lots of paperback books for sale. One of them, and it had an $8 price tag on its bright red. black, and white cover, was "Flight of the Old Dog." I wondered... Sure enough, it was Dale Brown's book that another and wiser publisher had produced from the manuscript I had reviewed several years earlier - the story my earlier boss believed would not sell. According to the back cover brag lines on my newly purchased copy of the "Old Dog" book, this novel had become "...the runaway best seller in hard copy that launched the phenomenal career of Dale Brown," and the copy I bought in the market was one of the book's eighth printing in paperback. In addition, the back cover copy listed five additional best sellers by Dale Brown that followed his "Old Dog" novel. The lesson to be learned here is that the boss is not always correct and that when the writer likes what he or she has written, it is probably worth a read - or even a publishing and best selling and whatever comes next. * * * * * * * * * * Image source: Photo by Gus Kilthau * * * * * * * * * *