This week I’ve rounded up three stories from the Wall Street Journal that illustrate the current world of publishing.

Dattola, by Egon b

Slipstream goes Mainstream

There’s a new genre of writing out there called Slipstream:

Slipstream encompasses writing that slips in and out of conventional genres, borrowing from science fiction, fantasy, and horror.

And I’m thinking: look for paranormal romances branded as slipstream romance.

The Fifty Shades Phenomenon Moves Into…Paint? 

Awe c’mon.

But no, it’s true. The color gray has “in recent years moved from being an edgy choice to a mainstream décor decision,” like the book.

Hmm. Not at my house, and not in the books I write, either!

By the way, the movie comes out this week, just in time for Valentine’s Day, and isn’t this a nice bit of publicity?

And My Favorite Publishing Story

Author Harper Lee will have a new book coming out in July, Go Set a Watchman.

Actually, it’s a very old book, the original thought-to-be-lost version of her 1960 Pulitzer Prize-winning classic, To Kill a Mockingbird, before an editor got hold of it and had her make drastic changes. Her current editor says this book is terrific, which begs the question, why did she have to change it? Whether it’s better than Mockingbird is a mystery that will be solved in July.

And, her current publisher, HarperCollins has done a terrific job of maximizing the drama (and publicity) of this release of her second book, fifty-five years after the first.

Harper Lee, Receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2007

I am very happy for any author who can have pre-release sales hit the bestseller list, but especially for an eighty-eight year old who resides in an assisted living facility.

I also love to see smash hits like the ones mentioned here pad the bottom line of big publishers, because that means (I hope) more editorial gambles on those unknown slipstream authors who want to go the traditional route.

More opportunity, more freedom, more readers! This is a golden age for authors. I’m glad I’m writing now, and not sixty years ago. What do you think?

Images: Wikimedia, Amazon