After countless queries of “And what about your first book…” I’ve grasped the pulls of the metaphorical drawer and let it scrape open.

Adrift on the Dark Sea of Memory is in one reader’s hands (a young, nubile reader who is so literate for her age it makes me gasp), and by the end of tomorrow, it will be snuggled in the ample bosom of another—this one experienced, with soft edges, just the way a (book) lover should be.

The question before them is, could this book serve as a lure now that the waters of the publishing world are less murky and deeper?

In the old paradigm, with just one chance at a catch, I’d never have cast this younger, less seasoned book away from the safety of the drawer. There be monsters out there that will eat it alive, and along with it my single chance for a career.

But as the e-publishing splits open the possibilities, a new strategy can emerge. The first book first—a lure to catch the chum that will later call the whale.

I await my fate, while on the horizon I see a mist that may be the geyser of that long anticipated whale. I raise my sail, come hard about and squint, the sun breaking through the liquid plume and casting an arc of color across the sky.

This post was originally written March 30, 2012 for the private blog of my writing group, Novel-ties.