Koontz & Kounting

Dean Koontz is one of the best-selling writers of all-time.  The last sales stats I saw on Koontz ran his world-wide sales tally upwards of 300 million copies.

The thing is, I've never read a Dean Koontz novel.  Never held one in my hands.  Never looked at one, either.  To my knowledge, none of his books have been made into movies (unlike Stephen King's works, which are all made into movies) and most of Koontz's early works were published as paperback originals (this is a publisher's way of saying, "we don't want to invest any money in YOU.").

However, although I'm not familiar with Koontz's work, nor do I have any plans to become familiar, I was taken by a tidbit I read about him earlier this week.  Seems that when Koontz was a newlywed, he told his wife he wanted to write novels.  She said, "I'll earn the income and you write.  I'll give you five years to make a living at it, and if, after five years, you are not making money, you have to get a real job."

Evidently, Koontz was able to knock out one novel after another, but sales were slim to non-existent.  His publisher kept publishing in paperback, Koontz continued writing these non-selling books, but he was forced to write so quickly he couldn't concentrate on quality . . . just the quantity of words.  Get 'er done.

Surprisingly, Koontz was able to build a small but reliable readership and after five years, had a trickle of income sufficient to continue writing.  And the rest, as they say, is his 300 million copy history.

I applaud Koontz's wife, though.  What woman would tell a man, "I'll give you five years to succeed?"  My wife wouldn't give me one week to succeed.  That's why I've had to rise before the crows for thirty years.  It's why I've stayed up all night after working a sixteen hour day.  It's why my writing is crap.

I have suggested, of course, that Becky give me a week to write . . . uninterrupted, dedicated space and time.  I'd take a week's vacation for this.  But she always has other plans for me . . . yard work, cleaning the kitchen sink, etc.  Gosh, if I had a week of uninterrupted focus . . . I could write an entire book.  Maybe two.  And good ones.

Hope my wife reads this.  She could take a lesson from Koontz and his woman.