Mark Dawson

If you’ve never been traditionally published, it can look downright seductive. Like that mysterious, jaded blues singer in a smoky dive bar who has everyone mesmerized, it all seems so magical—until the lights come up and you realize the spell is broken, and so is the illusion.

I’ve been traditionally published. And most of the time, I will say “never again!” and mean it down to my very bones.

But, every once in a while, I’ve wondered if writing a “throwaway” book for a traditional publisher might score me some of the last remaining perks of that world.