French would not allow father’s book to go unpublished
It’s not unusual for an author’s book to be published after his death, but it’s usually a situation where the publisher or agent has the manuscript before the author dies. In the case of Will Stanton’s A Likely Story, there was no publisher or agent, just a manuscript on his daughter’s bookshelf.
“He was a fun writer to read, and he still has a lot of fans. I get emails from them once in a while, and I said, ‘I don’t want this to stick around just on my bookshelf,’” Linda Stanton French said in a phone interview from her Maryland home June 4. First French tried traditional methods.
“I tried for a couple of years. We tried in the early ’90s but couldn’t find a publisher. He hadn’t had an agent in years. He became a staff writer for the Reader’s Digest which meant they paid him a stipend every month and he gave them articles, the first dib on articles that were appropriate for them. He just had such a rapport — he developed a rapport or connection with enough magazines that he didn’t really need an agent anymore. By the time we tried to do the book, we just couldn’t find a publisher who was interested in this story, so it got put on the back burner. ” French said. So she decided to publish it herself.
Now the book is available through online outlets and some bookstores (anyone can order it). “I’ve set up a Facebook page for it,” French said. The complete address is: https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Will-Stanton-author/197627250345072
Greg Langley