Dear readers of my books, and friends,

Should I divide the book I'm working on in half, (again!) such that the (mostly) complete first nine chapters may be released sooner? Then the rest would be published separately, perhaps three years from now. (Let's call this the short book option).

Or,

Should I continue on course, and publish the whole work when complete? It will run to perhaps as much as 120,000 words, and not be published for two years, and possibly cost less than the price of two shorter books combined. (Let's call this the long book option.)

Here is the background which may help you understand what I am asking.


Loneliness and Revelation, my fifth book, began as a ten-page introduction to another work. But it became very long - nearly 50,000 words, by itself. On the advice of friends, I divided it from the rest of the text, and it will be published in October of 2010 - eight months from now. It will bear the sub-title: "A Study of the Sacred, Part One".

Well, Part Two, which is tentatively called "The Sacred Relationships Book", now weighs in at more than 88,000 words. Some of you may recall that on this blog I asked for people in the community to share with me stories or thoughts concerning the most significant relationships in their lives. Part Two is where some of those discussions will appear. In case you are curious, here is the table of contents, as it stands right now.

Opening: "Understanding How We Live".
1. Mind and Body
2. Landscapes
3. Hunters and Animals
4. The Kitchen
5. Guests and Hosts
6. Friends
7. Loving Couples
8. Brothers, Sisters, and Families
9. Elders.
Intermezzo: "Dreams of the Celestial City, Tales of the State of Nature"
10. Towns and cities
11. Scholars, Philosophers, and Books
12. Musicians, Poets, Actors, and Performers
13. Storytellers
14. Teachers and Students
15. Healers and Patients
16. Soldiers and Warriors
17. Arts, Crafts, and Artisans
18. Sailors, Ships, and the Sea
19. Athletes
20. Leadership
21. Citizenship
22. The Market
23. The Gods
24. Life and Death.

Seven of the first nine chapters are complete, and come to slightly less than 50,000 words by themselves. But some of the other fifteen planned chapters have barely been started. I might still be working on them for as much as another year. If I go with the short book option, chapters 1 to 9 will be published as "A Study of the Sacred, Part Two", and the other fifteen will be published as "Part Three".

As a writer, I do not simply write: I am also engaged in a relationship with my readers. Writing and publishing is an on-going conversation in which people use books, essays, news columns, editorials, and letters (and now, blog posts!) to talk to each other. Publishing has never been a one-way communication, ever in the history of the world. And as I know my own audience, none of you simply receive what I say as gospel anyway. Many of you engage me in conversation: questioning, commenting, praising what you like and criticising what you don't like. So, that's part of the point of this question. I'd like to offer to you a chance to contribute to an editorial decision. Which would you, friendly readers, prefer to see: two short books, or one long book?

Actually, I'm going to make my own decision anyway, and I already know which option I prefer. It's my book to write, and I'm the one who gets to decide what it is. But I find it useful to stay in touch with people. The worst thing in the world is a writer who shouts into the dark. :-)

Finally, if you can think of more relationships that belong in the book, let me know!