I'm Fine With It

How would you feel if Readers Digest abridged one of your novels? What reservations (if any) might you have? 

My mother was a big reader. She used to get those Readers Digest abridged books. I wasn’t interested in all of them, but I found that the ones I did read I liked just fine. There was one in particular that I especially liked. It was titled Aimee Come Home, and it was by Barbara Michaels. I was a teenager when I read it, and I thought it was the scariest book I’d ever read. At that age I didn’t mind a good scare, but I wouldn’t want to read it for the first time now. Years later I saw the complete book in the library and checked it out to compare the two versions. As far as I’m concerned, the condensed book was better. 

If my book was being abridged I might not totally agree with how it was done. As an author I’d probably have some favorite scenes that got cut, and I’d wonder why. I imagine I might not be too happy about that. I’d fuss that those people working on the book didn’t know what they were doing. In short, I might get defensive about my book baby.

Really, though, I would be pleased if my book were selected. It would be nice to know that someone thought the book was good enough to be chosen for Readers Digest. It would also be nice to know that people who didn’t know of my work would be exposed to it. I think that the essence of the work would be maintained even though every detail couldn’t be included. If such a chance ever came my way I’d give my approval. 

What do you think? Would you let your book be abridged?