Well, my ‘On This Day’ app and ‘Song By Song’ Kindle book still haven’t been released. Back at the beginning of the year, it looked as though any hope of my research and writing efforts being blessed with official recognition by the band on which they are focussed was lost. Discussions with the band’s management and lawyers had failed to reach a conclusion which was satisfactory to both parties, so that was that. Or so I thought. By spring this year tentative discussions had started up again and are still on-going.
The trouble is, the longer this goes on, the more I’m tempted to revisit the work and tweak it further. Of course, no matter how many times I re-read all the ‘finished’ material, I still find previously missed typos, punctuation and grammatical errors, or better ways of saying things. I’m not sure I’ll be able to persuade myself to stop proofreading until it’s all finally published (if even then).
I understand how important it is for any artist’s creations and interests to be protected robustly. I also understand that my recent efforts represent one very tiny matter in the vast array of projects, issues and negotiations these guys are involved in every waking minute. Writing about somebody famous doesn’t place any duty on them to recognise the writer in any way. The only people who have any right to decide whether such work deserves any form of official recognition are the subjects of the writing and the people who represent their interests.
Other than the never-ending process of proofreading and fine-tuning, there’s nothing else for me to do. It’s all out of my hands and, whatever happens, I’ve loved every minute of the research and writing work.