Retired Presbyterian Pastor Offers Free, Electronic Books at www.donaldcorley@iocc.com

Author offers free electronic books on www.donaldcorley.com

Donald Corley, a retired Presbyterian pastor and self-published author, offers free, electronic copies of his books to anyone with a computer connected to the Internet. The seven novels and The Christian Pastor’s Work, his most recent, non-fiction work, may be downloaded from the author’s web site: www.donaldcorley.com.

Now in his seventy-ninth year, Reverend Corley retired in 1991, after fifty-years as a Christian minister. During his career, he served as pastor to several congregations and as a hospital chaplain in Baptist Medical Center in Little Rock, Arkansas. Although he no longer functions in a full pastorate, Dr. Corley accepts occasional pulpit assignments. He has taught philosophy as adjunct faculty at Henderson State University for more than twelve years.

Upon retirement, Corley resolved to write and publish a novel within five years. With seven novels in print, in 2005, he published The Christian Pastor’s Work, his first non-fiction work. And, according to the author, “may be my last non-fiction book.”

“Writing fiction is easier for me. Fiction comes from my imagination and from whatever of my disguised experience creeps into the story; with non-fiction, I cannot hide myself. In addition, non-fiction requires a precision in writing that is too laborious; after all, writing is a hobby for me.” Rather than spend money on bass boats, golf clubs, or travel, as some men finance hobbies in retirement, Corley writes and self-publishes books.

The former pastor experimented with fiction writing over the years, but he did not attempt writing a novel until he retired. “My sense of pastoral responsibility prohibited me from spending the time to concentrate on writing as a hobby; writing demands a degree of social isolation unacceptable to my perception of a pastor’s role.”

In response to why he chose to self-publish instead of submitting his books for commercial publication, Dr. Corley replied that in the book publishing world, the markets determine which books get published. This means that unless a writer has the potential for bringing profit to a publisher, any submissions from the writer will be the last considered for publication. To stay in business, a commercial publisher must maintain a steady stream of viable products; in addition, commercial firms must maintain an inventory of marketable books and profitable writers.

While in former years, literary agents offered both editing and representation services to writers, in today’s markets, agents seldom provide more than representative services. In one way, this is a progressive development because the agents then become negotiators on behalf of writers rather than literary editors. From another point of view, this creates a catch twenty-two situation because commercial publishers seldom see a book, without agent representation. Finding a literary agent is often more difficult than finding a publisher.

The development of a self-publishing industry, the expansions of the Internet, and the invention of computer controlled printing presses has opened the way for writers to see their books in print, at nominal costs to the writer. Although subsidy publishers have been around for years, the print-on-demand industry has enabled any writer to publish whatever they please; they can see their works in print and as electronic copies.

In excess of 1,100 copies of Corley’s books were downloaded during the first six weeks after posting them as free, electronic copies. The electronic books are in PDF format, which is a free electronic reader. Reviews of the books, downloads, and other information are available at www.donaldcorley.com.