My friend Davide, he of the Karavansara blog, alerted me to Kathe Koja’s project, Christopher Wild.

She’s writing a novel about Kit Marlowe, and there will be a very limited “bespoke edition”. Twenty-nine (or nine-and-twenty, as Elizabethans would have spelt Kit’s age when he died) patrons will receive not only a personalised hardback copy, but also monthly reports on the novel’s progress, author’s notes, research bits and so on – for the price of 100 US dollars.

Yes, patrons. The author and/or the publisher’s choice of words, because with crowdfunding we’ve entered a new age of patronage. Not quite the same as Kit and his contemporaries would have known, but not so very different, either.

That said, I must confess the temptation was there: should I give myself a much belated birthday gift – even though I’m possibly the tiniest bit scared of Kathe Koja, because of the splatterpunk thing, you know… Yes, I’m a wimp – but anyway the choice was made for me: the bespoke edition is sold out already, it seems. I won’t get to do this thing à la Tom Walsingham. Not this time, at least.

Salva