With the goal of becoming "Big Publishing's worst nightmare," best-selling author Stephen Edwin King (1947–) made history in July 2000 when he let fans download the first installment of his novel The Plant from his website, bypassing traditional publishers.

"The strict one-way flow of material, from creator to corporation to audience, is breaking down," noted David Streitfeld in the Washington Post.

Empowered by the internet, writers and musicians began connecting directly with fans. Over 500,000 readers downloaded King’s novella Riding the Bullet in April 2000.

"I love my editors, and I like my publisher," King wrote, "but if I could break some trail for mid-list, literary, and marginalized writers who see a future outside the mainstream, that’s great."

The master storyteller is known for unforgettable works like Carrie (1974), The Shining (1977), Cujo (1981), and The Green Mile (1996).

In 1999, King was hit by a van near his home in Maine. He began writing again just five weeks later. “The first 500 words were uniquely terrifying,” he recalled. “It was as if I’d never written anything before.”

Still a fearless writer with a great story to tell, King once said, “When you find a book that has both a good story and good words, treasure that book.”