There’s something weird about writers. Mainly it’s this: they write.
I mean, why write when there are so many things happening? Late breaking news right now!
With so much happening on television — the election is in TEN months! — how can writers find the time to write?
All their writing, we know what that is. It’s a cry for help.
So let’s help the writers. We should start by reading what they are writing. That way, we’ll better understand the heartache and misspent ambition that leads them to write when they could be watching television.
Don’t touch that dial.
Don’t change that channel.
Don’t change!
But, First, A Message From Within
Remember when weirdos congregated in Kinko’s in the middle of the night, publishing their manifestos?
Well, right now, these same loons are publishing their manifestos in the discomfort of their own homes. They’re blogging (egad) and self-publishing.
Speaking of self-publishers, none of us has a good reason for not writing a book.
In an AP article carried in the February 5th Columbus Dispatch, writer Candace Choi describes how "new writers [are] reaching readers without using publishing houses."
A sidebar (missing from the online version) offers these resources:
A price comparison
Three online self-publishing services and their costs:
- CreateSpace, a subsidiary of Amazon.com: $3.15 a book plus 2 cents for each black-and-white page and 12 cents for each color page. Publisher’s commission: 20 percent of the list price on CreateSpace (30 percent on Amazon.com)
- Lulu.com: $4.53 a book (in paperback) plus 2
cents for each black-and-white page and 15 cents for each color page.
Publisher’s commission: 20 percent- Blurb.com: $12.95 (20 to 40 pages in paperback) and $22.95 (20 to 40 pages in hardcover) a book, with pricing in 40-page increments (to a maximum of 440 pages). Publisher’s commission: none
When are you starting your book? When are you finishing it?