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Selling Your Soul
I used to know a man who would have liked to support himself by selling his paintings. Paintings he made by the dozens. His rooms were littered with canvases and boards. Everything he owned was proudly splotched with acrylic paint. Some people even liked his work. But, he could never bring himself to sell any of it. "It feels too much like selling my soul," he would say. And so, the paintings piled up in his rooms, filled the trunk of his car to brimming and, whether it was good or not, few people ever got to see his work. If the task of writing is not a baring of the soul, I do not know what is. Surely, writers busily selling what they produce are selling bits and pieces of themselves, just as much as my friend the painter used to fear he would be, if he should ever dirty his fingers with money for the canvasses he produced.
Everything is politics. And the publishing industry is definitely a political animal, a behemoth, a dragon, that will take a host of knights in shining armor to subdue it. In the May 2007 issue of The Writer magazine, Kelly James Enger says what I have been saying for years. Contractws with publishers are becoming downright draconian. The Markets for first time novelists in this country have all but disappeared, unless the author wants to self publish his book. The big name publishers are generally not interested in a book unless the writer has outstanding media connections and enough name recognition that people would buy a pile of autographed waste paper with said writer's name on it. And, should you have that sort of name recognition, it matters little what you may have written. Go ahead and hire a ghostwriter. At least the finished product will be readable, and you may write about anything you want.
Writing is an art , and as with any art, the more you do it, the better you get with it. What follows is a short take on the art of putting a novel together. Enjoy art.
News Item
Many of us have had an experience with one publisher or another that has nothing to offer its writers but a headache. to my chagrin, I signed up with one of those publishers about four or five years ago.
Publish America has made Internet history by being among the worst houses for to trap an unwary writer. Their website makes them look wonderful, as though they really are interested in the business of selling books. And yes, I can cry in my soup, saying that I had been sick, had in fact just come home from the hospital after a nasty brush with what felt like creamed death on toast. I signed the contract with that publisher, totally unaware of what I was getting into. Weeks later, when I discovered I would be solely responsible for selling my book, at the price they set for it, I tried to find some way to break contract with them. I tried even harder to break the contract with them, when another publisher said his firm was willing to pay me real money for that book. But, so far I have had no luck in doing so.
Well, truth to tell, this book may not even be worth fighting for. At close to 900,000 words, before I slashed and burned to try to bring it into shape, few people would want to wade through it. However, I am going to let you be the judge of that. Here then is Brother Martin's Legacy in all its glory.
I have talked with many people who are starting their own businesses, and they all have the same sorts of questions that I have had over the years. Here is a short article about what you need to do to keep good records.Contact Genevieve Fosa at genefosa@verizon.net
Phone: (781) 373-1891
Mail to: 21 Fiske Street
Waltham, MA - 02451
Staying on Subject A note about the importance of staying on topic, no matter what your topic might be.
Swearing How much swearing is absolutely necessary? Is there a limit? Does good taste really help?
TheArt, of Writing. This is a small piece expressing some of the angst a writer may feel twoards his work.
This is the first in a series of articles describing the nuances the various points of view may lend to your story.