From: mumble@nomail.invalid   
      
   On 06/14/2014 04:44 PM, Jacey Bedford wrote:   
   > On 14/06/2014 16:27, mumble wrote:   
   >> On 06/14/2014 08:07 AM, C. E. Gee wrote:   
   >>> On Thursday, June 12, 2014 2:58:20 AM UTC-7, mumble wrote:   
   >>>>   
   >>>>   
   >>>>   
   >>>> Does "Internet Friends" really mean "Facebook Friends"?  I'm of the   
   >>>>   
   >>>> opinion that Facebook is a bad joke and the google equivalent is   
   >>>>   
   >>>> following it down the same tube, but I realize that's a minority   
   >>>> opinion.   
   >>>>   
   >>>>   
   >>> Facebook is an incredible source of advertising.  You just have to   
   >>> know how to utilize it.  And it's free!!   
   >>   
   >> Advertising, marketing oneself, becoming a "ride-along" to the   
   >> publishing industry... what a load of mercenary twaddle, apparently   
   >> "writers" today are looking for money but not capable of obtaining it   
   >> through more efficient means than sucking up to the publishing industry,   
   >> which leads me to conclude that the modern lot's unlikely to ever come   
   >> up with anything justifying Edward Bulwer-Lytton's famous adage "The pen   
   >> is mightier than the sword" since their only real interest in the pen   
   >> seems to be applying it to a checkbook.   
   >   
   > It's not about money, it's about getting the news out to your potential   
   > readership, and selling enough books to stay in contract. If you just   
   > write for yourself, fair enough, but if you want readers, then you have   
   > to let them know the book is out there. Publishers do a lot of generic   
   > stuff, but for new authors the publicity budget is not going to be huge.   
   >   
   > Might as well help yourself.   
   >   
   > If you go down the self-poublishing route - which is wehat you seem to   
   > advocate - it's even more important to spread the word.   
   >   
   > The money is not just about the money - it's an excuse to continue   
   > justifying the time we spend on writing to our families and friends.   
      
   The implication of what you say in that sentence is that we all need the   
   permission of our families and friends for everything we do, which is   
   something I personally disagree with.   
      
   > Q: What would the writer do if she won a million dollars on the lottery?   
   > A: Keep writing until the money ran out.   
      
   A million dollars won in a lottery translates to a whole lot less than   
   that after taxes, and a whole lot more than one needs in order to walk   
   away from the rat-race and write until the words dry up.   
      
   The part I agree with, which I don't think you've explicitly stated, is   
   that if people (Americans, especially) pay for something they tend to   
   read it, so if a publisher thinks it will sell well enough to set up a   
   financial arrangement with the author, chances are pretty good that it   
   will be read... whether it deserves to be read or pitched.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)