“The problem with authors is we’re adults.”
I am writing this from WriterCon in Oklahoma City, and this was something a bookstore owner said in a seminar there about getting your book into independent bookstores. He is also an author, and he gave lots of advice that had nothing to do with bookstores, including the above quote. He elaborated, explaining that if you ever watched kids play, they just create. They don’t worry about ROI or sales or views or attendance or any of a hundred things adults are concerned with in a creative task: they just make things for the sheer joy of it.
It may sound trite, but that quote really opened up my eyes and explained why I enjoy taking my grandkids to the park: everything is new to them, and they just appreciate the playground for its sheer joy, no agenda. Teeter-totters! How cool! Wow, a swing! A garbage can! Wonder what it looks like from the inside? I’m going to try to harness that outlook in my life going forward, the idea of enjoying things for their own sake, right now.
Back in the adult world, my big news this month is that the new book, “Megga Maps Handicap” (MMH) is out for beta reads! God willing, I will edit it in Oct and have it out for ARCs in Nov and publish in December.
I am working hard to get it out fast because it addresses many topics in the news today: prediction markets, cryptocurrency, AI, and financial crimes. I want it to be topical, not historical, hence the need for speed.
At WriterCon, several agents allowed pitches and did not charge for the privilege, which is rare—at most conventions you have to pay to give a pitch. So, even though I planned on publishing independently, I took a swing and pitched MMH to an agent from New York. I have received more active listening, encouragement, and empathy from my captors in the jail cells of several third-world countries than I did from this agent. She stared at me with dead eyes, and I now know what a mouse feels like when a hawk looks at it. If anything, she affirmed my conviction, learned from interactions with agents on my previous books, to publish independently. For MMH, I intend to publish through my own publishing company rather than through Amazon, to give me more control.
I had a very nice interview with Mr. Greg Keifer, who hosts a podcast where he interviews veterans, eponymously named “Ask a Vet Podcast.” He is an excellent interviewer, and you can see it here:
or listen to it here
or here
Until next month, peace.