It has been my conceit, since I began this blog four years ago, that I've been trolling for a book contract. And why not? Other bloggers get book contracts, I've noticed.
Of course, those bloggers may be better writers. And probably funnier. Maybe even more interesting.
But let's not quibble.
Especially since I'm now re-thinking the whole business plan in light of this article I saw this evening on Yahoo! News. According to Paul J. Weber's linked article, for the Associated Press, the City of Laredo, Texas, a municipality of in excess of 200,000 souls, is losing its one and only remaining bookstore. The nearest bookstore for Laredo residents, a community "surrounded by nothing more than rural ranching towns," Weber writes, will be in San Antonio -- 150 miles away. Even in Texas, even if everything is bigger there, I imagine 150 miles must be reckoned as a significant distance.
Now Laredo may be unique among cities its size in having no bookstores left -- but, Weber also notes, Newark, New Jersey -- a city with a population of "nearly 288,000" -- has only one bookstore.
What good does it do me to get a book contract if no stores are left to stock my magnum opus?
So I guess I'll have to think about what to do instead... maybe I could host a talk show?
4 comments:
Pin your hopes on Amazon or Google, you aren't trendy enough for Facebook or Twitter.
And that's a good thing.
If you actually did sell a book, I guess we'd finally get to see what you really looked like, huh?
PS Are you actually *working* on this magnum opus?
(this is where I'd put the "winking" icon but I know you hate those).
You'd be a great talk show host. My daughter chose the self-puyblish route. Her book is available on Amazon--Independence.
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