A Piece of My Mind: Bits and
Pieces
Bennet Pomerantz
There are fewer and fewer people reading today. Clearly.
Obviously. Statistics prove it, and historically what we're doing is
we're programming ourselves right into an illiterate no-no land. It's
going to be crazier and crazier in this country as the years go by and
it shows up in every kind of way.
~ Harlan Ellison in a 1980 magazine interview.
That quote is as important today as it was when Ellison said it in the
1980's, 27 years ago I been writing as career - as long as that quote has been
around. What I have noticed is it is getting harder and harder to make
living as a writer. You have to understand these days
that there are a lot of closings and "belt tightening" at magazines and
newspapers, so there is more downsizing of jobs. You have to think about
that when you choose writing as a career.
In hindsight, it is easy to put pen to paper or type words to a computer
screen. However after all is said and done, it is to harder and harder these
days to get a publisher to publish your words and make your name in the
industry. As a friend said to me, "There is always self-publishing, if you need to see your words in print."
What is scarier to me (and why the Ellison quote is so important) is the
news that came out last week, Top U.S. booksellers Barnes & Noble Inc. and
Borders Group Inc. provided lackluster financial outlooks for the last
quarter. Borders said it would reduce the size of its struggling Waldenbooks
chain to about 300 stores by the end of 2008. That is down from 564
stores in 2006. Barnes & Noble expects a loss of eight to twelve cents per
share, including charges from closing its Memphis distribution center and an
ongoing investigation of its stock-option practices. That means there may be
fewer book stores to go around, you can't feel a book from the Internet . .
. which is where the sales hopefully will be going!
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One of the ways to get your name out there is a writing contest. My
friend Elaine Viets has a new book in her Dead End mystery series Murder
With Reservations (NAL Hardcover. ISBN: 0-451-22111-7 On sale May 1,
2007). To promote the new book is a contest. But let me let her clue you in
about it.
The Great $500 Book Giveaway For Murder with Reservations: A
Dead-End Job Mystery
In Murder with Reservations, Helen Hawthorne works as a maid at a
Florida tourist hotel. She has a book full of funny stories about her hotel.
But we want to hear your stories. You can win a $250 gift certificate from
your favorite bookstore to celebrate the kickoff of Elaine Viets' new
Dead-End Job Mystery, Murder With Reservations. You can also
designate your school, library or other institution to win the gift
certificate. The contest has two categories. Enter either one.
(1) Your Funniest Experience as a Hotel Guest (2) Your Funniest
Experience as a Hotel Employee (Maids, valets, servers, front-desk staff and
other hotel and motel employees or former employees are eligible.) The name
of the hotel will NOT be used in either category. The contest closes June
30, 2007. Winners will be announced July 15, 2007 at
www.elaineviets.com.
The Great $500 Book Giveaway Rules
(1) E-mail your entry to Elaine Viets at eviets at aol.com. Mark the Subject
line, Funniest Experience as a Hotel Guest or Funniest Experience as a Hotel
Employee. a) Include your name, address, daytime and evening phone numbers
and e-mail address. b) Include the name, address and phone number of your
designated bookstore.
(2) The winner in each category gets a $250 gift certificate to the local
bookstore of his or her choice.
(3) No purchase is necessary. Decision of the judges is final. Void where
prohibited by law.
All who enter I wish you luck
Reach for The Stars
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