tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-672013373020085991.post7901382944447528221..comments2023-09-13T02:47:23.471-07:00Comments on Cowboys and Bohemians: 'Bitter Milk Kills the Kittens'Bohemian Cowboyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17106578522099021236noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-672013373020085991.post-4619531006466563562012-01-10T12:39:34.125-08:002012-01-10T12:39:34.125-08:00I think its true that getting published or getting...I think its true that getting published or getting an agent is a difficult to do, but I also think its part of the quest of 'making some kind of living' as a writer. As with all things in a society that's increasingly more about the money something will make rather than the merit, there is always the challenge of finding someone who still believes in merit. As I read more and more articles and hear interviews of writers who are self publishing, it can be looked at one of two ways. An agent or publisher can sit back and just wait for the sales of e publishing to emerge and then swoop in and seal a deal, or maybe there are agents and publishers who are still 'old school' and ready to take a chance on a piece of writing. One thing I do know, is that the internet has given artists more power to create their own destinies, but they have to also be able to assess their audiences and find them. That isn't easy, but people are doing it, and many of them are writers who publishers would dismiss in a second. The action is in the task of trying, researching, and learning from what comes back. I'm more determined than ever to research and try and understand these options, stone soup will do that to you--poverty is always an edge, but not always a strong enough statement for a society that measures success in portfolios. It's actually fun to write a letter to an agent or publisher to try and get their attention, but its tricky...I don't mind tricky. As for what I'm reading? Stacks of unfinished and earnest plays... a couple of mine I know are in a stack somewhere...Bohemian Cowboyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17106578522099021236noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-672013373020085991.post-65680348543092010902012-01-10T12:01:01.471-08:002012-01-10T12:01:01.471-08:00Hmm, this entry should be of interest to anyone wh...Hmm, this entry should be of interest to anyone who writes and has to think of somewhere to send it. I have gone through all kinds of experiences trying to catch a break, so my recommendation is always make your intellectual life as interesting and stimulating as possible, so you can take rejection in your stride. I am 80 and am still trying to get a major piece of work published, having submitted plays, novels and now memoirs. I am consulting with Dan, my youngest son, and thinking of going the self publishing route on the internet as an e-book, why because as I as a writer always had many strikes against publication I thought-- difficult subject matter that publishers all shy away from but which I could not alter, it being from my life experience, the fact that I was a woman and that I was from the out of the way state of Utah with experiences there intellectuals had trouble relating to. <br />I am just about to rewrite my second volume of memoirs, the years after 20. I am sure many will think I am a mighty strange woman who read that, so that possibility finally caused me to keep my expectations low. Self publishing might get my memoirs out there, but just because I am different I doubt I will have a best seller. <br />The challenge is to have an interesting life anyway, with many books to read, good discussions with talented book readers, and so on. My family provides me with the best ones. We can always challenge each other. <br />I have written many volumes of letters alone and still do write them. I love a discussion and have started many. I started a policy years ago of taking my kids with me to the library and getting them into the habit of reading books. <br />I just do not think you can write books if you don't read them. <br />"Eleanor and Franklin" is the current book of history I am reading by Joseph Lash. I will start on a Pulitzer prize bio of DuBois after I finish it, also called Biography of a Race by Lewis. What is the last book you read of note and what are you reading now?Gerryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00771917880182186281noreply@blogger.com