Writers Do Go To Heaven

One purpose of writing is to put old heads onto young bodies.

Another is just to get information from one brain into another as well as to inspire, share feelings and say things on paper that may not make it into any conversation.

At the heart of it all is the desire to do something you love to do and make money. The two great names at doing this are Charles Dickens and Beatrix Potter. They knew what they were doing and took their work places it had never been before - for PROFIT. We might like to look at their business models.

While involved in the book publishing industry I was privileged to attend BOOK EXPO. The meetings I attended were in the great city of Chicago. The Expo has been in New York for a while now.

At BOOK EXPO, all the publishers, distributors authors and editors are THERE. Print houses from around the globe are there to offer to print your book. The distributors that sell to AMAZON are there.

All books and media are arranged according to topic. In an area about the size of 4 football fields, everyone and their recent work is at hand. There are workshops for writers, distributors and publishers. There are parties and chances to meet and greet EVERYONE.

The same day I met Ray Bradbury I also met Danielle Steele. Ed McMahon was there and then Tom Wolfe topped it off. My PUBLISHER registration got me everywhere, as well as a huge collection of sample books.

These books and the media were the ones being prepared for Christmas sales. That is why the meeting is held in May.

The BEST of what I got was the energy of being in the world of book creation and distribution. Unlike a library, the point here was to publish, contract and sell writing.

Meeting people whose voices were familiar, due to business contacts, and having a bit of time to get to know the people critical to our success was the point of the trip.

Charlton Heston too. Oh yeah, everybody eats breakfast with Charlton Heston.

There was education. Those bargain books at the front of the Barnes and Noble and Borders stores? Remainders. They are bought by the pound, not the title. Pounds of books for pennies.

Writing and publishing is work. Readers are sometimes hard to come by. But there is a writer and publisher heaven and haven – BOOK EXPO.

Now, back to it. Get those words on paper. Tell someone what you've done and how you feel. I just bet you have an audience. © Tim     http://www.timjohnsonphoto.com/