[stylist] a different take on archaeology

[Applebutter Hill]

Hi Chris,
I would like to take you up on your offer, but the NFB doesn't have a local
chapter in our area. I would, if it works for you, however, donate $5 to the
Lehigh Valley chapter of the NFB of Pa., which is where I grew up. And, I
promise not to share your book. Let me know how this sounds to you. I'm sure
I can make the donation in such a way as to get an email receipt which I can
forward to you.
Donna

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Chris Kuell
Sent: Monday, May 05, 2014 10:37 AM
To: Writer's Division Mailing List
Subject: Re: [stylist] a different take on archaeology

I'll address several comments below.

Vejas - Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed my story. At 5,600 words, it's much too
long for Slate and Style.

Bridgit - Thank you so much for taking the time and energy to read and
critique my story. I agree with your comments 100%. John worked for what I
needed in the story, but he is rather two dimensional, and it wouldn't be
hard to add a little complexity to his character. While I enjoy reading
praise and kind words about my writing, I really appreciate the types of
helpful comments you gave me, which will help me to become a better writer.
All great writers are great because they have good critical readers.

Donna - There are several reasons why I haven't taken the path of
self-publishing. The primary one is that there is still a stigma about
self-published books, and this stigma is actually well earned. Yes, there
have been some excellent self-published books in the past, but 98% of them
are still pretty bad. As a result, the public is very reluctant to purchase
them. Again, sure, a handful of writers have made excellent money
self-publishing their work. But only 1 in a hundred sells more than 500
books, and one in a thousand sells more than 2000 books. And according to an
article I read a few years ago, almost all published books sell at least 2
thousand copies. The reason is that the publishing house is invested in your
book, and even though they can't publicize it like they once did, they still
want to help you sell books. And I'm the kind of guy who needs that help,
because I'd pretty much rather get a root canal than try to sell somebody
something. I just can't bare the thought of me standing on a corner with a
book in one hand and a gun in the other, shouting "Buy my book or I'll shoot
this dog!"
Because I actually like dogs.

Plus, theoretically I could publish for free, but not realistically. I'd
need to hire someone to do the cover art, and hire someone else to do the
formatting, and another person to do the copy editing. I'd spend weeks and
months trying to get people to buy my book, and I'd be lucky if I broke
even.

If you're really interested in reading one of my novels, we can work out a
deal. If you'll donate $2 to your local NFB chapter, and promise not to
share it, I'll send you the novel as a word doc. In the meantime, I'll keep
querying.

chris





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