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Back to the Forum Archives As a writer publisher I maintain membership in two publisher organizations. One is called The Publisher's Marketing Association (PMA). That pretty much summarizes the purpose. It is an association, based in California (Wouldn't You?) Which focuses on the issues of marketing our products, books. The association puts out a monthly newsletter which I feel compelled to read. In a recent issue of the newsletter (December 2002) I found and article entitled Writing for the Web by Robin Quinn. To be sure, a website is one essential part of any modern marketing effort, be it books or bikinis. As many of these things are, the essay was written in the form and subtitled, 10 Guidelines for Strengthening Your Site's Copy. Why ten? Why not nine or eleven? I hate that style, it seems so contrived, but I read it anyway. While reading the article, I came upon a real gestalt for me in the phrase "Much of the text that's on Web sites today is not serving the mission or audience of the sites very well." For me, one word leapt out and slammed me in the face. That word, mission! Further on there was a point on finding the site's voice and making sure it serves the mission. There was that word again. I had to face it. I don't like the word mission. I'm a writer cum publisher, not a secret agent. Mission just sounds too messianic for me. I admit I'm trying to save the world, but so is every other writer worth his salt. If he is not, why is he writing? It cannot be for money. Most writers have real day jobs because writing does not pay the rent. There are much easier ways to make money. As to mission, I prefer the word purpose. Goal does not quite get it because it implies an end. Purpose is, as it were, more open ended. Still, the questions remain, questions I have heretofore ignored. What is the real purpose of Wesoomi Publishing? What is the real purpose of my website? Those are legitimate questions. The time has long since passed where I can pretend that my purpose is to sell books and make money. That was my delusion when I wrote and published my first book, The Wesoomi Gardening Journal in 1996. I still clung to the notion when I wrote and published my second book, The Gaffer's Shorts. Being very bullheaded, I even maintained that attitude through three more books, all of them, in my mind, excellent. Now, I am working on my eighth book, The PC User's Guide. Using my own personal funds, about $60,000, I have maintained Wesoomi Publishing since 1996. Being retired I have also invested pretty much all of my time in this business. I put in more hours per week, about 60, for this than I ever did for any employer, about 40. Now, that is bullheaded. For sure, it is time to ask the question, what the heck am I doing? Since it is clear that I am not writing to make money, why do I continue? More formally, what is the purpose of Wesoomi Publishing? I believe if I answer that question, I will have answered the question, what is the purpose of my website? In fact, I believe when I examine the text of my website, the answer will be contained in that text. Whatever my purpose is, I have consciously or unconsciously embodied it in my writing. In the worst case, I may have to rearrange my site to make it more clear. Before I address that, however, I must face the obvious incongruity. If my books are as excellent as I claim, why have I not succeeded? In my soul searching I did not have to dig too deep to discover the reason for that. The short answer is, I am not good at marketing. In fact, I am a complete fraud in that department. I have membership in two organizations devoted to marketing, but I do not believe in it. Each month, I read the articles and advice of people who have succeeded at this and I know in my heart I will never do that. I will never be able to do the things these people do. I am totally incapable of being a huckster. The concept is completely alien to me. Because of that, I'll never get Wesoomi Publishing off the ground. My excellent books will never sell. I'll sell a few through my website and a few through Amazon and that's all. Actually, I lose money on the books I sell through Amazon, but it gets a few of them out there. Many folks want to fault Amazon's Bezo for being a mean guy. Perhaps so, but I find he is one of the few honest people in this industry. He does not lie to anyone that I know of. There is no duplicity in what he does, just hard-headed mean-spirited take-it-or-leave-it business. To be sure, there is another reason my books will probably never sell big time. That is, I will not play the games of the power brokers in the publishing industry. I will not give up control of my products or my business. I tried it on my second book and it did not work. What I encountered from two different organizations was either incompetence or dishonesty. I don't know which and it does not matter. The effect on me was the same. It put me at the edge of bankruptcy. That encounter with The Jenkins Group and Partners Distributors left an evil taste in my mouth that will last forever. Trusting those two caused me to make one of the biggest and dumbest mistakes of my life. Jenkins Group promised to review my second book. They did not. Partners made me believe they would get my books into book stores. They did not. Before I realized that, I had invested all of my resources into 6000 copies of that book. I still have most of them. I survived that debacle, but I will sure never be foolish enough to believe or trust the power players again. Now, I am faced with the problem of what to do with 6000 books.
They are taking up a great deal of space in my garage and not
bringing me any income. I really need that space for my new products.
It is the proverbial rock and hard place. After some agonizing
thought, I have decided to destroy them. To be sure, destroying
my own books is a bit like killing my own babies, still it seems
better than the alternative. Putting them into the end lots bins
would be very much like selling my babies into slavery. No thank
you! This is not about Sunday school or any religious philosophy. It is about citizenship and ethics. With so many examples of dishonesty, duplicity, and down right evil operating in our culture, I want to be a tiny voice against that. I agree, it sounds pompous and sophomoric, but that's it. That's the whole thing. When I look at what I have written, that is my whole theme. Good behavior, citizenship, and ethics. To be sure, the best way to get an audience is to be helpful and/or entertaining. I suspect, if there is one deficiency in my website, that will be the place to find it. I am convinced that my books are both, but my website may be too focused on my theme. I will look very carefully at that in the next few days. That is a delicate balance for a site whose product is intellectual. We do not want to be entertaining in the sense that we attract the arcade minded web surfers. What we want to attract is thoughtful people. Now, there are other reasons for writing which must be included. I also write because the contingencies of reenforcement are generally positive. It makes me feel good just to write and the reviews of my recent books have been very positive. If I sold books, that would make me feel good too, but that could be a trap. I could end up writing for the wrong reasons. From there, it is only a small step to doing the wrong things
for the wrong reasons. For sure, I don't want to get into that
box. That is a very slippery slope. When you start to get rewarded
for doing something which you enjoy doing it is very easy to
try to satisfy the people who are rewarding you instead of satisfying
your sense of ethics. There is also the danger of becoming a
wealth and power monger. Our culture already has a surfeit of
that type. If I ever come to that, I must have firmly in mind
what my real purpose is. In the meantime, I will continue to create books and publish them. They will be for and about many things, but the basic theme will remain citizenship and ethics. My motto will remain also, thoughtful titles by and for thoughtful people. Who knows what will happen. I don't believe in magic, but, just as Ben Franklin did, I do believe in hard work. WES:
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