The excitement of having (finally) published a book yesterday for the first time since the mid-1980s hasn't really worn off, but I'm also cognizant that unless I make a determined effort to market 30 Startups to Know Now, it won't have much chance of reaching a wide audience.
The book is available on the Kindle, but for it to do well on Amazon, I'll have to somehow attract reviews.
They can be short -- just a few lines, but apparently reviews drive sales at Amazon, or so I am told.
If anyone reading these words is so moved, please do review the book at Amazon. (Just say whatever you think.)
At the Hyperink site, where the book is much cheaper than at Amazon, a bunch of the chapters are available for free, I believe, so one could get a pretty good sense of the book without actually buying it.
Will I make money when books are purchased?
Yes, about 25 percent of the purchase price.
***
The real excitement for me is to get over the barrier to publishing books again. I had so many disappointing experiences with the traditional publishing industry over the years, part of me thought I would never have another volume published in any format.
But these past six years, blogging thousands of posts and millions of words, I've finally found my way to the new publishing model. And now I'm here, I want to stay here.
Rivers and rivers of words issue from me, almost like a runaway waterfall. Can waterfalls run?
I'm filled with words and they gush out at random moments, always seeking readers, always seeking connection.
If there is any meaning to my writing life, it is the desire to employ words in a manner than brings people together.
I'm not interested in divisive writing. In that context, this current political climate holds no interest for me. All of those who cling to absurd political theories, such as Obama is a traitor or the Tea Party is fascist need to get a life.
They are all wrong, utterly wrong, and they all live in echo-chambers of their own making.
In the name of the book with the right title, they live in The Filter Bubble.
Get it, read it, understand it, and stop listening to the talking head in your mirror.
***
No, I am not attracted by extremes, but by how we can help each other forge a consensus and make a better society based not on rhetoric but on connection and true empathy for one another.
So, why don't we try an experiment?
What is it like to be you?
What is it like to be me.
I cannot answer for you, but I can interview you and tell your story to the world. That is what my latest book is all about -- telling the stories of various entrepreneurs, many of whom are idealistic young Americans hoping to do well and also make a difference.
They are universally smart, so they understand that global climate change is not a theory but a reality, and that man-made factors are the cause.
Therefore, many of their companies not only seek to make money but to reduce our collective carbon footprint, so that our grandchildren might inherit a livable planet.
Is that too much for our grandchildren to ask of us?
A livable planet?
The ignorance that courses through the political debate in this country, on the right, appalls me. Science is unwelcome. Facts are unwelcome. Demonizing those with different ideas and beliefs is the only glue that holds that unfortunate faction together.
I have not read one single informative article by any conservative for the past few years that taught me anything whatsoever, with the notable exception of David Brooks.
And I seek out conservative opinions every day, because I am a journalist, not a partisan. Sometimes, it feels like nobody out there appreciates the difference...
***
Enough of stinky politics. It all makes me feel sick.
My audit continues, and hopefully concludes tomorrow. The four-month gouge out of this year may be about to come to an end, as it finally did also in 2010. I hope to prevail and to never again see these auditors on my doorstep.
Of course I am incapable of not being polite, or of refusing to welcome them into my home. They are just people doing a job. Mostly young people, probably with college debt and grateful to have work, even if it is of an invasive nature, unfair, and missing the point that people like me shouldn't be audited until all of our billionaires have been subjected to much closer scrutiny than they almost never are.
***
Words. Words. Words are nothing until crafted in stories. Stories last after the story-teller has perished. My quest is to tell stories until the day I die.
-30-
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