My original plan was to set up a business based on the routes for authors now available to writers on the Independent stage. It was hard not to come to that conclusion with the explosion of reputable self publishing companies and the eBook. Ebooks are now beginning to outperform the hardback and are fast closing in on the paperback as well. It certainly has forced the mainstream to stand up and take notice.
Mainstream publishing is a business. Sales at the end of the day, though never guaranteed, are the bottom line. With the amount of people and effort it takes to take a book from start to finish the expense laid out initially by a mainstream publisher makes them have to think that way. It makes good business practice. So, this writer anyway, can understand how a book from someone with a half arsed profile based on celebrity will always take precedent over a first-time nobody.
Booker's World was going to be the start of something for me. That was until my original plan were blown out of the water by those in the employment of the state, who choose what's worth supporting and what's not.
I have to say the refusal by them to help in some way was a bitter blow, but on reflection, should I not have been surprised. In hindsight, the answer is no. It made me think further about all that is wrong with modern day Ireland.
Emigration is now on the cards, and trust me, it is not something I would even contemplate but for the fact that I tried to use my unemployment to do something worthwhile, but in this part of the country all the bodies I sought some assistance from slammed the door in my face. Government departments and educational bodies to name just two. When I was refused the back-to-work enterprise allowance a few months ago, i emailed the Department of Social Welfare five times to see how to go about appealing the decision. No reply!
I have them all, dated and saved and ready for use very soon. See, I think there is something wrong with preaching positivity and togetherness when it comes to addressing Ireland's woes, yet when you do, people are treated with such scant disregard. The past two years have been an eye-opener to me in so many way. I genuinely felt effort in this country would be worth something. To date, it means nothing. There would be nothing wrong with this country if the money at our disposal was used in a competent manner. I think we all know by now, this is not the case. Competence is not a word any rational thinker would use.
As i mentioned before I got 50 copies of the book printed and am having a small launch on April 17 for people who helped me out in its writing and some family and friends. Then it's my intention to re-submit the actual book to some publishers to keep the other work in their slush piles warm. I tried before, but judgement can only be made on what is allowed to be submitted, I'm not sure if seeing it between a jacket will make any difference, but at the moment I feel like a guy in Guantanamo, being held back against my will, so I guess everything is worth a shot.
I'll also be contacting some media outlets who are not in bed with the government in an attempt to highlight the wrongs i perceive in denying people a chance to get themselves out of the hole this damn recession has dug for them. I certainly didn't dig this whole for myself, yet as long as I'm here, I'll be paying for it. And for what... to lie on a hospital trolley or watch corruption being bailed out with no accountability.
I find great encouragement in the words of others from the past. When I want to discover something about a subject which I don't fully understand, away I go for looking for the wisdom of others to keep plugging away. It's an effective way to keep motivated. I've included a few below. People have often posted or wrote stuff that has resonated with me or impacted on my thinking. By quoting them they may do the same for others. Enjoy...
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
Mahatma Gandhi
If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.
Henry David Thoreau
A man can succeed at almost anything for which he has unlimited enthusiasm.
Charles Schwab
To the question whether I am a pessimist or an optimist, I answer that my knowledge is pessimistic, but my willing and hoping are optimistic.
Albert Schweitzer
History has demonstrated that the most notable winners usually encountered heartbreaking obstacles before they triumphed. They won because they refused to become discouraged by their defeats.
Bertie C. Forbes
If you always think what you've always thought, You will always do what you've always done.If you always do what you've always done,You will always get what you've always got.If you always get what you've always got,You will always think what you've always thought.
Unknown
The only way to deal with an un-free world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion. Albert Camus
Enjoy the sunshine folks!
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