I just got done with a long discussion with a young person on Facebook in a writing group. They were claiming that writing is automatically against any young writer. Why? Because they weren’t instantly successful with their very first book with absolutely no effort on their part. Therefore, it’s all a conspiracy!
It’s really sad that I have to explain this stuff, but I do.
I was at Orcoexpo yesterday and beyond having a lot of fun and spending way too much money, I got to talk to some of my dealer friends that I haven’t seen for a while. As I was poking through their boxes, there was a guy sitting next to me who said he only collects used stamps and saw that I was only pulling mint.
So we talked about it.
This tends to confuse a lot of people, especially beginners so let me give you a couple of pointers on producing a book that will possibly sell, since there are no guarantees. None of these steps are easy or quick. Prepare yourself for that. If you actually want to sell a book, instead of just stroking your own ego, strap in for the long haul because that’s what it’s going to take.
I know I’ve said it before, but then, you watch a video and it becomes obvious once again. I happened to catch a video on YouTube today. It was a nice video about going to a woodworking show, so I figured, why not?
Then, I figured out why not. See you below the line.
This showed up on my Facebook feed today, some idiot whining that editors were contacting her, but she was poor and she didn’t want to be bothered and people need to respect her financial situation because she can’t afford to do anything!
Yes, nobody should contact you out of the blue without your consent, I agree there. Those tend to be scams. However, the idea that you shouldn’t actually have to do anything because you’re “poor” is stupid. So let’s talk about it a bit.
I’m coming to the conclusion that stamp collecting will never appeal to most young people. I keep running into this time and time again. They can’t imagine doing anything that isn’t all about money.
That’s not philately. Never has been and never will be. That’s why the young are largely not going to be interested because collecting isn’t about money, it’s about enjoyment.
It doesn’t.
Last weekend, I went over to a local friend’s place to drop some stuff off. “Local” is kind of a misnomer since he lives about 80 miles away, but I was happy to make the drive. He’s got a YouTube woodworking channel, which I admit, I used to watch a lot of, but of late, I’ve really fallen off. Why? That’s coming up in a second.
I had another discussion lately with a prospective writer who claimed they couldn’t come up with anything to write about. I don’t see how that is possible. Open your eyes! There are ideas everywhere! It is literally impossible to have no ideas if you are even remotely competent.
So here’s how I come up with ideas. Keep in mind, I have 40+ books I already know I’m writing in the future. This honestly isn’t that hard.
I just saw a random video on YouTube, from a guy named Brandon McNulty, who had 5 things that he hates about being a writer. I watched it, mostly because I was bored, but I have to say that I honestly don’t have any of those problems. In his comments, lots of people were complaining about the same thing. I can relate to the idea, but not to the actual issue because I just don’t suffer from it. Therefore, I wanted to respond to his list.
