Now that the first press release is out I'm working on my targeted list which a good friend advised me to work up. These are mostly the folks you have some connection with and who have real reason to respond. A major part of the list for us here are the bookstores on the Delmarva Pensinsula since we are now in beach season big time and our books make great beach books.
But I have a subset in my targeted list. This list includes the hopeless people whom I wish to annoy like a bug. On the list are such folks as the New York Times, Washington Post, Kirkus, Booklist and the like. You know the places. Self published people or people who don't write "literature" need not apply.
Which brings me to a story. Bear with me here. It is related.
When we built our home in St. Lucia we built it with trucked water. It was about $100 per thousand gallons. It was the only way to get the house built since there were no water mains at the time. It began to hurt though when we had happy tourists in the house. So, we applied for mains water. We were ignored but they did say that if we got mains, they would hook us up.
Enter our attorney, Tyrone Chong. He has twinkling eyes and a great smile but gravely proclaimed what came to be known as The Chong Principle. It runs, "You may have mains water but there will be no water in the mains."
True oriental wisdom but we set about getting mains anyway. We paid for them ourselves. Then we found they wouldn't hook us up. But they had made a mistake since they had sent me a letter saying they would hook us up. I was counseled to be careful. They might take umbrage and decline to do anything. My attitude was, "What are they going to do? Give us no water? They already do THAT!" So, being an American I threatened to sue them individually and severally if they did not hook us up. Panic ensued because in St. Lucia nobody ever behaved like an American. That is, sue. We were immediately hooked up and the Chong Principle was then verified. There was no water in the mains.
In later years water began to come but not to our house. It appeared that the water authority had lost their maps of the valves. Fortunately, I had happened to come upon a set and hidden them away. We adjusted the valves.
So what does this have to do with the publishing industry? I'm just going to say what I think. I'm going to be annoying and keep nudging the mighty. I have developed the Burt Corollary to the Chong Principle. We may produce good books and they may assiduously try to ignore us especially since we are self published but that shouldn't stop us from bugging them and being annoying. What are they going to do? Not give us a review? They already do THAT!
But I have a subset in my targeted list. This list includes the hopeless people whom I wish to annoy like a bug. On the list are such folks as the New York Times, Washington Post, Kirkus, Booklist and the like. You know the places. Self published people or people who don't write "literature" need not apply.
Which brings me to a story. Bear with me here. It is related.
When we built our home in St. Lucia we built it with trucked water. It was about $100 per thousand gallons. It was the only way to get the house built since there were no water mains at the time. It began to hurt though when we had happy tourists in the house. So, we applied for mains water. We were ignored but they did say that if we got mains, they would hook us up.
Enter our attorney, Tyrone Chong. He has twinkling eyes and a great smile but gravely proclaimed what came to be known as The Chong Principle. It runs, "You may have mains water but there will be no water in the mains."
True oriental wisdom but we set about getting mains anyway. We paid for them ourselves. Then we found they wouldn't hook us up. But they had made a mistake since they had sent me a letter saying they would hook us up. I was counseled to be careful. They might take umbrage and decline to do anything. My attitude was, "What are they going to do? Give us no water? They already do THAT!" So, being an American I threatened to sue them individually and severally if they did not hook us up. Panic ensued because in St. Lucia nobody ever behaved like an American. That is, sue. We were immediately hooked up and the Chong Principle was then verified. There was no water in the mains.
In later years water began to come but not to our house. It appeared that the water authority had lost their maps of the valves. Fortunately, I had happened to come upon a set and hidden them away. We adjusted the valves.
So what does this have to do with the publishing industry? I'm just going to say what I think. I'm going to be annoying and keep nudging the mighty. I have developed the Burt Corollary to the Chong Principle. We may produce good books and they may assiduously try to ignore us especially since we are self published but that shouldn't stop us from bugging them and being annoying. What are they going to do? Not give us a review? They already do THAT!
posted by Roger | 8:52 AM
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