Reading, Writing, & the Joys of Literacy

SUMMARY: Before television, the evolution of the computer, followed by the internet, reading was once was at the cornerstone of imaginary escapism to the point where, say, bout a hundred years ago people were carrying books around almost at the same capacity as they carry cellphones today. A pasttime that many now take for granted in modern times, this still cherished life skill and ability will always have it's audience and contributors from all walks of life.




Where It All Begins

         The ability to read and write is a wonderful thing that we sometimes take for granted. Most children usually learn to read and write in kindergarten or pre-school, as the teacher or school librarian gleefully reads picture-filled books to them that's contains colorful pictures from mostly the children's adventure (The Indian in the Cupboard) or fantasy genres (The Nutcracker). Or popular books such as The Three Little Bears, The Three Little Pigs, and Charlotte's Web. Or books from "The Cat and the Hat" and the "Curious George" series. Then there's always the massive Disney book catalog (which now includes the Marvel Superheroes), which all features decades-old characters that today's adults have grown to love, cherish and introduce to their children.


The Joy of Reading

         It seems like after our first five years, some of us start to ween away from reading as our interests toward television, video games, internet, hanging with friends and other activities take front and center. It's sad to say that most children treat reading like a typical skill they develop and once they've mastered it, just move completely on to developing the next skill set. That's why it is important for elementary schools to have the reading programs that they have. Not just for those that need it, but for those who are naturally interested. Reading to yourself, or (especially) to a class can quickly become tiring, and (from what I've observed over the years) can even be embarassing for some if they're called out to read. Some of you may remember how certain classmates of yours use to act when the teacher called on them to read out loud to the rest of the class. Most people (not including the ill-literate for obvious reasons) don't have the patience to actually sit through and read a full-length book from cover to cover. The first thing the average person will say is "I don't have time". Some non-readers will be flat out honest and express their disinterest and say "What do I look like reading a book,?" I, personally, don't think that the reason most people don't read is because they don't have time as we tend to make time for the things we're determined to do within our on spare time comfort zones. The reason people hate to read and often find other things to do with their time is because they don't have the discipline and patience to sit through a book and read it from page to page til' they get to the end, unless it's an advent reader. Your lucky if they can make it through an entire chapter as they bore easily if there's not enough action or intrigue going on. It's almost like giving a five year-old a book to read with no illustration in it. Where (and how) they're sitting, and the type of environment they're in will also be a big factor as to whether or not they enjoy the book. Movies were designed to take it's audiences into a world of escapism for a couple of hours. With a good and exciting book, you can keep coming back each and everyday for about an hour, or a chapter a day, and get caught up in the same universe of characters, in slightly alterating senarios as you proceed from chapter to chapter.


Fiction: (A Dying Breed?)

         It seems like the only books that people are willing to read now are self-help books, as no one has time to pick-up a good mystery novel anymore. Outside of those genres, people aren't as disciplined with reading as they were... say a hundred years ago before TV was invented. When radio broadcasting was invented (way before the invention of the television), there were radio serial programs that didn't have pictures, allowing audiences to listen to the dialogue while their imagination painted a mental image. We'd rather wait for a book to become a movie so we can watch it in two hours and be done with it, so we can get on with our busy lives. The books that are the rage now are: young adult (YA) romance novels; non-fiction; self-help/inspirational books; memoirs from celebrities; trashy tell-all's; and unofficial celebrity biographies from bottom-scrapping, bandwagon-jumping journalists. And, I guess the good lord's book (the oldest book on earth) will never go out of style as you find people from all religions with their nose deep in the book that represents their religion/spirituality. If it is fiction, it's gotta be: well-known authors in the league of: (Grisham; Clancy; J.K. Rawlings; Stephen King; Dean Koontz; Danielle Steele; etc.), or i'ther a romance novel, a children's book, or something that appeals to the Harry Potter/Twilight/Hunger Games crowd. And even if the book centers around a male protagonist, it must have (if not a strong) a fully developed and relatable lead female character to entice the female reading public.

         Woman are the driving force behind the sales of fiction books (probably averaging around 80% of fiction readers overall). The demand for fiction has shrunk over the past few decades, and so has the demand for publishers to except fiction manuscripts for review as they are also well aware of the decline. Are fiction books a dying breed?... The answer is no. As one of the original outlets of imaginary escapism, traditional paperback will never become totally obsolete. But it's a constant struggle among all the tens of thousands of writer's out there with similar ideas. And there's only so much room at the top as agents and publishers only look for exceptional material "the cream of the crop."


The Risky Days of Co-Signment

         At one point, mostly during the 1990s, most fiction writers (especially first timers and virtual unknowns that could afford it) who couldn't get a break, went the independent businessman/woman route and became "co-signment authors". These authors have more freedom as they don't have to meet the submission restrictions of the dozens of literary agents (most of which'll probably reject them anyway) in the industry. But on the flipside, when they take their book to a publishing press to have it printed up, they have to deal with:

#1. Finacing the overall cost of the book which includes: (front/back book cover illustration; proof-reading, (if applicable); the number of pages being printed, and the overall amount of hours spend each day designing your book),

#2. Making a batch copies from the original prototype to start with, the batch could sometimes be a couple of hundred to several thousand copies, depending on the individual's money flow and resources,

#3. The cost of promoting their book, as well as pitching their product to bookstores themselves with the hopes of it selling. The book stores charge a percentage for the use of their establishment to sell your product, and more than likely they'll want flexibility on adjusting (probably lowering) the price, if the book is a mediocre seller, or all-out dud.

         During these times, many commercial book publishers had varying limits as to how many copies that a co-signment author had to sell independently before they extend an offer. Many would say 10,000 to 15,000 copies, give or take a few digits. The publisher wants to have a sense of confidence about their investment, and feel good about the book being a winner. Let's say a renown book company gave you a $25,000 advance to re-publish and re-release your book under they're imprint after selling 10,000 copies as a co-signment author. You sold 10,000 copies which is multiplied by however much you received per copy at each book store after taxes, discounts, promotion, sales, etc. After all of these deductions, let's say you averaged roughly $8 per book, which adds up to roughly $80,000. I'm sure they also pay attention to how long it took for the book to turn in a profit, but your hard work would've have finally paid off after all the months and thousands spend. At that point both, the large book companies and the agents would've been blowing your phone up because everyone wants to be a part of something successful, then you can choose and be selective (maybe even re-negotiate your advancement payout) about who you ultimately go with not the other way around.

         On the other hand, there's no sure guarantees in striking it big as a writer, and a lot of writers had to take out small business loans to support their co-signment author career, and ruined themselves big-time if their book flopped. Nowadays, you just:

#1. Go on-line, create an account and get a website with a reputable webhost.

#2. Find a few good writing sites to showcase your talent on and network with other writers.

#3. Continue to build your audience and promote your name on social media kings Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn, connect your articles from your writing sites to your website.

#4. While your promoting your brand and building your on-line presence, also start working on your actual novel. By the time you're ready to publish it, you should have a nice little following.

         Writer's still use the co-signment option (I assume), and I assume that there are still bookstores who cater to co-signment authors. But this happens very rarely now as a little phenomenon called the internet has outdated this option completely, and took a lot of power away from the once finicky publishers and cocky literary agents as any/everyone can now publish their work (my... how the mighty have fallen). The only people who probably still use this option is celebrities and celebrity writers who probably don't have a lot of faith in the publishing houses and independently fund and promote the book themselves, because I just can't see a young, struggling, unknown writer who even can't pay his/her rent taking out a loan to become a co-signment author at this late date.


Good Writer/Bad Writer

         Most people like to consider themselves as good observers, but no one sees scenarios unfolding quite the way a writer does as their inspiration for characters or stories can come from anywhere or anyone. A good writer should never be too judgmental and should always investigate all facts before calling something a spade that isn't. Although it's true that certain individuals or situations may inspire us as writers, you should never be exploitive or purposely target someone that you perceive as an enemy. Because if your book or article ever makes it big and perhaps they're (your unsuspecting literary muse) isn't not a big reader, but say they haven't seen you in several years and all of a sudden they see you giving interviews on TV, or in publications, talking about a certain noteworthy character in the book that's reminiscent of themselves, so they start following your work. And after seeing or hearing buzz from different outlets, they decide to go into an actual book store (instead of downloading experts on-line) to skim through your book and decides that this "character" is indeed them. This can be a possible lawsuit if they're able to prove it. And if they were portrayed as a villain or an ill-fated character, or just generally unhappy with their portrayal, that'll only add to their dismay as they rattle off to the judge (and their social media audience) about how betrayed they now feel by you. Sometimes controversy sells, sometimes it doesn't. And by you still being new on the scene, all your good buzz may soon fizzle because no publisher or agent wants these type of problems, especially from a new, unproven writer. Fiction writers have been known throughout history for (at best) loosely basing certain characters on people that they once knew (especially those who left an everlasting bad impression).

EXAMPLE: (Wes Craven based his fictional serial-killing/child molesting, horror movie supervillain Freddy Kruger on a disfigured homeless man who scared him when he was eleven years old, a high school bully who tortured him as a teenager, and a 1970s pop song named "Dream Weaver" by Gary Wright).

         Not to make excuses, but writers are only human too, and have human feelings and desires like anyone else (including the desire to get even depending on each writer's own moral compass) and does this as a so-called healthy way of working out grief and getting pain lifted off their chest. But always keep in mind that a real writer don't have to depend on using the personalities of fair-weathered former friends, or unsavory people to make their book exciting. They should be able to create from scratch. But if you do decide to do this, at least change names around. Let Anthony Powers become Andy Powell or Andy Pope, and Suzy Love become Lucy Darling. Change certain events and other people's names around, if it's several people involved, play musical chairs with their personalities. Also change the timeline in which things happened to the point where they'll have a hard time (at best) gathering witnesses against you. BE CAREFUL WHEN YOU DO THIS PEOPLE! Despite that, I loved "A Nightmare on Elm Street 3, 4", "Wes Craven's New Nightmare", and naturally the 1984 original was classic (lol).


The Joy of Writing

         Take it from me, writing a book (fiction or non) is a wonderful accomplishment and feel-good experience. It's a task that many people have tried but don't have the patience or dedication to accomplish. Everyone who likes to write or doodle away on paper isn't necessarily a writer. It takes imagination, creativity, and the proper use of grammar and punctuations to succeed as a writer. Any writer (even half way decent one) does constant research on his/her topic, as well as continuously proof reads their story over and over again to look for any grammatical or punctuation errors. And to make sure that the entire article is perfected, because they care about the quality of their work and want it to be as polished as a crisp, new hubcap when the their fans and book critics read it. They need to make sure that they're not using the same words or phrases too many times in one sentence or paragraph, so it won't become too redundant. It's nice to always have a thesaurus or dictionary on hand to find other words to use with similar meaning. www.thesaurus.com is a great resource. There's also an on-line dictionary and encyclopedia linked to this site. All of this may be time consuming and sometimes even a little tiring as all good things take time to build, but it'll be worth the hard work and long nights. You'll be surprised at how your mind will open up to things you were uninformed about as your knowledge grows from all the research you do, and hopefully you can attribute this knowledge to other aspects of your life too, in a positive way.

         As you create characters as a writer, you get to explore a much wider range of personalities than an actor does, who's only entitled to study the personality of his/her own character. Depending on the characters (especially if you've create a heroic or self-confident one) it can even help boost low self-esteem in areas that you've struggled with for years as your own (not your writer) self. It's okay to let your own work inspire you, to a degree, but to keep from becoming a life-imitates-art victim of your own work, only allow the positive aspects to influence your self-confidence. Not only can a writer find self-inspiration in their own research, but if there's a moralistic payoff, their work can have the potential to inspire tens, hundreds of thousands, or maybe even millions of followers and admirers as you become the next household name in the literary world, crossing over into many different walks of life, (even into all those negative non-readers who once doubted you).

         For aspiring novelists, I strongly recommend going to the library to look for "How to Write and Sell your First Novel" from freelance writer Frances Spatz Leighton and literary agent Oscar Collier, published by July 15, 1997. Even though the book's marketing and selling techniques are a little outdated now, the first half still offers excellent timeless advice on preparing to tackle the pros and cons of successofully writing your first novel to your own taste and style, as well as helping to shape, mold, and find your voice as a quality writer. My recommendation is supported by an armfull of satisfied consumer reviews that you can read (as well as buying a hardcopy of the book itself) at http://www.amazon.com/Write-Sell-Your-First-Novel/dp/0898797705.