A whopping eleven cents just got deposited into my Paypal from a royalty on a book of mine that just sold. This is in fact the first of this book to be sold, from a wonderful publisher who put out an erotic- themed short story collection of mine over a year ago (you can find the book here; shameless plug). Now, I could be cynical (as is usually my way) and say “Freakin’ 11 cents! How can I make a living from this?” Well, first of all, I don’t make a living from the fiction I sell. I probably never will. This fact doesn’t stop me from writing it (and not just naughty stuff, all kinds of fiction) and won’t stop me. I write other stuff that brings in the daily bread (no, not this blog)…barely brings it in, but there you have it.
Secondly, I am happy for the 11 cents because that means somebody, somewhere, surely not prompted by any current news or postings about this book that is over a year old, bought the book. That’s pretty cool. I mean, I am almost positive it wasn’t a friend or relative who bought the book (my friends and relatives, near/dear and super supportive as they are, always tell me when they buy one of my books) so it had to be somebody ‘out there’ across that great big interweb thingie all the kids are on, who snatched it up.
I’m proud of the book, as I am most of my writing. Even the earlier stuff I tend to read with my chin backed up from the computer screen, gives me a tickle still. As David Sedaris assured Bill Maher, one gets better at this writing thing (hopefully) the more one does it. So, I can’t expect what I penned anout fifteen years ago, when I began publishing books, to hold up as well as what I am putting out now. But I find pleasure in reading how my skills have developed (if they have at all) while holding myself back from rewriting.
I’m not George Lucas about to rewrite history over who shot who first. Ask a Star Wars fan to explain this if you don’t know what I mean).
So, eleven dollars richer I plan on the big splurge for tonight; the medium Coke over the small, the big size of chips over the “Fun Size,” the real good crack over that crap I have been getting downtown when I walk down that urban alley..
Eleven cents. It reminds me of the great “6 Minute” speech from Vision Quest (see here: Vision Quest – ‘6 Minutes’ Speech by Elmo – Bing video). It’s not the actual thing but what it represents.
