Sunday 4 November 2007

The Real Book


1.

-You should be a writer!
-But...I am a writer...?

-I mean a real writer!
-Is there a thing called a false writer?

-You should publish books!
-Should I?

-Yes, absolutely! Then you would be a real writer.
-Just wait a minute. Do you mean my writing isn’t now for real?

-Well, you can hardly call writing to blogs writing, can you?
-I can.

-Anyway, it isn’t real writing. Only books matter. Only if you’ve published a real book, you’re a real writer. Blogging doesn’t count. Anyone can blog. It’s for amateurs, mainly. Not professional writers.
-Hmmm. Books doesn’t sell very well, not in
Finland anyway. If I’d publish a book, would I get as many readers as I do with my blogs?

-That doesn’t matter. Not the readers nor the sale.
-Only the book matters?

-Yes.
-But if I’d write a book, I wouldn’t have time to write to my blogs!

-That’s my point. Instead you’d be doing something worth while.
-A book.

-Yes.
-That no one would buy. That no one would read.

-Yes.
-Life is weird.

-You are. You lack passion.

2.

-Have you been thinking about that publishing?
-OK, I’ll humour you. I’ll publish a book. A collection of poems.

-Which publisher?
-I’ll publish it myself, there are plenty of that kind of service. You just send your manuscript via net and home comes the book. Would you buy my book?

-Self-publishing is not real publishing. How much?
-How much what?

-Your collection of poems?
-Don’t know. Maybe twenty euros.

-Are they any good?
-You should know, you’ve read them.

-What? Where?
-In my blogs.

-Forget it. You do lack passion.



10 comments:

hpy said...

If you (or anybody else) wanted very badly to be a writer he (or she) wouldn't maybe even blog but just write and write, send the scripts to publishers over the country, then rewrite, rewrite and maybe even auto-publish just for the pleasure to see the book cover.
Please Susu, don't write a book! Continue your blogs.
Have you received spams recently from different publishers?

SusuPetal said...

Or, if you are busy enough, you can both publish and write blogs! It's possible.
No, I haven't received any spams from publishers, only from sales men who want me to buy Viagra...

Peter said...

Publish or not... at least I got a good laugh! However, as you also write in English and Swedish, you are not limited to Finnish readers. Maybe you should publish anyhow (and continue bloggin fo course)? All book readers are not blog readers - and probably vice versa! Enlargen your public!! Whatever; what you write is a real pleasure to read, in any form!

Elegia said...

That was funny and so true! You could write few hundred pages shit and you're the writer, IF you just publish the book. No matter if no one reads it.


What's the point?

Eleanor Vatsa said...

As a blog writer you get much more and much faster feedback from your readers. It's interactive. Books don't bear that comment field dimension. And you are also more true to yourself, I think.

SusuPetal said...

The point, I believe, is that the writing should be fun -at least for me. Is it then writing to blogs or writing a book, Peter. And if the reader gets a laugh, that's even better!

Elegia, that's the bitter truth.
But the point is to satisfy oneself in writing. That is all that matters.

That's why I stick to blogs, Araneida. Readers and their reactions and comments are important, it should be a lie to deny it. I believe every writer wants readers.

Mick said...

Writing. It's a BIG field. F'rinstance, I used to write paragraph-long record reviews for music magazines in California. They were published often and for years. Am I a writer? I used to work for a local music newspaper in my hometown and have had reviews, interviews and columns that were published as long as the paper lived. Am I a writer? I was a working musician for over 20 years and have written hundreds of songs. Am I a writer? I have written short stories, longer stories, prose and poetry. Am I writer? Most of all, I enjoy creating my artwork and, if it's true what they say: a picture is worth 1,000 words. Am I a writer? :)

SusuPetal said...

You write, so you are a writer, Mick. In my opinion.
(and that is what counts in this blog, ha ha)

chrome3d said...

Don´t self-publish any books. You´ll just end up with many heavy cardboardboxes you have to drag a round when you move. Blogs are so much more easier to take with you when you move!

SusuPetal said...

Self-publishing can also be done nowadays differently, you just print one book at a time, when it is ordered/sold. There are several such publishers. No storing. No heavy cardboardboxes.