A writer friend in California who subscribes to The New York Times, kindly sent me a long article under the title: "Bright Passage In Book Publishing:  Authors Who Pay Their Own Way."    I want to share some of the article's wisdom in my next few blogs for those of you who are not in contact (in print or electronically )with the N.Y.T:

First, the opening sentence:  "The point may soon come when there are more people who want to write books than there are people who want to read them…."

My workshop attendees are cases in point.  People attend who have never sent an article, essay or poem out to a magazine or newspaper seeking publication, but they bring the opening chapter or just the title and spoken information about the book they are writing.  My regular advice (born of LONG experience) in my workshops is telling attendees to look into their own lives, their professions, their personal experiences for short pieces.  These may later be incorporated into their book if the  book is a Memoir.  Polish these and send them to editors.  This does two important things:  Practice in writing and CREDITS!! Do not give up on your plan for a book, but gain credits and a little money you can set aside to self-publish that  book.

Tomorrow I will enter here statistics cited by the NYT author about the BUSINESS business of  self-publishing and some of its pros and cons.

Until then, Willma