Since Summer Still Sells

Summer has to think this Kindle thing is good. Look, a couple more of her books are up at Amazon again. Good! Yay! Bring them all on!

Kate isn't selling at the moment, and she is aiming at NYC. That market is getting scarier by the minute, so she's terrified by the Kindle thing. Eeeiiii, says Kate. Yet another reason for them to say no to me. There're always more reasons to say no! So many changes and a general shaking up and publishers scurrying around in fear. They'd want to avoid printing more books by mid-listers.

This is when I'm glad I'm two different people in the writing world. I only wish I was real enough to be marching--not scurrying--with the giant rat.

I hope Eddie, a stagehand striker in NYC, doesn't mind if I use his rat photo.

But listen, this important: Did you know there is some guy who rents rats? Yes, a man makes his living renting out inflatable rats to striking workers. The rat represents management, see. (Mike was appalled. I guess he is horrified by the fact that there're enough strikers at any given time to support a rat rental man. Or maybe he thinks the rat is inflammatory? Or maybe he doesn't like giant rats?)

I love it. I can't decide if that rat makes me proud or prouder to be an American.

Not my fault. I blame my mother--my wobbly roots are showing.

Comments

  1. Anonymous10:17 AM

    I have to say, I get a thrill out of spotting the rat. Outside a hotel, outside an apartment building - the rat is all over Manhattan. He's huge. And ugly. And it draws a LOT of attention to management of whatever building the rat is menacing at the moment. It's such a NYC thing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Suisan11:51 AM

    This is where politics gets weird.

    When I was shopping for political yard signs a few years ago, surfing the net and comparing prices, I discovered that there's a big business in parade candy.

    Yeah. Like Tootsie rolls and hard suckers candies candidates throw out of floats in parades. Or leave in bowls during voter registration sign ups.

    Who needs to buy CANDY from a political publications website? You can't just go down to Walmart and grab a few bags? OK, so maybe you want your name ON the candy wrapper. Uh huh. Isn't this what volunteers were made for? ("Edna, can you print up four million pages of this logo? Doris, can you cut them into squares. Louise, can you organize a candy wrapping party for next Thursday night? We'll need to address some envelopes too.")

    So I'm thinking that the same folks who send out their envelopes for hand addressing and order preprinted candy are also designing and renting inflatable rats.

    Laaaazzzzy.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Linda Winfree5:58 PM

    Um, should I say I saw the pic and immediately thought . . . REVEALING SKILLS!

    That's one big rat.

    I'm so out of the NY print market loop . . . there's a general shaking up? Where have I been? Oh, yeah. Grad school. It warps reality.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Corn Dog11:48 PM

    There's a cycling club out here called East Bay rats. I see them on the interstate in their leather jackets looking tough and mean. One of them was in the grocery yesterday. I walked up and introduced myself. Nice fellow. They have a club house on San Pablo. He said to stop by for the fights one night. They sell T shirts that I really like way too much with rats heads on them.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Carolyn Crane3:16 PM

    This is a really interesting post--I love that rat; I didn't know about it. Who would cross that rat? Also, this business with Kindle, I hadn't put it together like that. Yikes!

    ReplyDelete

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