A Writer's Responsibilty

If we writers don't do everything we can to insure the success of all of us amongst the more popular forms of entertainment and information media, our progeny may be left with nothing but alternatives like video games and infomercials.

This thought came to me while speaking with a fellow author about the upcoming December 4th Author's Fair. It took us both a moment to recognize it's profundity. Now that this truth plagues my conscience, I'm forced to encourage all my fellow scribes to dedicate yourselves as much as you can to market our works. I know we all have lives to lead outside of our work. Yet, there are many simple ways in which we came promote ourselves for the sake of literature's future.

I'm not trying to sell anything here. I'm only trying to prolong the life of my passion. I will not deny that many authors probably know more about marketing than myself. I only want to encourage. I am available to give advice, but I do not assume that any of you need it. It is here for the asking, just the same.

So far, there are 15 authors who have registered with me to participate in the above mentioned fair. Jeff Wavruneck, the Adult Services Coordinator and The Collinsville Memorial Library Center informed me that he has nearly a dozen others. I have spoken with the district manager of Domino's Pizza about blanketing the towns of Edwardsville, Collinsville, Maryville and Troy, Illinois with fliers advertising the event on top of pizza boxes. I will also see to it that additional fliers will be distributed throughout the community. Jeff has informed me that the library will be posting posters all over town to promote this event as well.

I feel we each should do what we can to promote our futures and the future of our business. It really is our business. Without authors, publishers have no purpose right?

The upcoming Authors Fair will be my first time meeting any of you and I would like for it to be a very successful one for all of us. We want to sell books, make new friends and fans, and maybe even learn a little from one another. I wish to encourage all of you to expend whatever energies and resources at your disposal to make this event, and any others, great. Besides, a writer's ability to market themselves is a major determining factor in the amount of advances and royalties we are paid.

I don't know about the rest of you, but writing is not my job. It is who, and what, I am. I love what I do because I must do it. I might as well make a good living from it. I want the same for all of us and I believe I'm backing that up.

Always real;
Supaman Tion Terrell