Octogenarian Writer

Now and then, and recently more often than not, I’ve been drawing a ________________.
Don’t get worried if that’s your tendency. The ________s are only in finishing issues with my writing projects.
So, it must be time for a break.¹

Some of this was posted nearly six years ago on or about November 28, 2016, when I started using WordPress.

“End of an Era
My www. tincupnomore .com site is no more!

Twenty years ago¹, last summer, I took a document writing job with a company doing international business. My writing supervisor was asked (told?) to develop a company web site. He gave me the assignment. I told him I had no idea how to even get started, and suggested we hire or contract someone who could. He passed my suggestion up the chain. Someone at or near the top hinted that any new hire might be a replacement.

My supervisor and I went to a weekend HTML class at our own expense. At the end of the two-day session, we had a simple page with company name, logo, phone number and address. Our concept was accepted but a budget controller decided any monetary gain wouldn’t offset the purchase and hosting of a domain.

So, I would be practiced when the next request came, I started tincupnomore .com. And the request did come. I used my practice site as a template for the company site.

My personal URL continued through several host merges and served me well. I used it as a template for a church site, posted class assignments for students, and promoted my writing projects. I’ve never had a host for my domains tincupnomore .net, .org, .us, .info, or .biz, but along with the .com, I’ll keep ownership of them for another year or so.”

Irecall the URL cost me about $1.50 and the unposted domains cost about the same each. Hosting, as I remember was about $50 a year.

So, why do I say, “Caramba?”
Just for fun, I did a search for my former domain name. It is advertised for $2,595 from HugeDomains.com. However, I am not associated with the company. I’ve linked it so you don’t have to search for verification of my words.

Caramba!

Perhaps I should have held on to the domains.

Ten years ago my first novel An Odyssey of Illusions was published. I got full rights back two years later and chose to let it go out of print.

I learned many things from the publishing process.

I consider myself a formerly unaware product of thinking I had a publisher when I was just contracted to a printing house. I’m not saying victim because I did not read between the lines when I got an immediate, “We would be happy to publish your book,” response to my query. Excitement and naivety took over immediately.

There were clues and not even in fine print. I could buy author copies for 75% of retail. The publisher said my selling each on my own, would bring me more than the 10% royalty in my contract. I admit to having a level of puffed upness for having my first book published and bought 50 copies for family, friends, and to sell. Then I bought 10 more, thinking I could sell more.

Those who read my book told me that it was a great story but there were flaws in the mechanics.

Because I had published several technical articles in respected journals without suggestions from editors for presentation changes or punctuation omissions. I had just assumed that the editors of the publication house had read the book and found none.¹

Wrong!

I was encouraged by the publisher to submit the book to the Erick Hoffer awards program. That cost me an entry fee, but I was thinking the publisher saw value for me in that adventure.

Then the royalties started rolling in – $47.90 total. Well, I spent $1299.32 for copies, publication fees and shipping; and there was the $60 Hoffer entry fee. My net for the book was -$1311.42.

I realized that I was vanity-published and understood that XXX was like a puppy mill for books. I sometimes wonder how many others learned the same lessons.

There are a few other hard lessons self-foisted upon me with the experience but sharing them is for another time.

Even with the high tuition for the lessons, the never to be repeated experience was of value – well sort of.

Story Validation

I received the following and permission to attach a sticker to An Odyssey of Illusions: “After our rigorous first round of judging, less than 10% of the titles become category finalists. … Finalists are selected by category scoring. There are typically 1-6 books per category selected as a finalist. Finalists fall into approximately the upper 10% of all books that entered the contest.

The copy read by the committee was a corrected copy of my manuscript. I did not make the final cut, but I feel that the story I presented had been validated.

I used a slightly modified version of “Odyssey” as the first part of

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Your 10 Keys to Happiness is released today.
I admit to being pleased that my story “Good, Very Good, Best”¹ was selected for this volume.

Congratulations to the 100 others whose work is also included in this book.

P ublisher/Editor Amy Newmark said

Today, I read “Press Talk” a monthly column by Lou Brancaccio in Vancouver Washington’s The Coulmbian.

Lou, the retired editor has transplanted himself into Florida, but keeps his ties to Vancouver. Reading the monthly column by the retired local editor nearly always reminds me of columnists of the past. I like his perspective – well, most of the time.

Some time ago, he mentioned Mike Royko in a column.¹ I often wondered how Royko could attack nearly every controversial issue of Chicago life with impunity and seem to get away with it.

I miss Royko’s column and the short writings of William Raspberry, and William F. Buckley Jr. I did not always share their opinion(s) but their presentation(s) of tough issues are worth modeling.

I believe Lou Brancaccio is worthy of the same modeling for his writing about local issues.

Quite often, I think about issue commenting.

But octogenarianism has waned my gumption to do in-depth research of valid sources to vehemently defend an opinion. And being an octogenarian, I’ve learned that I don’t have the verbal² power to change someone else’s opinion.

As most know, however, an opinion needs not to be based on fact. That’s not to say it shouldn’t be. So, being in my 80s, I’ve become very mindful about passing on the opinions of others unless I know the facts.

So, if you believe your neighbor’s grass is too long or short, there is probably enough research to make that belief convincing to you, but not necessarily to the neighbor.³

I’ve read much research that can lead to an opinion which can be repudiated by much research.

Category: Blog

Drawing a Blank

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Caramba!

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Learned from the First

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Your Ten Keys

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Voices of Opinion

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