Monday, November 3, 2008

Viva Las Vegas

“Writing is its own reward.” – Henry Miller


I know I usually blog on Friday but Halloween seems so long ago that I felt it was time to move on. Also this is the week we are doing our annual trek to Las Vegas so my chances of having a blog ready for Friday are slim to none.

In my June 8, 2007 blog,
I mentioned that over 300,000 titles are released each year. Since very few authors release more than one book a year, that means there are approximately 300,000 authors in the world. Keep that figure in mind as I tell you a shocking statistic I recently read in the Nov/Dec 2008 Poets & Writers magazine. In an interview with editor Chuck Adams, he said, …“I am told that there are something like two hundred writers who actually make a living at writing. Or maybe fewer…”

Whoa! It’s a good thing that writing is its own reward because 299,800 of us are going to go hungry or have to supplement our income in some other manner!

I hope I can supplement my writing income by winning a huge jackpot in Vegas. However, I think the reality is that I’ll be dependent on social security in a few years—if it still exists by then.

Vegas won’t be just fun and games, I’ll also be working on marketing The Ride. My second interview is ten minutes with James Lowe of KJAG Radio and will be conducted from my hotel room in Vegas on November 5.

I thought I’d be less nervous now that I had experience under my belt. Last Friday morning, still in my pj’s, I isolated myself in my ‘office’ (also known as the guest bedroom) and talked to Gene Davis of the Anything Goes Show on WNCO AM 1340 for fifteen minutes. I definitely have room for improvement, but considering my sleepless night and jittery nerves, it went better than I expected.

If any of you veteran writers have interview suggestions or advice, I’d love to hear from you. If any of you readers have questions, I’d love to hear from you, too.

For the avid readers out there, think about your favorite struggling author and buy a book or two for yourself and your friends. The Ride, for instance, is a great gift idea for birthdays, Christmas or for a friend in the hospital. You can order it now from Amazon.

Thanks for stopping by.

Tags: The Ride Henry Miller, Las Vegas, Chuck Adams, Poets and Writers, James Lowe, KJAG, Anything Goes, WNCO Gene Davis, Amazon,

2 comments:

Maryannwrites said...

Jane, congrats on your book. Hope you have fun in Vegas and do a lot of promoting.

Regarding the radio interviews. I used to be nervous as hell before one and sometimes stumbled through without making a complete fool of myself. THen I decided that the radio personality is just a person like me. We are having a conversation just like two folks at a counter in a diner. He or she is not more important than I am. That helped me relax before an interview, and now I do much better.

Good luck!

Jane Kennedy Sutton said...

Thanks Maryann,

That's good advice. I'll have a chance to try it out Monday!

Jane's Ride - Novelist Jane Kennedy Sutton's journey through the ups and downs of the writing, publishing and marketing world