Jeff Cutler – columns, essays and opinions

I missed the joy of Monday morning this week because I was under the thumb of the flu. Stuck in the house I missed out on hearing stories from colleagues about what they did on the weekend – the whole premise behind my A Life of Play Podcast. But I made up for it tonight with an interview for that very same show.

For about 45 minutes, JC Hutchins and I chatted about writing and science and social media. It was invigorating – especially a few days away from Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month which begins on Nov. 1) – to speak with a writer who has done it. And by done it I mean reached a publisher with a novel.

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Sure, in social media everyone has an ebook or a business theory book – I’ve been to more signings this year than I went to the entire time I had my own book out in the early 200’s. But writing and getting a novel published is different. That’s the dream

Write your novel. Move to France and write a novel. Maybe I’ll take a sabbatical and write a novel.

These sentiments aren’t actually from me…or originally from me…they’re repeated all the time by anyone who wields a pen or whacks a keyboard. AND JC Hutchins has done it.

In 2002 he tried Nanowrimo and it spurred him to write a 1200 page novel. He then released it in podcast form and kept working toward getting over the threshold of a publisher’s office door. It worked.

Better still, he’s maintained the belief that social media and traditional writing worlds are still dissimilar enough that he can give the book away and still sell copies in book form. So there’s a copy here for you to have.

7th Son – PDF from JC Hutchins

Take it, read it, share it. If you want, go buy it in book form too. Or listen to the podcasts.

This day…a few days removed from Monday…I’ve got my weekly hero. A guy who did what he wanted and had fun at the same time. It’s a good way to live.

Keep reading!

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Many people get all bent out of shape about reading books online. They gripe that resolution is crappy, that screen sizes are too small and that it’s ruining their eyes.

Shut up already.

Hasn’t the proliferation of news online made it clear that we’re moving ever-faster to an environment – if not a world – where our information might remain the same but the delivery mechanism has become more portable?

I think so. And I’m not saying that as a guy with a vested interest in having you devour my words. I’m just as happy to have you read my slogan for Gulf Oil on a billboard as I am to have you snicker at my Worries blog posts.

For those of us with messages to share – or even longer pieces like books and manifestos – we’re just crafting the story or the article, not creating the medium.

Now that my little soapboxing is complete, let me tell you the real reason for this post. A friend of mine asked me about online publishing as a viable option for her mother’s book. I went off on a tangent about trying out Lulu or other services and about how fantastic it was that she was moving forward with her plan.

“STOP,” said my friend.

Her mother had already used an online publisher and my friend was asking about promoting and selling the book. There were already cases in the trunks of all her family members and they were struggling to get recognized by the box stores as a ‘real’ book.

Aha! That’s really the trouble. When you have an idea for a book, if you don’t go through the traditional channels you’re out in the cold. For now.

Doing things yourself isn’t all it’s cracked up to be…in most cases.

It’s different with news, opinion and shorter pieces, but books still maintain a special place in the publishing world and in our consciousness. The battle against the Kindle shows that people still want a book they can leave on an airplane and not freak out about. Once you’ve left two or three Kindles on planes you might start to rethink the device at $400 a pop.

Essentially, I told my friend that she could use some social media tools to spread the word, she could set up a fan page on Facebook and get her mother on LinkedIn to share some expertise about being an author and about her topic matter.

I added that there was no guarantee and that the books might remain unsold. But if you’re doing it alone, the best you can hope for is to get people talking and reading about the book. Then someone in a publishing house might notice. Then you might get a break. Then you might sell some books.

It’s a tough business. But for those who have a story to tell, a message that must be shared, the hurdles are worth it.

What do you think of self-publishing and our slow transition to reading everything online?

Keep reading! Please.

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