Francesco
I thought your article on the Rom people in Spain was so appropriate to helping solve this social problem in Europe. Unfortunately, the popular perspectives are not telling enough of the truth to find any kind of solution. That's the power of your writing. You have a way of getting through all the political correct crap to tell the story as it should be told.
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I put up "Confessions of a Future Politician" (Book 2) in December on my own pub. This is the second draft. If Medium wants this version, they can have all the typos and missing story arcs. Third and final draft should be ready in a month.
I put up "Diary of a Future Politician" (Book 1) on Politically Speaking in April 2020. This was back in the days when this pub really didn't have a real editor.
https://medium.com/politically-speaking/a-kick-in-the-american-butt-f518251ebd87
Book 1 is not entertaining. The main story arc is writing a local TDG constitution. That topic won't be on any bestseller's list. But the objective of this book is to show how average people can start this TDG off. Education is high, entertainment is low for this book.
Book 3 should be done by the end of the year. It is the best of the three. Maybe I was getting better as a fiction writer, but I think it's more to with the objective of each novel. Some objectives just make better stories.
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I'm actually quite positive at how independent writers can get their work out there. Many more options and not all that costly (as long as we don't factor ourselves with a wage for our work). I get a real sense of satisfaction when my ideas are out there and available for others--instead of just between my ears or gathering dust on my shelf.
I recognized that Medium would be a good place to park my work other than my website. Many it will be found there.
Of course, all this new opportunity for self-publishing means that more people are doing it. It's harder to rise than before because the mountain is so much bigger. But at least the opportunity is there. I shudder at how many great works got lost because a great writer could not make a connection with a publisher. Now, such a writer can balance writing and marketing. At least there is a sense of progress.
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I tried a couple of those e-book brokers in 2017 for my fourth version of Tiered Democratic Governance. Let's just say that I didn't like the answers to some of the questions I was asking.
After discussion with my editor, I decided to self-publish an ebook myself. I took Kobo and she took Amazon. I gave her $500 for her work. Better than a few thousand dollars to the broker.
I think e-book brokers is where the scam is. But that is just my suspicion, not my experience.
Because of my limited placement, I put the entire TDG book for a free read on my website. I didn't want a credit card or technology to be a barrier to learning about this idea.
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I went to your website.
I have to say that I don't like reading long documents from a computer screen. So I'm going to buy an ebook from you. The amazon connections got me to some of your books on
Amazon US, which I can't buy from. Only one book from Amazon Canada: "The Seduction of Natalie". So I bought it.
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I'm not so sure we are reading less. Somehow, I just can't imagine coal miners of 1900 somehow being avid readers. Most of them would be in the pub!
In my town, both WallMart and Safeway have a pretty big paperback and magazine section. Someone must be buying these books.
Yes, most of these books are probably on the trashy side. But the 1950s had its fair share of pulp fiction.
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Getting back to your gypsy article, I think you have the ability to take this complex topic and frame its truth in such a way for average readers to understand and learn from. The average Ph.D. in sociology cannot do this.
Now how can we get such an article out there more?
That is the question.
