Annie Lamott's contest

First, here it is; it's almost the last day:
Annie Lamott's contest

First, I want to say a few things before I enter. This post is my entry, that is, if I qualify. I may not, but it doesn't matter, because I want to talk about how she affected me. I don't really know much about her teachings as what I have read was a while ago.

I consider Annie a family friend because my wife knew her as a child in Bolinas, California. That's what may disqualify me. It is true that both Annie and I turn seventy this month but that should not be a problem. The family friend part may be, though.

In any case we would love it if she could fly out to Galesburg, Illinois, see my wife and see everyone in the writing community who would love to see her. We have a great indie bookstore that is struggling and maybe we could find a way to help it out.

This is how Annie has influenced me. As a starting writer, I made up my mind to write what I wanted and not worry about the money at first. It was good to have the luxury to do this and I took advantage of it by writing what I wanted. Times changed and I got sensitive to reviews and wanted to make more money just as a matter of principle and self-esteem; more money equals more success. Reviews of course are part of this process.

Through my wife I heard a story of Annie getting a 1 review because somebody got their book in the mail, wet. Wet! They gave Annie a 1 and that influenced her sales heavily for the first few months.

It showed me that as a writer you are sometimes at the mercy of somebody's whims or delusions or pure bad feelings. They obviously didn't read the book and that didn't even matter. Somebody's poor logic totally ruined her life.

Now I'm a doordash driver and I keep that in mind because I deliver a few meals wet, or cooled off, or to the wrong doorway. Things happen in the delivery businesss, and hey, I'd rather be making that money writing, but I'm not, because of patterns set long ago. Now I know what I need to do to make more money and I still can't do it because I'm so used to doing what I want that I can't break the habit. Well I can, but that's another story. I take heed from Annie's story because it helps me deal with the reality that whatever I do, the outcome is sometimes out of my control anyway. I can trust that good hard work and good writing will show through in the end, no matter what, but that may not solve the immediate problem.

I am interested in Annie's contest and how it turns out, and wish her well regardless of the outcome.

Marketers

A long time ago I friended my first marketer not knowing their entire game. Nowadays I know that the marketer's job starts with complimenting you, on a comment or by invading your dm box, and then friending you, and then peddling their marketing services. It's all part of a process and life is as difficult for them as it is for us.

As I put more ads on the facebook sites around, I got hit by more friend requests and random compliments. Some gushed about my writing but asked me where my books could be found. A little peeved, I'd ask them how they knew I was so great if they couldn't even find my books. More often they'd ask obvious questions, like how many I'd published, but how could it be that they don't know how to find that information if they're a book marketer? All in all I had no reason to trust them and especially no reason to give them my money which is ultimately what they wanted. It is still going on today. I have trouble doing mass ignoring every time I put out an ad.

I am friending each one, though. The first one I friended went through personal trials, which I saw on facebook, then lost her kids and had to move out onto the streets of Detroit. It was, is, scary to follow her & reminds me that these folks are real people who like books, at least for a short period of their lives, and have to make it the same way we do. it's a rough world, least I can do is show some sympathy. Of course I tell them right off the top, I have no money for marketers.

So I've picked up a couple dozen "friends" on both fb and twitter, and some will undoubtedly drop me the minute I tell them I'm not in the market. To some, it's all business. But I figure that since I do my own marketing, I'm in the same business they are and therefore it's good to have a few contacts in their world. They probably would increase my sales if I paid them for it, and I can't claim huge success in that field as it is.

My prayers go out to the 80 or 90% who don't make it, including all the authors who simply have to give up because they need to make a living and can't. I've been there, and now I'm doing Door Dash. And I'm lucky I have a running car, and don't have to sleep in it.