Having a great time. Tell hemp I said thanks and see you in 100 years.
This is the category on this blog where you’ll find the free shit. And, you’ll be finding free thought all over the site. It’s the place I am going to ramble, muse, rant and explore the world of self-publishing and my decision-making process regarding whether to try to find an agent and seek a traditional publishing route, or to do it myself with some kind of self-publishing service. And.. 99¢ eBooks like a freak.
At some point as I am getting closer to finishing my novel, I will start excerpting it and kind of outlining what it’s all about, describing the characters and having some fun with that. Essentially, in terms of the subject matter and general feel of the book, it’s about the transference we are going through in the United States as we breakdown the political and economic structure and return to a more locally oriented economy and polity. The book has a lot of fun with the ironies and contradictions in the foisted and paralyzing religions in the U.S. that are what have become of the Liberal and Conservative traditions.
We are turning off our televisions and planting gardens. It is a pretty great time. Simultaneously, there are the hangers-on. They are not using their smashed TV’s for planters, they are mounting outdoor, all-weather televisions on their lawns. They have not gotten the message. That’s fine. You don’t need to push a boulder down a hill once gravity kicks in. The deal is done. We won. Rejoice.
That’s the gist of this joint.
“Well” you say, “then why don’t you just give your books away?” “Why are you charging money for your writing then and not letting me read it for free?”. The reason is because I am an honest person and things in life have costs. It costs to spend time doing things like this. It is costing right now even though so much of what you can do on the internet is “free”. The more time you spend here doing this stuff, the less time you spend figuring out a way to stay off food stamps, the more likely you are being less productive at work and costing more than you are worth. Don’t give up on me here, read on.
“This guy is so full of contradictions” you are thinking, “first he says he’s glad people are tuning out of the past and planting gardens, because people are giving up on consumer culture, but then he says to pay him for shit and that people spending time on the internet are on food stamps, like it’s a bad thing, and are being less productive at work”. Well, for some people this seems weird, but like I said I am an honest guy. I know a lot of happy people, some of them work for themselves, and some of them work for others, but they are all busy, productive people. Some of them make shit-tons of money, and some make enough to live a life they love and take care of their loved ones. Those are the types of people who have inspired me, and they are the ones who are changing everything, and they are intelligent enough to know that there are costs for things.
I am not necessarily trying to get rid of you if you are looking for a free ride. My novel is going to cost money. In fact, I am going to charge more for it than other novels you can buy. It is worth a lot to me, and my time is valuable as well. This book is a culmination of myriads of phases and experiences of my life woven into a story of a town, and it is the type of thing that a lot of people are going to relate to, and it is LONG. I mean it a long, intricate read. And if you want to read, it is going to cost you, because costs exist, people can’t work for free.
There are people going around fighting for the rights of the poor (which is something I have done plenty of, and will continue to do) and then expect to not have to pay for things. If they buy something once in a while and are not stealing illegal downloads and scamming, someone in those places you’ve heard about can get paid. If this is not what someone wants to read, if it bothers them.. I don’t know. Sometimes they pirate an iPhone or Galaxy and then torrent an illegal app and then tweet their friends about the evil of Steve Jobs and Samsung. I hope you are not like that, but if you are, well.. I’d like you to think about this:
Blaming business for greed is like blaming blood for mosquitoes. There are all sorts of business transactions every day, and all sorts of business models. The vast majority of business transactions are advancing society. Don’t get caught up in anti-business jargon and conditioning. Whoever is doing that to you is robbing you, they are as greedy and power-hungry as anyone, believe that.
Please tune me in with a subscription and share my blog. Even if you don’t want to buy my stories right now, share them with others. And remember, don’t expect a free ride. The least you can do if you are carpooling (and I hope you are)? Read a few of my ebooks to the driver.
Thanks for everything and remember, don’t text and drive, or read and drive.
Robert
PS. If you absolutely MUST have something for free, then here.
Those last couple of hours of packing and getting everything organized are the worst. I don’t even have time to write but I just dread getting up from this keyboard to go finish up.
road reads 