Psychedelia Gothique

Wei ghing the Options At first it seemed extravagant to me to print beta copies of my novel in mass market paperback format.  In fact, though, it was one of the most economical and practical options. Most of my beta readers stated a preference for a hard copy version of the ms. The cheapest way to do that would have been to print it on my home printer, but the manuscript is over 100 double-sided pages and I need a minimum of 12 copies. 1200 pages is the capacity of a standard printer cartridge at 60 dollars. And when the wear and tear on the printer is added in – it’s quite a job for a home printer. There are plenty of additional costs. I don’t own a spiral binding machine and they start at $170. The plastic binders themselves would add another $20. And the cost of shipping would be considerably more than shipping a 6 by 9 inch book. The DIY method might have been cheaper if I invested 10 or 12 hours shopping around. But if I calculate the labour at our provincial minimum ...

Maybe it’s because I’m an antisocial writer-type (although some writers seem to be naturals on Twitter), but I have had trouble from the beginning getting traction on the network. I finally posted about it to #WriterCommunity, expressing my frustration about doing everything right (as far as I could tell) but still failing to generate much feedback or engagement. A few others responded to my plaintive post by suggesting that engaging with other peoples’ posts was probably the best way to get the kind of feedback I was after. I had just been experiencing that very phenomenon, so (for once) understood exactly what they were saying. And they’re right. Up until days ago, I had been approaching Twitter as a writer/aspiring guru for younger writers – expecting an audience and getting disappointed when that audience didn’t materialize. But in fact, the answer was in front of me the whole time – embedded in the hashtag for crying out loud! #WritersCommunity. Engagement ...