Posts tagged ‘the 1%’

ANDY WEIR: PATRON SAINT OF SELF-PUBLISHING

               ANDY WEIR: PATRON SAINT OF SELF-PUBLISHING

I nominate Andy Weir for patron saint of self-publishing. I sincerely think he has earned that title.

Weir’s work first caught attention when he published some work online. Next came his novel, The Martian, which he self-published. That novel made The New York Times bestseller list and was eventually made into what became a popular movie.

The reason I am writing this piece is because the novel was self-published.

The road from self-published to fame is less than certain, and that’s putting it mildly. First requirement for writing success no matter how much you desire publication is that you must be a competent writer, actually more than just competent. I once was a member of a writer’s group meeting at Barnes & Noble, and the moderator of the group was employed by the bookstore. She stated that the store did not carry self-published books because the quality of many of the books was embarrassing. There is no gatekeeper for self-published books. The only hurdle to getting a book published is money.

Now back to Andy Weir.

I’m sure he worked his ass off, riding around with a trunk full of books and taking every opportunity to make a sale. I’m also quite sure that he had friends who were willing to work their asses off to help with sales. He also must have had a great deal of confidence in his writing ability. I say this because to make an impact with a self-published book must require selling a large quantity of books which requires an author buying a large quantity of books which requires a large quantity of money.

After The Martian Weir came out with a second novel, Artemis. The only review I saw for that novel was not very encouraging.

Next he published Project Hail Mary which made The New York Times bestseller list and went on to become a very successful movie.

I hope this review of Weir’s work provides the reason I am considering Andy Weir the patron saint of self-publishing. Thousands upon thousands of self-published books exist, published by authors with varying purposes in mind. But as in religion where many believers try to model their lives after that of their favorite saint for life in the eternal. If it is possible for you to duplicate some of the elements of Weir’s career, you just might hit the bestseller jackpot.

April 18, 2026 at 11:45 am Leave a comment

OBSERVATIONS & OPINIONS

                 THE PAST AND THE OBSERVATIONS OF TODAY

 

Today like every other day a corruption is identified in either industry or government.

I grew up in the 50’ and 60’s when there weren’t any corrupt practices.

RIGHT!

I’m sure they existed and cleverly concealed. The technology did not exist to easily reveal them. Money and intimidation played a major part in their secrecy.

Today, things are different. Every day new corruptions are revealed. And every day nothing of consequence happens.

Good lawyers and money are finding ways around the system. Or making their way through the system through donations to politicians.

I want to share my personal experience with a large company.

I worked for this company for 22 years, which constantly morphed into a different organization due to mergers. The final merger with a less than reputable company, which in reality, was a subtle takeover was the death nell of values I respected.

When I began my job with this company it was honest, focused on their products. But over time things changed. As with most companies the focus now is on the bottom line to please stockholders.

Day after day I hear company adds talking about their top managers on retreat to discuss the company’s culture.

Corporations provide pleasant surrounding for the top executives of the company to discuss the future of the company and to their culture.

The culture is the bottom line. If a company could produce a product which would benefit society but not be profitable, what would be the decision of this products future, I don’t have to tell you what the choice would be.

The company I worked for was once sued for over three billion dollars. They said they were not guilty, but would pay the fine to put this behind them.

Have you heard that before?

I feel today we all pawns. Our lives are manipulated by the 1% not caring about our lives or the country. Their object is wealth and power.

September 23, 2019 at 10:15 pm Leave a comment

OPINIONS & OBSERVATIONS

WHEN WILL THIS COUNTRY WAKE-UP?
Today I heard about a shooting in Gilroy, California. Three dead, so far, including a six-year old and a thirteen-year old. Lives robbed of a future by an asshole with a gun. Lives which could have made a difference to our world.
I have driven though Gilroy., California many times on the way to San Jose, the home of my former wife and current best friend. You could smell Gilroy before you reached it. As we approached the town we were greeted by a bucolic countryside, pleasant and peaceful. We approached the town along highway 152, a pleasant ride through the hills of brown which may change according to the weather. From my experience the weather never changed much, until now. The global weather change has stirred things up for California, and actually, all over the world. Of course, the existence of this phenomenon is a myth, fully apparent if you are a ‘stable genius’.
After an incident of tragic proportions, the news if full of sorrow, memorials, bicycles ridden for great distances so we remember the current tragedy. In my opinion none of these inspired acts make a difference in the mindset of our current society. There are too many mass shootings to remember. Even what happened in Los Vegas, 58 killed and more than 500 injured. That is not a mass shooting. That is a war we are not winning unless there is a change in the morality of this country. Where the right to own a weapon comes before the lives of the victims we hear about every day.
I do not want to take the rifle out of the hands of hunters. I do not want to take the weapons of those who want to protect their homes. I want to take weapons out the hands of the unstable, of those with a past history of violence. It will take a far greater brain to resolve all these problems, but I have one observation.
The answer is MONEY!
Unfortunately, our entire society’s values, mainly those who control our society’s goal is more and more money.
For decades and beyond the direction of this country has been bought by organizations and individuals with an agenda. How to make more money. That money buys politicians and who knows what other levels of our government. They always say your vote counts which is true. But money buys the individuals you can vote for.
The only way we can see to right this wrong is to fight money with money. Have the 1% with a conscious, and love this country for the opportunities it has provided them unite and bring back the values that have made this country great. Buy back our freedom which is rapidly changing. Use your wealth to make this country, which gave you the opportunity to make that wealth, a country we can all be proud of again,
The ball is in your court. Play it wisely for this country’s future.

July 30, 2019 at 4:16 am 1 comment


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