[plumboz]

Kemp,

I understand very well what you mean. Since Boomerang came out in ebook form I have spent countless hours trying to get the word out. The positives of all this time and energy have been several hundred downloads and meeting some very nice people along the way. The negative has been that I allowed the promotion of Boomerang to overshadow my current WIP and now I am way behind the schedule I set for myself. So there are truly times when I felt it was a Damned if I Do and Damned if I Don't sort of situation. Back off the promotion and let the firstborn wither, or keep plugging away and let the unborn one languish. And then there is the fact that life has other demands that should not be ignored or degraded. If full time jobs and the joys of family life (and I do mean that sincerely) did not figure into the equation, maybe this other choice wouldn't seem so difficult. Personally I am striving for a time when my full time job is writing, but that ain't the case at this time. And family will never take a backseat to anything for me. No way. There are a ton of success stories in not only the arts but business that involve people who have sacrificed or simply ignored the people in their lives in order to further their personal agendas. Divorces, screwed up children, destroyed relationships all strewn along the wayside on the road to "success". That's not for me.

I understand dream's POV too. Why should anyone be expected to invest time and money in an unknown if that writer isn't going to take the time to become part of a community? Way before MB's were born, this idea of introducing oneself, becoming known and trusted in a community has been a vital step on the road to getting ones art out into the world.

So I wish I knew the answer. All I can tell you is we probably have to figure out a way to serve both gods. I made a deal with myself to back off promoting Boomerang a year after the paperback came out. So that means as of March I am scaling way back on time spent participating on any MB, and devoting that time to the WIP. I want to be able to share that work with the kind folks who have already taken Boomerang into their lives. And if sales plummet, so be it. If it wasn't good enough for at least a small percentage of the five or six hundred folks who have a copy already to recommend it to their circle, well maybe all the promoting in the world wouldn't make that much difference.

Sorry for the ramble.

Best to all,
Alan