Birth of a Salesman

My minds eye is always looking towards the future, towards the next project, towards how the projects I am working on now will shape that future and how I can better reach my goals and still retain my humanity.

I think that's why I usually end up jumping from one project to the next, and indeed, I have come far as a writer and a publisher, but maybe I am being too hasty when I just move on to the next thing. Maybe I actually need to stick with a project after I have completed the creative side of things and really dig down and try to get people interested in it.

That being said, I've never wanted to be a salesman so there is a balance that I have to maintain, but there is not reason why I can't take some time to put my book out there and get people reading it. I see no reason why I can't treat what I do like local musicians treat their music and build an audience.

That's one of the benefits of living somewhere like Akron. There's plenty of opportunities for me to do readings and vend my wares on people at events where people come to purchase such wares. There's a market for what I do and potential readers all around me. I just have to present what I've got to them and hope that it strikes their fancy.

While I am definitely planning and preparing for my next move, I am not in a hurry to dive down and pour all my focus in the next pot. I am pretty proud of how Idiot Parade turned out, and I can't wait to get it out there. It's worth spending more time on and building an audience around.

In other words, expect to see my shining face around town this summer.

Launch of Gott Press Website

Yesterday, I officially launched the website of my brand new publishing company, Gott Press (click the image below to follow link to GottPress.com). Starting a publishing company is something that I have wanted to do for a few years now, and thanks to Akron Soul Soul Train, I have been able to do it.

Eventually, I would like to publish others' works, but right now, until I can get this thing off the ground, I will be focused on publishing my own books. At least for this next book, I will still be distributing through Createspace, but that is also eventually going to change, as well.

Right now, you can say that I am in a transitional phase. I am still doing most everything myself, but for future works, I am going to outsource things like editing and cover design to people who specialize in those things so I can create more professional products and focus more on the writing and the promotion of the works. At least for most stuff anyways. Pet projects I will still do it all myself. For example, I don't feel like I need to outsource editing for my poetry, but my novels, it make sense to hire an editor.

Now that I have the framework setup, I can focus on getting this first book, Idiot Parade, finished and ready to be released. To be honest, I don't have too much left to do to get it ready as it has come together pretty easily and naturally, and I don't want to overthink it too much. I might cut a few of the weakest poems out of it just so I have a tighter, stronger set of poems. Other than that, there's not much left to do. I will be ordering a proof this week.

Thanks again everyone for all of the support! It definitely makes this easier and more exciting for me. Maybe eventually I will make a living doing this, but for now, I am happy with where I am with everything. I feel like I am making real progress, at any rate.

I hope everyone likes Idiot Parade. I guess I will find out on May 12.