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The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of

Recently I reflected on the E-book industry, the publishers of old and the dreams that reside in ordinary folks. It is said that the person without a dream is the saddest and the poorest of people.
When I was in the 3rd, 4th and fifth grade I wanted to write. Every week I would take a sheet of notebook paper, fold it in half and fill it with stories about monsters and dinosaurs and adventures. I'd make a few copies by hand and pass them around school. Of course, in a poor rural area the spirit of the redneck despises anyone different or in the least creative. In fact, the area I grew up in was so tough you could get in a fight for wearing a clean shirt. Obviously, you were putting on airs.
Most dreams were never spoken out loud and it was important to be practical. I remember one of the toughest days of my life was on a birthday when I realized that I'd work in a factory the rest of my life and die poor.
That's the thing that most observers miss about the e-book industry. We are talking about people's dreams. To sit and think that The Dan Tattoo may be read by a lady in Japan or a guy in Australia gives me immense satisfaction. It scratches an itch that I've had in my soul for many decades.
Publishing a book is a brutal exercise, pre-e-book at least. A handful of people in New York controlled the industry and refused to even read or accept a submission from a non-entity like myself. Then people like Mark Coker at Smashwords and the people at Amazon Digital Text, among others, made it possible to publish digitally.
True, guys like me don't have a team of 15 assistants, research people, editors, cover designers and the like , as the famous authors do. We design our own covers and, with the help of wives or husbands we edit and type our books. Similar to the regular book industry, there is a broad range of quality and beauty is certainly in the eye of the beholder. Many books in a bookshop are boring and difficult to read and e-books are no different. Any man or woman who writes a readable book is certainly deserving of money and a kind word. I make it a practice not to criticize a writers work. It's hard to write.
Most importantly e-books are a dream, sprung to life.
Don't miss this fact about books. A good writer, like a preacher, a poet, or a songwriter has to be weak enough to allow you to look into his or her soul and strong enough not to care if you see the ugliness there. Otherwise the product is stiff and structured. It does not make you angry, sad, happy or glad. It will not make you remember or reflect or cry.
I always dreamed of playing music. I saw Scott, the Piano Guy on TV a few years ago and he encouraged me to try yet again to fulfill this dream. His unique way of teaching helped me and his enthusiasm inspired me. Don't get me wrong, I'm nothing special as a musician but I sat and played this morning and tears fell on the piano keys for the sheer joy of doing something I've hungered to do all my life.
I meditate at times, and I wonder how Mark Coker, Scott and others like them even sleep at night for the sheer pleasure of enabling so many to realize their dream. My thanks to these people.
From the green place, CE Wills

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