Friday, June 22, 2012

A Gentle Rap on the Head With My Crutches

Firstly, I am off the crutches and on the mend. Woot! I still have pain and not a wide range of motion, but I can walk and do stairs. Huzzah.

Anyhoo...

That gentle rap. To people who think that e-books aren't books: BONK!

Just because a book isn't on paper, it doesn't mean it's not a book. Captain Obvious, right? Not to everyone. What is a book? Let's ask Polonius and Hamlet:

"What do you read, my prince?"
"Words, words, words!"*

Overly simplified? Maybe. But books are comprised of words. Then why is your blog not considered a book, my dear Miss O? There's another element: it's called story or plot. If I had some witty quote on the tip of my tongue, I'd spew it out here. Alas, I am sleep-deprived. X does Y which causes A, B and C to happen. Tada! Again, overly simplified, but there 'tis.

Most authors (Gary D. Schmidt being one known exception) open up that old Word document and type out their stories on screen. So that Twilight book in your hands? Yeah, that was most likely once words on a monitor. If ol' Steph had decided to go with my e-publisher, and her book were on your Kindle, would you then say it's not a book?

That's just silly nonsense. BONK!

And another mistake non-writerly types make: Despite what you may think, writing is WORK. If I went to my mechanic, had my oil changed and then said, "You shouldn't charge me. You enjoy what you do. Hey, YOU should be paying ME." If I did that, you'd call me crazy, wouldn't you? But if I asked you to buy my e-book, would you say "Pay me to read it"? Because somehow everyone else hates their jobs and writers don't really work they just play?

Remember: Just because you can't touch it, that doesn't mean it isn't real.

/rant

In good news, the edits are coming along well...I think. I hope. I pray. Oh for the love all that is...

Good night,
Beth

P.S. *For some reason Blogger is blotting out the word "words." I said it thrice in immediate succession.

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